Yeast baking

granuaille1

Hi there, any experts out there who use fresh yeast in baking. I'm new to the experience and so far cannot get the crust right. Turning out hard. Any ideas what is going wrong? Would appreciate any help. Thanks and have a nice day

Mr Magnolia

Try asking here in Cooking & Recipes:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=610

Ruu_Old

Moved from Newbies & FAQ.

rockbeer

Commercial bread ovens have steam injection to keep the crust moist. Without this it's difficult to stop it going tough. There are a couple of things you can try to improve things though:

1. Make sure you use proper bread flour. Regular plain flour loaves don't rise well and turn into bricks when you bake them.

2. Get a plant mister and spray a few squirts of water into the oven when you put the bread in and again about halfway through. Not as good as a proper steamer arrangement but much better than none at all.

You can even buy or make a contraption to do the job.

3. (My favourite): bake your loaves under a big iron or earthenware bowl. Make sure it's heatproof, obviously. I start mine off on a pre-heated terracotta tile under the bowl at high heat for about half an hour, then remove the bowl to finish off at a reduced heat. Fantastic crust, try it!

hth, good luck.

noby

I've also heard of placing a small dish of water in the bottom of the oven.


For brown breads I wrap them in a damp tea-towel after taking them out of the oven. Would this work for yeast bread?

granuaille1

I'll try the mister. By the way what is 'proper bread flour' and where can I buy it? I usually use plain flour in baking. So far the yeast has been a disaster and I had to buy a kilo of it as it cant be bought in small quantities anymore. I have frozen most of it, dont know if it'll work when thawed. Thks again for your help Granuaille

rockbeer wrote: »

Commercial bread ovens have steam injection to keep the crust moist. Without this it's difficult to stop it going tough. There are a couple of things you can try to improve things though:

1. Make sure you use proper bread flour. Regular plain flour loaves don't rise well and turn into bricks when you bake them.

2. Get a plant mister and spray a few squirts of water into the oven when you put the bread in and again about halfway through. Not as good as a proper steamer arrangement but much better than none at all.

You can even buy or make a contraption to do the job.

3. (My favourite): bake your loaves under a big iron or earthenware bowl. Make sure it's heatproof, obviously. I start mine off on a pre-heated terracotta tile under the bowl at high heat for about half an hour, then remove the bowl to finish off at a reduced heat. Fantastic crust, try it!

hth, good luck.

granuaille1

Thanks Noby for the tip but believe me when I tell you no damp tea towel would soften the crust I'm talking about. But it does work for brown breads. Will try the dish of water in the oven. Thanks

noby wrote: »

I've also heard of placing a small dish of water in the bottom of the oven.


For brown breads I wrap them in a damp tea-towel after taking them out of the oven. Would this work for yeast bread?

P. Breathnach

granuaille1 wrote: »

By the way what is 'proper bread flour' and where can I buy it?

It's usually labelled as "strong flour", and is widely available. I buy mine in Superquinn.