I've been using my bread machine to make the dough for breads, then i cook
it in the oven.. however, i find that when i cook it in the oven, it often
comes out with the crust way too hard.

The bread is excellent, but the crust is too hard.. what can i do to change
this?

What temperature do you bake it for and for how long?

On 28 Aug 2004 20:04:02 GMT, (Bev Medcalf) wrote:


>What temperature do you bake it for and for how long?

Hi Bev,

That varies so much as to be impossible to answer...

The time and temperature depend on the size of the loaves and the
ingredients. As a result, virtually any recipe that I have seen
specifies both.

Did yours?

All the best,

--
Kenneth

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

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 18:22:28 -0400, Jenn Ridley
> wrote:

>Kenneth > wrote:
>
>>On 28 Aug 2004 20:04:02 GMT, (Bev Medcalf) wrote:
>>
>>
>>>What temperature do you bake it for and for how long?
>>
>>Hi Bev,
>>
>>That varies so much as to be impossible to answer...
>>
>>The time and temperature depend on the size of the loaves and the
>>ingredients. As a result, virtually any recipe that I have seen
>>specifies both.
>
>The original poster (OP) said:
>>"I've been using my bread machine to make the dough for breads, then i cook
>>it in the oven.. however, i find that when i cook it in the oven, it often
>>comes out with the crust way too hard. "
>
> and Bev was asking for further information about the recipe the OP
>was using.
>
>(This is why quoting the pertinent parts of the message you're
>replying to is important.)

Well... She had me fooled... <g>

All the best,

--
Kenneth

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

NOTE: My Correct Address is in my signature (just remove the spaces).
On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 21:52:35 -0400, "Steph G.B" > wrote:

>"Bev Medcalf" > a écrit
...
>> What temperature do you bake it for and for how long?
>
>usually about 40-45 minutes at pretty high.. so at around 450 Farenheit.
>
>The ones i make the most often are sweet bread and italian bread, both using
>bread machine yeast.
>
Sounds like the heat is too high and you've got it in for too long.
Often it won't burn but will make the crust very thick and hard.

Check also with alt.bread.recipes - nice bunch over there.

--
Davida Chazan (The Chocolate Lady)
<davidac AT jdc DOT org DOT il>
~*~*~*~*~*~
"What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of
chocolate."
--Katharine Hepburn (May 12, 1907 - June 29, 2003)
~*~*~*~*~*~

"Steph G.B" > wrote in message
. ..
> "Bev Medcalf" > a écrit
> ...
> > What temperature do you bake it for and for how long?
>
> usually about 40-45 minutes at pretty high.. so at around 450 Farenheit.
>
> The ones i make the most often are sweet bread and italian bread, both
using
> bread machine yeast.
>

After making a 4-cup white- bread- recipe dough (1-1/2 T of oil) in the
bread machine which is 90 minutes in my machine (and the setting I use for
my pizza dough), if I take this dough out, shape it into 2 baguettes, and
let it rise in a french baguette pan (the kind with multiple miniscule holes
in it),, heat the oven to 425, spritz the loaves when I put them in and turn
the oven to 400 and bake for 20-22 minutes, these baguette crusts are the
worst EVER.

As I use this setting to make pizza dough a lot, I thought it would be a
simple matter to make a couple of loaves as above if I decided not to make a
pizza. I have shaped this before into a batard & a boule with the same
consequences, HARD crust. I have done this enough that I will not do it
anymore. I don't know why this happens. But it is an easy way to get a
replenishment for your bread crumbs or crutons.

Dee

thanks very much!

(Please NOTE: My correct e-mail address is in my Signature) On Sun, 29
Aug 2004 09:42:03 -0400, during the rec.food.baking Community News
Flash "Steph G.B" > reported:

>thanks very much!
>
You are welcome, but do stop by alt.bread.recipes since they are the
experts.

--
Davida Chazan (The Chocolate Lady)
<davidac AT jdc DOT org DOT il>
~*~*~*~*~*~
"What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of
chocolate."
--Katharine Hepburn (May 12, 1907 - June 29, 2003)
~*~*~*~*~*~
Links to my published poetry - http://davidachazan.homestead.com/
~*~*~*~*~*~

"Steph G.B" > wrote in message
. ..
> I've been using my bread machine to make the dough for breads, then i cook
> it in the oven.. however, i find that when i cook it in the oven, it often
> comes out with the crust way too hard.
>
> The bread is excellent, but the crust is too hard.. what can i do to
change
> this?
>
Hard crust means dry crust. Here are some causes and solutions. In the
first place lean doughs cause harder crusts. You can use fatter doughs to
reduce crust hardness. Even spreading some oil on the dough prior to baking
will tend to soften the crust.

