The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Crust goes soft

cinnamon's picture
cinnamon

Crust goes soft

Hello all,

I've been baking my daily bread for over 6 years using the sourdough starter I've made then. I've had 3 kitchens (and 3 different ovens) since I started baking my breads.

1 - Bought house - existing kitchen, 

2 - Remodelled house - brand new kitchen

3 - Moved to a rental house - basic kitchen

In this new house the oven is somewhat "basic" i.e no steam function, timer, fan etc. My previous was a Neff oven with all the bells and whistles. Missing that oven desperately!

My loaves are still very bouncy and tasty and well baked, however the crust that feels and sounds rock hard as it comes out of the oven, goes soft within half hour. It's not a huge issue and some of my friends and family like it nice and soft but I do miss the crusty sourdough artisan look and feel.

I've been using the same flour so no change there - it has to be down to the oven. Any ideas?

 

lepainSamidien's picture
lepainSamidien

I find that my loaves, too, go soft after a little while from coming out of the oven. I imagine it's the steam from the inside of the bread trying to escape through the crust, and saturating it along the way.

You could bake the bread a little longer to harden the outer shell. Alternatively, turn to your good ol' toaster and the crust should go nice and crispy again.

cinnamon's picture
cinnamon

Makes sense with the steam inside. Thank you. Again it's probably due to lack of fan in the oven to take away the moisture out of the bread.

But I think if I leave it any longer, it'd definitely burn, as it comes out of the oven well over brown. 

hanseata's picture
hanseata

Leave the baked breads 5 to 10 minutes longer in the switched-off oven with the door slightly ajar. That should do the trick.

Karin

cinnamon's picture
cinnamon

Thanks! I'll try that.