When I bake the sourdough bread it comes out fine, except the holes are
small and uniform throughout. The rise is fine and the taste is great,
so that's fine with me. I just had a question about how to get crustier
crust. I have been using an egg white wash up till now, but wanted to
know if anyone had any tips on the crust. I read about a wash using
cornstarch and water and was going to try that next. I thought someone
might have tried this and could let me know how it worked. Thanks!

On Mar 4, 11:51 am, Mary LaBonte > wrote:
> When I bake the sourdough bread it comes out fine, except the holes are
> small and uniform throughout. The rise is fine and the taste is great,
> so that's fine with me. I just had a question about how to get crustier
> crust. I have been using an egg white wash up till now, but wanted to
> know if anyone had any tips on the crust. I read about a wash using
> cornstarch and water and was going to try that next. I thought someone
> might have tried this and could let me know how it worked. Thanks!

My guess is that you will get a few responses with advise on steam,
stones and so forth. Probably most of it will be good. All of it will
be interesting <g>. Couple of things you might want to consider...

Handling... are you preparing the dough properly just before final
proof. Is the surface "skin" properly tensioned so that it will make a
nice crust? Lots of baking books have pictures of the final folding
and rounding of doughs. They usually talk about shape and crumb
issues, but getting surface tension right helps a lot here.

Ripening... is your dough really ripe when it goes to the oven or has
it merely had it's two rises... The longer I bake bread, the more I am
convinced that it is the quality of ripeness that really matters.
Maturing a dough for 4 hours at 80 degrees is different from 12 hours
at 60 degrees. The proofed volume might be the same... but the
finished loaves are not the same. Aging a dough correctly improves
just about every aspect... including the crust.

Mary LaBonte wrote:
> When I bake the sourdough bread it comes out fine, except the holes are
> small and uniform throughout. The rise is fine and the taste is great,
> so that's fine with me. I just had a question about how to get crustier
> crust. I have been using an egg white wash up till now, but wanted to
> know if anyone had any tips on the crust. I read about a wash using
> cornstarch and water and was going to try that next. I thought someone
> might have tried this and could let me know how it worked.
>
In general, the more you rise and punch down the dough, the finer the
crumb. I suggest less handling. Perhaps, forming your loaves
immediately after kneading and a brief rest rather than after a first
rise and a knock-down would help.

As to crustier, simple breads tend to be crustier than rich breads. So,
if you are putting oils or sweeteners in your dough, that might not be
helping.

Next, if a bread isn't baked enough, there is a lot of moisture in the
bread that will come out as the bread cools. Through the crust.
Softening it. Skip the "tap it on the bottom and see if it sounds
hollow" test and test with a chef's thermometers. Most people say that
bread is done at about 205F at sea level.

Next, when bread is removed from the oven, it needs to cool on a wire
rack so it won't be in contact with any impervious surfaces. When I
leave bread in a loaf pan or on a sheet pan for too long, the bread will
get soggy.

Almost finally, putting bread in a plastic bag is very destructive to
any crust.

Before we get into my usual ramble that baking is a balancing act, its
worth mentioning that many oven thermostats are off. So you should
invest in an oven thermometer. Make sure your oven is at the right
temperature when you put the bread in - I don't care for the "start with
a cold oven" techniques. (Which is, perhaps, based on my near obsession
that I be able to make back to back bakes that are the same... and it
takes a long time for the oven to cool between bakes. But different
ovens heat at different rates, so it is a bit too variable a technique
for me to be enthusiastic about.)

Back to the balancing act. It takes time to bake the crumb, because it
takes time for the heat of the oven to penetrate the dough and turn it
into crumb. If your crumb is underdone, you have to leave it in the
oven longer. If your crumb is overdone, you have to bake it less time
next time around.

However, the crust is controlled more by the temperature than the time.
If you want a darker crust, turn the heat up 25F or so. If you want a
lighter crust, turn it down.

The catch is.. the two are related. If you reduce the heat, you may
have to increase the time. Take notes, adjust as needed, and soon
you'll bake bread that looks and tastes the way you want it to.

As a final comment - Professor Calvel always said you can't burn bread.
He wasn't quite right, but most people do underbake their bread. Most
of bread's taste is in the crust, and if its underdone, the taste
doesn't develop. So, try baking the bread 5 minutes longer than you
thought you should. Taste it, try it. See if maybe you want to go
another 5 minutes next time. A crust can become quite dark without
being burned.

