I dont seem to be able to create interesting crust features like ears
on the bread I bake. I love how this looks in the artisanal bread I
buy, and I want to recreate it at home. Can someone tell me how?

Ive done some shopping for a bread book that speaks at length about
crust features, and I havent found one yet. Does anyone have a
suggestion to offer?

In some cases I want to produce bread with a thick top crust. by
adding a steam pan and spraying the sides of my oven, I can produce
bread that comes out of the oven with a very pleasing bit of thin
crunchyness to the crust, but that disappears after half a day or so.
Thank you!

My favorite is The Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. Very good
information on getting the type of bread you want. Check your local
library and perhaps they will have a copy for you to use.

marcella

In article .com,
"badgerman" wrote:

I dont seem to be able to create interesting crust features like ears
on the bread I bake. I love how this looks in the artisanal bread I
buy, and I want to recreate it at home. Can someone tell me how?

Ive done some shopping for a bread book that speaks at length about
crust features, and I havent found one yet. Does anyone have a
suggestion to offer?

In some cases I want to produce bread with a thick top crust. by
adding a steam pan and spraying the sides of my oven, I can produce
bread that comes out of the oven with a very pleasing bit of thin
crunchyness to the crust, but that disappears after half a day or so.
Thank you!

Yeah, the Bread Baker's Apprentice is the book I've been using this
year. But I find that like others I've seen, it doesn't have much on
crust features, or at least not enough for me.

badgerman wrote:
In some cases I want to produce bread with a thick top crust. by
adding a steam pan and spraying the sides of my oven, I can produce
bread that comes out of the oven with a very pleasing bit of thin
crunchyness to the crust, but that disappears after half a day or so.
Thank you!

If you put the bread in a plastic bag even the crustiest of breads will
become soft. The moisture that's in the interior of the bread will
eventually escape through the crust and since the bread is sealed
inside a bag the moisture will remain trapped and it will soften the
crust. Crusty breads should be kept in a paper bag. They can be
re-crisped by placing them in a hot oven for a minute or two.

badgerman wrote:
I dont seem to be able to create interesting crust features like ears
on the bread I bake. I love how this looks in the artisanal bread I
buy, and I want to recreate it at home. Can someone tell me how?

Ears?

Ears, I read that somewhere. Let's say you've got a boule loaf and you
score it across the top in such a way that one side of the score sorta
peels back when baked, One bread baker told me that to get that
effect, you score the top at a 45 degree angle rather than 90 degrees
as you would for French bread, and I can see how that might work. But
it doesn't work for me.

I wonder whether these fancy crust features aren't possible in a home
oven like mine. More likely, I'm doing something wrong! Maybe I don't
get enough surface tension, or maybe the bread needs a good misting to
get more oven spring, or what?

They are possible.

Easier to achieve in a gas oven than an electric oven though. Also, I
know you said you used Reinharts book, but he suggest a cup of water in
a hot pan rather than just misting. In several of your posts though,
you only mention misting.

I put a cast iron skillet on the top rack when I start to pre-heat.
Then just before adding the bread, I put a cup of water in the microwave
on high for 1 minute. Add the bread, pour the hot water into hot pan
and there is tons of steam and longer lasting than misting. Makes a
really big difference in the crust.

marcella

In article . com,
"badgerman" wrote:

I wonder whether these fancy crust features aren't possible in a home
oven like mine. More likely, I'm doing something wrong! Maybe I don't
get enough surface tension, or maybe the bread needs a good misting to
get more oven spring, or what?

You guys are just great, thanks for your feedback so far.

I am doing the steam pan, a la Bread Baker's Apprentice. But even
there I wonder if I'm doing it right. Yesterday I made some reasonably
good bread (firm starter plus 16 oz white to 4 rye, plus lotsa seeds)
but noticed again that my steam pan still had water in it after some
15 or 20 minutes. Shouldn't the water all boil away quickly? Shouldn't
the steam be heavy at first and then go away?

I scored my bread once again, only to have the score disappear in
baking.

Also, what do you think about convection ovens? My oven is new, and I
do have the option to turn the convection fan on or off. When it's on,
the bottom left hand corner of the oven is much hotter, meaning that I
need to move any bread there to avoid a small but dramatic burn spot.
Which is hard to do when I bake directly on my rectangular pizza stone.


Wait, I have another question: I read in BBA yesterday that turning
down the temperature and baking longer could make my crusts crustier.
Otherwise I'm doing the 500 degrees with steam, and then 450, all on
the convecction setting.

Thanks again you guys!

badgerman wrote:
You guys are just great, thanks for your feedback so far.

I am doing the steam pan, a la Bread Baker's Apprentice. But even
there I wonder if I'm doing it right. Yesterday I made some reasonably
good bread (firm starter plus 16 oz white to 4 rye, plus lotsa seeds)
but noticed again that my steam pan still had water in it after some
15 or 20 minutes. Shouldn't the water all boil away quickly? Shouldn't
the steam be heavy at first and then go away?


When I used to bake bread in a bakery we used professional steam
injection type ovens. I never steamed bread for more than 25 seconds.
After the steamer went off the exhaust fan would kick on and pull the
steam out of the oven. I can't remember the exact scientific
explanation but steaming bread really only has an effect on it when
it's first put in the oven and it's still doughy. I believe it has
something to do with lowering the surface temperature of the dough.
Once the crust has formed additional steam has no effect. In fact, it
would probably make the bread too soft. Have you tried putting a pan
of water inside the oven or spraying the inside of the oven with water
and getting the inside of the oven all steamy before putting the bread
in? I would try that and maybe give it another good spray right when
you put the bread in the oven. After a few minutes though I would open
the oven door and remove the pan of water and let the steam escape.