My sourdough bread rises fine and bakes nice, but the crust
is too hard. I don't use any spray or water in a pan. Is
there something I can do to make a more tender crust?
Ernie

Multiple spraying of water onto loafs during baking makes disgustingly
thin crust.

Falling asleep while baking can make amazingly thick, dark and smelly
crust.

S.

Ernie wrote:

My sourdough bread rises fine and bakes nice, but the crust
is too hard. I don't use any spray or water in a pan. Is
there something I can do to make a more tender crust?
Ernie

--
remove -nospam from my email address, if there is one
SD page is the http://samartha.net/SD/

Samantha,
When I first started baking San Francisco Sourdough bread I
put a pan of water in the oven like the directions said and
sprayed it for a nice crispy crust. It was so hard that I
quit using any water altogether. It is still so hard and
thick that I can hardly cut it. I bake it for 65 minutes at
400 deg. I looks great and tastes fine although it isn't
quite as sour as I like, but it has a crust like a coconut.
Does the kneading time have any effect on crust hardness and
thickness?
Ernie

"Samartha Deva"
wrote in message ...
Multiple spraying of water onto loafs during baking makes
disgustingly
thin crust.

Falling asleep while baking can make amazingly thick, dark
and smelly
crust.

S.

Ernie wrote:

My sourdough bread rises fine and bakes nice, but the
crust
is too hard. I don't use any spray or water in a pan.
Is
there something I can do to make a more tender crust?
Ernie

--
remove -nospam from my email address, if there is one
SD page is the http://samartha.net/SD/

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 00:42:29 GMT, "Ernie"
wrote:

I bake it for 65 minutes at
400 deg.

Howdy,

That is the sort of time and temperature that would be appropriate for
a huge (3-4 Kilo) loaf.

If yours are smaller than that you might want to try a temperature of
about 450F for 35 minutes or so. That is likely to make for a thinner
crust.

Also, if you prefer a tender crust, you can paint the loaf with milk
or butter just before baking...

HTH,

--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

Well Ernie,

I thought that spraying water _onto_ the loafs during baking would make
good crust and the result was a paper thin hull giving in with a light
finger's touch, which I did not like. Then I started thinking that
spraying the water was the cause for the thin crust, stopped doing it
and the thin crusts disappeared.

I don't know how big your loafs are - size is definitely an issue,
smaller loaf = thicker crust, all else the same. Baking time definitely
has an influence, longer = thicker crust.

Your 65 minutes sound long. My loafs usually bake within 35/40 minutes,
that's the 1500 g rye/wheat mix. When I have white breads, they go
usually faster, depending on size. If I bake longer, the bread gets
thicker and darker crust. I have not experimented with lower temperature
and longer baking times. Some bakeries claim 2+ hour baking times.

I have a $ 6.- meat thermometer and when the middle of the loaf has 180
F, it's done. That happens usually at the times given above.

Kneading time, dough development sure has influence on crust but I think
it's mainly baking time and temperature, maybe steam.

Why do you need to bake 65 minutes and what is your loaf size? It would
be interesting to see when you reach the 180 F (some say 190 F) in the
middle of the loaf so you know when you are done and don't need to
accumulate more crust.

Samartha

Ernie wrote:

Samantha,
When I first started baking San Francisco Sourdough bread I
put a pan of water in the oven like the directions said and
sprayed it for a nice crispy crust. It was so hard that I
quit using any water altogether. It is still so hard and
thick that I can hardly cut it. I bake it for 65 minutes at
400 deg. I looks great and tastes fine although it isn't
quite as sour as I like, but it has a crust like a coconut.
Does the kneading time have any effect on crust hardness and
thickness?
Ernie

--
remove -nospam from my email address, if there is one
SD page is the http://samartha.net/SD/

Ernie wrote:

My sourdough bread rises fine and bakes nice, but the crust
is too hard. I don't use any spray or water in a pan. Is
there something I can do to make a more tender crust?
Ernie

If you want to get soft crust then after you pull it from the oven and while
it is still hot rub it with some butter or margarine. The crust will be like
the crust in commercial white bread.

