February 25, 2007 - 5:52am
What's the secret to nice crust?
I own a small coffee shop and am trying to offer my own whole grain bread for sandwiches, along with the wraps and panini I currently offer.
I purchased a pullman pan because I want the slices to be uniform - less waste.
Question 1. I recently learned that the interior temp of bread should be 200. Is there agreement on that?
Question 2. I made a bread yesterday with Oatmeal, milk, honey and butter in it. The crust ended up too dark. Was one of these ingredients to blame?
Any thoughts on making sure the crust is light golden, not dark and hard.
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Q1: Depends on the type of bread. Enriched breads with milk and butter should be cooler, around 185-190. Lean breads with just water, salt, yeast and flour should be a little hotter, around 205-210. 200 is a reasonable average.
Q2: A bread with honey and milk will likely brown very easily. You could reduce the oven temperature 25 degrees. Or place the pan on a lower shelf, if it was just the top that got too dark.