Help !! 
My loaves are always too dark, don't get me wrong we love the taste and the crunch but they just dint look as pretty. I always bake at max for first 10 mins then turn down to 230 for 20 mins. When i try to adjust my inside always feels too wet and the outside is still quite dark.............any advise will help but don't get to technical on me it goes over my head. 
regards
Linda
Replies
This is a matter of opinion. To me they are not to dark and they look great.
Thanks LeadDog its just that the golden brown ones look prettier. Same as when we girlies get a car its the colour that really matters not the make.
Hi Linda,
Perhaps you could try starting your bake at 230 for the first ten minutes and then reduce to 210 and 190 over the next two ten minute intervals. Maybe extend your bake to 40 minutes as well.
If that is still too dark for you then drop the set points by 10 or 20 degrees and if necessary extend the time further.
Each oven is different and you just need to experiment to find what suits you in terms of the colour and finish that you want. As a general rule, colour is determined by temperature (provided that there are sugars present for the necessary chemical reactions) and crust thickness is determined by baking time. The lower temperatures will require longer baking times to cook through.
Hope this helps and let us know how you go.
Farinam
Lenohbabe there is a famous French Baker whose name I forget said you really can't over bake a loaf of bread. He liked to get his bread as dark as possible. The browning of the bread is from the caramelizing of the sugars in the bread. The darker the loaf the richer the flavor. I understand that not all people are even going to care about the flavor of a dark loaf of bread but yours got me drooling :-)~~~~~ Try what Farinam suggested and you will get it figured out sooner or later how to get the color and loaf that you want.
My loaves are always around this colour and taste great. Unless you are baking with white flour only this is a great colour - with all white you can get a little more golden.
Thanks you for your tips. I will give it a go...although I do love the taste and texture I get when my loaves turn out dark. and would hate to lose that just to get a more golden colour.
My loaves are cooked in around 20-25 mins so not as long to wait before I can cut into them
I think my oven must be quite high in temperature, its fan assisted, so that's what gives me the dark colour so quickly. I usually bake 3 - 4 loaves at a time and they all come out with a fairly even colour.
That makes sense Old Possum if its all white flour they would be lighter looking loaves. I am realising that the darker loaf might well be the best option. Its just that ive never baked a golden or paler coloured loaf yet and you know the old saying "a girl always wants whats shes never had "
Thanks everyone for your comments helps to improve a newbies skills.
regards
Linda
Unless your loaves are very small that's very fast baking which would explain the rapid browning. I bake the average 800gm loaf for <>45 minutes, (preheated to 275, down to 240 when loaf goes in) 30 minutes under cover and then 220 or so for the last 15, watching to ensure it doesn't get too brown though it's very hard to overbake bread. Also, I know it's hard but it's better if you can leave the loaves for at least 12 hours before you cut them to allow the full flavour to develop.