The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Buns didn't not brown

LadyMerryn's picture
LadyMerryn

Buns didn't not brown

I recently bought unbleached flour. Ive baked buns twice now with the new flour and both times the tops of the bread buns were an off white color.  I used white sugar. The bottoms were browned. 

Normally I use generic all purpose flour and honey for buns. They've always browned very nicely. 

It was very disappointing to say the least. I don't like baking bread with unbleached flour. I'm glad it was just a small bag I purchased. 

I just wanted to share my experience. I don't have any questions. 

drogon's picture
drogon

bake time & temperatures, etc.

Here in the UK, bleached flour has been banned since 1992 and I am glad of that. I've never had any issues with buns browning though. My usual small bun bake is at 200°C for 12 minutes although they sometimes get a minute more.

Cheers

-Gordon

LadyMerryn's picture
LadyMerryn

Normally with the bleached all purpose flour I bake at 204 C for twenty minutes. Buns brown nicely. 

With the unbleached flour I baked at the same temp but three minutes longer. I also brushed the tops with milk. 

Wow bleached flour banned? Maybe I shouldnt be using bleached flour. 

 

pmccool's picture
pmccool

And was the previous flour malted?  If so, that's one possible reason that browning isn't happening as before. 

Paul

LadyMerryn's picture
LadyMerryn

I don't know what malted is, if it has anything to do with molasses, I don't see either in the ingredient lists. The only difference between the two flour is the peroxide in the bleached flour.  

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

If it had malt in it, that would show up on the ingredient list. It's essentially a bit of malted (sprouted) grain flour which will have a small amount of enzyme activity as a result. It might show up as "amylase".

I regularly make buns (white and whole wheat) and use unbleached AP or bread flour all the time (never used bleached flour, actually). They brown just fine. The white buns are flour, water, salt and yeast. I do use a pre-ferment (some of the flour, water and a touch of yeast are mixed up and left to bubble for around eight hours, then mixed with the rest of the water, flour and yeast). This might have an effect on browning as the pre-ferment stage converts some of the starches into sugars.

Strange, at any rate! Thanks for sharing.

pmccool's picture
pmccool

Malted barley flour is often added in very small quantities to various wheat flours.  It is a diastatic malt whose enzymes convert starches to sugars.  Those sugars improve the browning of the baked goods.  Some countries permit the addition of the amylase enzyme to flours for the same purpose.

"Malting" is the process of allowing a grain to sprout, then drying it at elevated temperatures.  Depending on the final use (brewing, distilling, or baking), the kernels may be left whole, or crushed, or milled into flour.  The are plenty of posts here on TFL that describe the process if you want to dig into it further.

Paul

Paul

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

or a few drops of honey to the milk for brushing might help the buns brown sooner.  

LadyMerryn's picture
LadyMerryn

Both unbleached and bleached flour I have have amylase as ingredients. 

Im going to buy another unbleached today  and regular vs quick rise yeast. 

I love baking bread. i smashed my dough against the table rather than kneading. Soul soothing. 

suave's picture
suave

"If allowed to sit in the open for a period of time, flour will oxidize, glutenin will become gluten"...

Ignorance is ignorance, no matter how well-intentioned.

tgrayson's picture
tgrayson

You should not use bleached flour to make bread.

The lack of browning has nothing to do with using unbleached flour, which is what pretty much everyone uses to make bread.

You might have overproofed the buns or you may not have preheated the oven adequately. Pictures would help.

LadyMerryn's picture
LadyMerryn

I ditched the generic unbleached. I bought Robin Hood unbleached flour, a popular Canadian brand. I'm now using regular yeast vs quick rise as well. Buns are now fantastic!    I am stayiny away from bleached flour. 

Thank you to everyone for your input. 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

easily been the quick yeast.  I think that yeast is made for one rise only so one skips the bulk or has a very short one.  

Too much yeast could eat up the sugars and reduce browning.  Try the quick yeast again but be ready to skip the bulk rise and proof sooner.  Any notes on the package of quick yeast?   

gerhard's picture
gerhard

Too much yeast could eat up the sugars and reduce browning.  Try the quick yeast again but be ready to skip the bulk rise and proof sooner.  Any notes on the package of quick yeast?   

Plus the fact that enzymes won't have time to convert starches to sugars, kind of a double strike.

Gerhard