March 5, 2007 - 3:45pm
Top of bread flat - why?
I've been using a wonderful recipe for wholewheat bread (not a breadmachine one).
The last 2 loaves have rsien well but the tops haven't been dome shaped...in other words the top is flat, even a bit sunken down the middle.
Does anyone know what causes this please?
Thanks in advance!
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It has been my experience that the flat or slightly sunken tops are usually due to overproofing. Hope this helps.
Wayne
If it's really overproofed then maybe it is best not to slash at all. That way you don't run the risk of it collapsing as you slash, as it may be very fragile already.
L_M
I agree that it sounds overproofed. The time I am most likely to overproof bread is when I make whole grain bread and am trying to coax just a little more rise out of it. Then the top collapses, and sometimes I get bigger holes right under the top crust. I have never found any good fix for overproofed bread.
If I am concerned that my bread isn't rising enough (like with lots of whole grains), I often don't slash the loaves. I find that they tend to rise up more if they are not slashed, and out more if they are slashed. This won't work with bread that I expect lots of oven spring from, because it will rip the crust. But for bread with little oven spring, it seems to encourage that spring to go upward, rather than sideways.
Thank you.
Overproofing sounds like the reason then as the loaf was rising so well I left it 'just a little longer'.
Still very, very tasty though!