Enjoy!
Mike
--
Mike Avery mavery at mail dot otherwhen dot com
part time baker ICQ 16241692
networking guru AIM, yahoo and skype mavery81230
wordsmith

Once seen on road signs all over the United States:
Statistics prove
Near and far
That folks who
Drive like crazy
--Are!
Burma-Shave

On Sun, 04 Mar 2007 12:37:05 -0700, Mike Avery
> wrote:

>Perhaps, forming your loaves
>immediately after kneading and a brief rest rather than after a first
>rise and a knock-down would help.

Hi,

PMJI but...

The OP might also consider forming the loaves with no
kneading at all.

Just mix the ingredients enough to assure that there is no
dry flour. Then let time work its magic.

That is likely to produce loaves with a coarser crumb.

All the best,
--
Kenneth

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

On 4 Mar, 19:37, Mike Avery > wrote:
..
> Before we get into my usual ramble that baking is a balancing act, its
> worth mentioning that many oven thermostats are off. So you should
> invest in an oven thermometer.
......
> Mike Avery

; -) Classic Mike,

We know what you mean. : -)

Jim

"Mike Avery" > wrote in message
news:mailman.2.1173037028.99073.rec.food.sourdough @mail.otherwhen.com...

....

>
> Almost finally, putting bread in a plastic bag is very destructive to any
> crust.

It would be if the bread was warm when it was put in but putting cold bread
into a plastic bag to freese it doesn't sorten the crust. In my experience
even when the loaf is brought to room temperature inside the closed bag its
crust is a crisp as when it was first baked.
>
>
> As a final comment - Professor Calvel always said you can't burn bread.
> He wasn't quite right, but most people do underbake their bread. Most of
> bread's taste is in the crust, and if its underdone, the taste doesn't
> develop.

I agree with that.

Mary

On Mar 4, 9:51 am, Mary LaBonte > wrote:
> When I bake the sourdough bread it comes out fine, except the holes are
> small and uniform throughout. The rise is fine and the taste is great,
> so that's fine with me. I just had a question about how to get crustier
> crust. I have been using an egg white wash up till now, but wanted to
> know if anyone had any tips on the crust. I read about a wash using
> cornstarch and water and was going to try that next. I thought someone
> might have tried this and could let me know how it worked. Thanks!

The best crust I can make is by misting the bread after forming and
placing dough on a piece of parchment, then draping a wet cotton towel
over it while it proofs. I slide it into a 500 degree oven, then turn
down the temp after more misting.

I guess it should be noted that "good crust" may be a bit subjective,
like anything regarding taste.

Thanks for instructive reply. I don't get cold oven technique either.
Haven't tried it but it seems like bread would collapse somewhat. It
would seem to me that if the bread formed a hard crust in a hot oven it
would help maintain a better (subjective term again) shape. I already
cook bread in a 400 degree oven or so. Hotter has produced a lot better
result, but I will try your other suggestions. Thanks.

Just my 2 cents. I always start my bread in a cold oven. Bread does great
with good rise (I cook about 375 for 40 minutes). I also store my bread in
plastic bags on the counter and eat on it for days. It does not make the
crust too soft since I let the bread completely cool. Any extra bread goes
in the freezer until I am ready to start munching on it. I have tried
storing in a bread keeper, but the bread gets stale too quickly for me.


"Mary LaBonte" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks for instructive reply. I don't get cold oven technique either.
> Haven't tried it but it seems like bread would collapse somewhat. It
> would seem to me that if the bread formed a hard crust in a hot oven it
> would help maintain a better (subjective term again) shape. I already
> cook bread in a 400 degree oven or so. Hotter has produced a lot better
> result, but I will try your other suggestions. Thanks.

Well I have the best crust by spraying the loaf right before placing
in a 500 degree oven. I use a stone and a stone lid. This has made it
turn out beautiful (results were not as good before I did it this
way.

I am new here, look forward to learning from others.

Breezy

wrote:

> Well I have the best crust by spraying the loaf right before placing
> in a 500 degree oven. I use a stone and a stone lid. This has made it
> turn out beautiful (results were not as good before I did it this
> way.
>
> I am new here, look forward to learning from others.
>
> Breezy
What is a stone? A baking stone. And what is a stone lid? Is this a bakeing
stone in the top of the oven?

Joe Umstead

>
> What is a stone? A baking stone. And what is a stone lid? Is this a bakeing
> stone in the top of the oven?
>
> Joe Umstead

I replyed but it is not showing, I am new to this format so maybe I
did something wrong.

I use pampered chef stones, I used to sell them so I have a big
collection, plus they are pretty easy to find at thrift stores. I
don't feel as bad if I break one with shock if I only paid $5. This
has not happened since I started using parchment though.

I use a large round pizza with a bowl/lid .

Wendy