November 15, 2012 - 11:11pm
Top crust seperate from loaf
The top crust of my loaves seperate from the rest of the bread. Why does that happen? I've read that it can be overrisen or underrisen? Sounds very contradictory. I autolyse for 2 hours, kneaded for minimum 15min and then stretch-and-fold twice. Proof for 1 hour and then baked. Please help.
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Ilse,
If you have not yet, search the term "flying crust". If that fails to answer your question then post your recipe here.
Jeff
they were called 'blowing the roof off' :-)
This is a common problem when the top of the crust drys out during the final proof. The rest of the bread surface is kept moist because its in contact woth something that keeps it moist. When it goes into the oven the top is already dry and the crust is set. The rest of the loaf starts to expand and since the top was already dry it cant expand with it. Simply spraying with water when it goes in isnt sufficient enough. Cover the loaf with a damp towel during final rise, make sure its a non-fuzzy kind. Then even a light spray with water before it goes into the oven and something to create steam in the oven once its loaded (a quick spraying of the side of the oven with the spray bottle will create a bit of steam). You should get some good results with that. Keep us updated on your results.
Thank you, I've just put the loaves into the oven. Got your message too late :-) but if the crust does the same again, I will try your method. I actually do cover my loaves with plastic at final proof. Will keep you posted. Thanks.
What were your results from the bake?
A "flying" crust can also be a sign of overproofing. Use the poke test to determine when to bake - watch the dough not the clock :)
Thanks Manna, my bread turned out beautiful! Someone else also mentioned that the problem could be that the dough was not properly shaped. I then watched a youtube video on the shaping of sandwich loaves and that seemed to be the problem. I have another problem though - the crumb of the top half is more open than the bottom half. What can that be?
That could be an issue with proofing. What kind of bread are you making. A recipe would help also.
Hi Ilse,
This is usually a sign that your dough has not been properly fermented, at the bulk stage. Bulk proof and knockback should even out the fermentation better. Otherwise most of the activity will be in the upper part of the loaf, and the lower portion wil bake up with a tight crumb. Even a sequence of stretch and folds throughout bulk proof should help to eliminate this problem.
A flying crust is a sign that your bread is underproofed. It occurs when the yeast is still vigorously active, but the dough has not been fully ripened to become strong and extensible. Thus there is a sudden kick from the yeast as the bread hits the oven. The dough bursts because the gluten does not have sufficient extensibility to cope with this sudden jump. The problem identified by MANNA may well produce the same result, but that is caused by lack of care in looking after the dough during final proof. Skinning on the dough surface is just a "no-no", except for doughnuts, apparently!
Best wishes
Andy