Personally I like a good firm crust that crunches when I bite into it.

Bert

"Ernie" wrote in message=20
. ..

Is there something I can do to make a more tender crust?

Assuming the bread is made and baked properly, you can
bag it in plastic after a short interval of cooling. Keep it in
the bag for a few hours, and the crust will soften.

That is much too easy, and you may prefer to do it in a more
intricate and hopeless way, particularly as there is a minute=20
hazard of mold growth for a loaf stored too moist (or any
amount of moist).

Dick Adams wrote:

That is much too easy, and you may prefer to do it in a more
intricate and hopeless way, particularly as there is a minute
hazard of mold growth for a loaf stored too moist (or any
amount of moist).

Minute? Not minute.

David

I might suggest that you bake it at about 400=B0 for not more than 35-40 =
minutes. At 65 minutes, you should need a hack saw to cut it! :)


"Ernie" wrote in message =
...

quit using any water altogether. It is still so hard and
thick that I can hardly cut it. I bake it for 65 minutes at
400 deg. I looks great and tastes fine although it isn't

On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 09:49:00 GMT, "Pawnee"
wrote:

I might suggest that you bake it at about 400° for not more than 35-40 minutes. At 65 minutes, you should need a hack saw to cut it! :)


"Ernie" wrote in message ...

quit using any water altogether. It is still so hard and
thick that I can hardly cut it. I bake it for 65 minutes at
400 deg. I looks great and tastes fine although it isn't

Hi Ernie,

You might want to change your posting settings. Right now, your lines
are so long that we have to scroll way out across the very wide page
as you see above...

HTH,

--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

Thanks for the good information.
The consensus seems to be that I am baking it too
long. I was using Jan Jaworski's Internet
Directions for Authentic Sourdough Bread. I tried
cooking it for less time once and wound up with a
crust that didn't get dark on top and was raw in
the middle. I will try Samantha's suggestion for
using a meat thermometer. If that doesn't work I
will try Kenneth's suggestion of painting the
crust with milk. Pawnee is correct about needing
a hack saw to cut it. I changed my post settings
from 60 characterd per line to 50, I hope that is
better Kenneth. Bert if you tried my coconut
crust you might change your mind about liking a
good hard crust. It actually cracks and pops when
I take it out of the oven. Dick, I think it would
take a week in a plastic bag before this crust got
soft. David, Other than the caps I don't see any
difference between Minute and minute?
Thanks again everyone.
Ernie

Ernie wrote:

I changed my post settings
from 60 characterd per line to 50,

70 is about right, but newsreaders should be able to wrap long lines
anyway. I never saw that wide-line-screen business until it was copied
out that way.

David, Other than the caps I don't see any
difference between Minute and minute?

A very small difference.

B/

Ernie wrote:

My sourdough bread rises fine and bakes nice, but the crust
is too hard. I don't use any spray or water in a pan. Is
there something I can do to make a more tender crust?
Ernie

Have you check the tempture of your oven.

Joe (:-)

"Joe Umstead" wrote in
message
...
Ernie wrote:

My sourdough bread rises fine and bakes nice,
but the crust
is too hard. I don't use any spray or water
in a pan. Is
there something I can do to make a more tender
crust?
Ernie

Have you check the tempture of your oven.

Joe (:-)

Thanks for the idea Joe, but it is correct.
Ernie

"Ernie" wrote in message=20
. com...

[ ... ]

Dick, I think it would take a week in a plastic bag before=20
this crust got soft.

Not much would happen in a week that would not happen
in a couple of hours. But if you have baked the smithereens
out of your loaf, nothing will happen at all because there is
too little moisture left.

Another possibility is to cover the loaves with something that
keeps the moisture from escaping, while they are cooling.
Also, loaves can be rehydrated to an extent by placing them
under a cover with something damp, like wetted sponges or
dishtowels (beside, not on). Several hours of that will make=20
a difference.

Ernie, you do not want to know this, because it is simple-
minded. It is just that there may be someone simpleminded
out there who may follow this thread.

---
DickA