May 31, 2017 - 8:24am
Strange Texture on top of white loaf
Hi, I have started to get results like the picture shows, and I wonder what I am doing wrong? Previously for years my loafs turned out perfectly smooth but the last 7 or 8 have been like this. They come out of the oven seemingly fine, but as they cool down this happens.
It's like the crust is being sucked in from underneath. It also seems the structure is collapsing sometimes internally leaving pockets beneath the crust. I posted this on reddit before and no one there seemed to have any good ideas about what caused this either.
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i've never seen this before! the only thing I can think of is maybe the bread is over proofed and when bread comes out of the oven in general into a cooler environement, the insides contract pulling the crust in with it. A lot of over proofed loaves develop flying crusts (a gap under the crust layer) as they cool. Overproofed bread tends to collapse in the center which might cause the excessive cracking?
As sadkitchen mentioned overproofong may be the cause. If its proofed well then it will go up and only go up. If over proofed the little bubbles will burst and it begins to sink which is what looks like has happened here. It only takes 20 minutes and you are no longer in the rise zone and entering the falling zone :(
Thanks for the replies, the overproofing thing is something I'll have to watch out for in future. Thanks :)
A crumb shot can be very helpful in determining the cause. Your crust probably "sang" a lot as it crackled. Usually a desirable trait in a lean loaf like a baguette.
http://imgur.com/a/oZ1ux
First image is this loaf, second image is another loaf that had this problem though not as severe. It definitely crackled a lot as it was cooling.