Hi again
baked this loaf last night for breakfast this morning. Was still trying to achieve the ultimate thin but crispy crust. The past bake were ok but crust were too crispy or tough and does give our jaws a good workout. Any advice? By the way I bake the dough in a Dutch oven, in a conventional oven for 230c for 20mins, lower heat down to 200c for a further 20mins. Hydration at 75% bulk ferment for 2.5hrs and 2hrs proof before baking. Any advice? Will try to posy the crumb shot next
Replies
Crumb shot, not many holes but the crumbs were very spongy and moist. Just perfect for breakfast with a little bit of butter. Crust is chewy and leathery but not too tough as previous bake. Still a Long way to go to achieve the perfect loaf.
Hi SGgirl,
Your bread looks great.
In commercial ovens, a thin crust is created by exposing the newly loaded dough to steam for only a brief period of time before venting the oven. In your dutch oven environment, the dough is being baked in a humid environment initially, and then a steam environment later in the bake and for quite a long period of time - unless you remove the lid at some point (?).
The steam/moisture can penetrate deeper in to the dough producing the chewy/thicker crust you describe. The crust is actually the result of the malliard reaction and I would think that steam/moisture penetrating deeper in to your dough encourages the malliard reaction to occur at deeper levels.
Try removing your dutch oven lid to create a dry environment after an initial steam build up, or bake free-form after proving in a banneton/couche or similar.
http://bakerpedia.com/processes/maillard-reaction/
Let us know how you go.