[_eLRIC]

Mass producing baguette is done in many supermarket in France, but I've never tasted any good one coming out of it

Producing a good baguette is an art, meaning that a good boulanger knows how to take into account many external factors like humidity in the air to adapt the recipe (% of water, prep time, cooking time). produce consistent result and a baguette that taste good and fresh for a full day.

As for the number of baguettes produced in one batch, it is also because baguettes (different from other bread that last serveral days) are really better fresh. Fresh from the oven (for breakfast !) is best, half a day is good, 1.5 day and still good means you have a very good boulanger.

[ceejayoz]

Supermarkets are going to target "cheap and good enough", in general. An industrial-scale factory can control for a lot of those external factors - it's a lot more likely to have humidity and temperature control, automation that ensures precise timings and measurements, etc.

I do agree that freshness is key with breads like this - there's nothing like a freshly baked one, and I still miss the morning croissant and baguette from when I stayed in Paris years ago.

[_eLRIC]

You want to adapt the recipe for the weather outside of the bakery / factory not only for what happens in the bakery, i.e. cook it a bit more when it's supposed to rain so the baguette doesn't become soft / stays crunchy. That can be done at small scale, but is difficult at industrial levels.

[r00fus]

We buy a bunch and freeze the ones we don't use. Pop it back in the oven for 20m and you have something almost as good as first-day bread. For convenience (it reduces quality a bit) we pre-cut some of the ones to be frozen so we can just pop them in the toaster oven.

[marmaduke]

Baker is the English word.

I don't think the taste of mass produced baguettes is so bad as the lack of texture. And they are usually over cooked

[_eLRIC]

A Baker makes bread but a boulanger is required to make a baguette !

I always find industrial baguettes under cooked, but you raise an important point : it all come back to personnal preferences and that's for me the special thing about the baguette, so few ingredients and so many variations in taste ...

[OJFord]

IMO in supermarkets in the UK they're both under and over cooked - too consistent in colour and texture throughout.

In France, even in les supermarchés you get a nice crisp exterior and soft fluffy inside.