re: Any at home bread makers have New Orleans French bread figured out?

Steam is one of the keys, and a rise that takes things right up to the point of collapse. Best written-out recipe I've seen that gets closest is the one for bahn mi rolls devised by cookbook author Andrea Nguyen. It's in her Bahn Mi Handbook, with lots of detailed instructions: LINK See page 17 for her very involved, detailed instructions.

I saw her at an event when she was working on this book; we chatted and laughed about "how hard it is to make bad bread"...ie, the best/lightest/most fragile crusted bahn mi rolls are created using pretty industrial processes....they're the absolute opposite, technically and aesthetically, from the ideal loaf of the so-called artisan bread movement, which favors long, slow, rises; open, holy crumbs; thick crusts, etc. Whereas, bahn mi rolls are cranked out by the thousands and sold for 25 cents apiece.