How do you back a proper nice crusty pan?

0verblood

I've tried a few recipies on youtube, it's just impossible to get that nice "grinder" texture and crust. Can anyone help me? For those who can bake nice grinder style crusty bread, what are the ingredients and methods??

Mr Magnolia

I'm not sure what the 'grinder' texture refers to but I've cooked this Vienna loaf a few times and really enjoy it.

Also, could you please reduce the size of your signature it's above and beyond what's permitted and really obstructs the flow of a thread. Thanks.

Darkginger

I'm not sure what you mean by 'grinder' either - but I've found I get a crustier...erm...crust if I put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven when baking, and also spray the loaf with one of those plant misters (with water in it) before baking. I just use a 330ml water, 2 tbs oil or butter, 520g strong white bread flour, 1.5 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 7g dried yeast, dough - kneaded, proved (proofed? proven?), painted with an egg wash, sprinkled with poppy seeds and slashed with a bread knife, then baked at top oven temp (250 degrees or so) for about 20 mins, and another 20-30 mins at 200 degrees.

I bake this every other day or so and it comes out rather nicely crusty. Not sure if it's what you're looking for though Sometimes I add 2 tbs of dried milk powder, but tbh, it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference. It's a plain, white, everyday bread.

Minder

...and don't use the fan on the oven. So oven at 250c without fan, with previously advised tray of water. Turn the oven down to 220c after about 15 to 20 minutes.

0verblood

What exactly does the tray of water a the bottom do? How does it make the crust... more crushty?

SBWife

0verblood wrote: »

What exactly does the tray of water a the bottom do? How does it make the crust... more crushty?

It creates steam in the oven which when it settles on the surface of the dough dissolve some of the sugars in the dough. This makes it easier for the sugars to caramelize during the remainder of the baking time. The caramelization of the sugars is what makes the crust crusty.

The steam also delays the formation of the crust until after the yeast has finished it's final rise (which happens in the heat of the oven) this makes for a lighter textured bread and stops the crust from spliting.

Prenderb

Minder wrote: »

...and don't use the fan on the oven. So oven at 250c without fan, with previously advised tray of water. Turn the oven down to 220c after about 15 to 20 minutes.

Interesting - what's the reasoning behind not using the fan?

SBWife

Water won't get a chance to settle on the loaf and dissolve the sugars if the fan has it's way.

0verblood

Right, I'll try this crushty recipe during the week and report back here. Thanks!

niamh4626

I only have a fan oven, is there any way to stop the fan?

Sofiztikated

Darkginger wrote: »

I'm not sure what you mean by 'grinder' either - but I've found I get a crustier...erm...crust if I put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven when baking, and also spray the loaf with one of those plant misters (with water in it) before baking. I just use a 330ml water, 2 tbs oil or butter, 520g strong white bread flour, 1.5 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 7g dried yeast, dough - kneaded, proved (proofed? proven?), painted with an egg wash, sprinkled with poppy seeds and slashed with a bread knife, then baked at top oven temp (250 degrees or so) for about 20 mins, and another 20-30 mins at 200 degrees.

I bake this every other day or so and it comes out rather nicely crusty. Not sure if it's what you're looking for though Sometimes I add 2 tbs of dried milk powder, but tbh, it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference. It's a plain, white, everyday bread.

I don't REALLY like shop bought breads, such as pan, but really like crustier breads such as vienna. However, due to the size, more often than not it goes hard/soft before I eat it all.

If I make this recipe, can I freeze a portion of the dough, or does that screw it all up? I just ask because if I have the dough made I'd be more inclined to use it, rather than making from scratch.

Darkginger

Sure you can freeze it, but you can also divide the quantities in two, and just make half of it...

Prenderb

niamh4626 wrote: »

I only have a fan oven, is there any way to stop the fan?

There usually is a "convection only" option on ovens - there is on mine for sure.

Prenderb

Sofiztikated wrote: »

I don't REALLY like shop bought breads, such as pan, but really like crustier breads such as vienna. However, due to the size, more often than not it goes hard/soft before I eat it all.

If I make this recipe, can I freeze a portion of the dough, or does that screw it all up? I just ask because if I have the dough made I'd be more inclined to use it, rather than making from scratch.

Try baking the bread and freezing half of it? That's what I do with my soda bread - make 3x and freeze 2. It doesn't seem to do much damage, though it might be different with white.

BaZmO*

Darkginger wrote: »

I'm not sure what you mean by 'grinder' either - but I've found I get a crustier...erm...crust if I put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven when baking, and also spray the loaf with one of those plant misters (with water in it) before baking. I just use a 330ml water, 2 tbs oil or butter, 520g strong white bread flour, 1.5 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 7g dried yeast, dough - kneaded, proved (proofed? proven?), painted with an egg wash, sprinkled with poppy seeds and slashed with a bread knife, then baked at top oven temp (250 degrees or so) for about 20 mins, and another 20-30 mins at 200 degrees.

I bake this every other day or so and it comes out rather nicely crusty. Not sure if it's what you're looking for though Sometimes I add 2 tbs of dried milk powder, but tbh, it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference. It's a plain, white, everyday bread.

Gave this a bash earlier. Really nice bread and easy to do. First time making proper bread (I'd made those easy, "just add water/milk" types when I was younger, which weren't great) so I was surprised at good it turned out.

Didn't have poppy seeds so I just used sesame seeds. I also used the dish of water in the bottom shelf of the oven. I only have a fan oven so I don't know if that made much of a difference to the overall crustiness, but I think it might have been crustier if I gave it a bit more time cooking, which I will do next time. My oven gets quite hot so I think 250 for the start off time was too high cos after about 10 mins it took on a lot of colour and I was afraid I'd burn it, so I reduced it to about 210 for 20 mins and then 200 for another 25 mins. Think I'll be a bit braver next time.


Picture is not the best as I took it on the camera phone, but ya get the idea.

Sofiztikated

Darkginger wrote: »

Sure you can freeze it, but you can also divide the quantities in two, and just make half of it...

Cheers. As I mentioned, if I have the dough made, I'd use it, but if not, I mightn'y be arsed.

Prenderb wrote: »

Try baking the bread and freezing half of it? That's what I do with my soda bread - make 3x and freeze 2. It doesn't seem to do much damage, though it might be different with white.

Hmm, might leave the crust a bit less crusty, but no matter.

0verblood

That looks feckin lovely bazmo!

SBWife

Good job Bazmo..the other thing you can do to increase the crust to bread ratio is to make a braided/platted loaf.

Darkginger

I'm really pleased the recipe worked out well for you - and I have to say that looks exactly like my loaves do. I was actually nervous in case I'd left something out of the recipe, or explained it wrong, but it seems not. May you continue to have success with it!