Secondly, crusts get drier the longer and hotter they are baked. Baking for
a longer time at a lower temperature will tend to reduce dryness in the
crust while still baking the bread to the proper internal temperature.
Overbaking the bread, of course, will tend to dry the crust. You should
have a dark golden crust with an internal temperature in the finished bread
between, say, 195 and 210 degrees. Sometimes it takes a lot of
experimentation to get that right. Once you have it, you can record the
formula and reproduce it every time in the same oven.

Commercial bakers steam dough during the early part of the bake in order to
make the crusts thinner. You can reproduce that to some extent by either
putting a pan of water in the oven with the dough or spritzing the dough
several times in the first 10 minutes of baking.

I had the opposite problem today. I made a cinnamon raisin bread today
using a fairly fat dough that I use normally for making soft dinner rolls.
The finished loaf was way too soft and the crust way too thin and light. I
liked the flavor of the final product but not the texture. I know now that
I need to use a leaner dough next time. I'll probably play around with
removing the butter and shortening from the formula and adding an egg or
two. That should hit it about right. Go experiment. Very small changes in
the mixtures of baked goods often product very significant changes in the
finished product. Good luck

Fred
Foodie Forums
http://www.foodieforums.com

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 11:14:53 -0400, Steph G.B wrote:

> The bread is excellent, but the crust is too hard.. what can i do to change
> this?

You can also try using either an egg or milk wash instead of water.

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 11:14:53 -0400, Steph G.B wrote:

> The bread is excellent, but the crust is too hard.. what can i do to change
> this?

You can also try using either an egg or milk wash instead of water.

Hi: A light application of canolla oil spray (Pam) before putting the
shaped loaf in the oven will cause the crust to be soft.

Joe
"michael" > wrote in message
news
> On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 11:14:53 -0400, Steph G.B wrote:
>
>> The bread is excellent, but the crust is too hard.. what can i do to
>> change
>> this?
>
> You can also try using either an egg or milk wash instead of water.
>
>
>

Hi: A light application of canolla oil spray (Pam) before putting the
shaped loaf in the oven will cause the crust to be soft.

Joe
"michael" > wrote in message
news
> On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 11:14:53 -0400, Steph G.B wrote:
>
>> The bread is excellent, but the crust is too hard.. what can i do to
>> change
>> this?
>
> You can also try using either an egg or milk wash instead of water.
>
>
>

Hi: A light application of canolla oil spray (Pam) before putting the
shaped loaf in the oven will cause the crust to be soft.

Joe
"michael" > wrote in message
news
> On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 11:14:53 -0400, Steph G.B wrote:
>
>> The bread is excellent, but the crust is too hard.. what can i do to
>> change
>> this?
>
> You can also try using either an egg or milk wash instead of water.
>
>
>

"Steph G.B" > wrote:

>I've been using my bread machine to make the dough for breads, then i cook
>it in the oven.. however, i find that when i cook it in the oven, it often
>comes out with the crust way too hard.
>
>The bread is excellent, but the crust is too hard.. what can i do to change
>this?

It depends on whether the crust is hard because it's over baked, or
because it dried out when it was cooling.


You may want to try baking a little longer at a lower temperature.
That will slow down how fast the crust bakes, and should result in a
softer crust.

You may also want to try baking the bread as usual, but wrapping the
bread in a clean dish towel while it cools. That will keep the crust
from drying out.

My mom always brushed her bread with butter when she took it out of
the oven, and that worked as well.

jenn
--
Jenn Ridley :

"Steph G.B" > wrote:

>I've been using my bread machine to make the dough for breads, then i cook
>it in the oven.. however, i find that when i cook it in the oven, it often
>comes out with the crust way too hard.
>
>The bread is excellent, but the crust is too hard.. what can i do to change
>this?

It depends on whether the crust is hard because it's over baked, or
because it dried out when it was cooling.


You may want to try baking a little longer at a lower temperature.
That will slow down how fast the crust bakes, and should result in a
softer crust.

You may also want to try baking the bread as usual, but wrapping the
bread in a clean dish towel while it cools. That will keep the crust
from drying out.

My mom always brushed her bread with butter when she took it out of
the oven, and that worked as well.

jenn
--
Jenn Ridley :

"Steph G.B" > wrote:

>I've been using my bread machine to make the dough for breads, then i cook
>it in the oven.. however, i find that when i cook it in the oven, it often
>comes out with the crust way too hard.
>
>The bread is excellent, but the crust is too hard.. what can i do to change
>this?

It depends on whether the crust is hard because it's over baked, or
because it dried out when it was cooling.


You may want to try baking a little longer at a lower temperature.
That will slow down how fast the crust bakes, and should result in a
softer crust.

You may also want to try baking the bread as usual, but wrapping the
bread in a clean dish towel while it cools. That will keep the crust
from drying out.

My mom always brushed her bread with butter when she took it out of
the oven, and that worked as well.

jenn
--
Jenn Ridley :