Hi all,

I have a new Italian convection twin-fan assisted oven with steam function. Very nice, very even bake but oh so f-a-s-t!

Problem is: If I follow recipes times and temperatures to the letter, my breads,pastries and cakes are overbaked and the recommended bake time is not yet up.

Question is:

Is it better to:

1. Retain the advised baking temperature and reduce the bake time?  Or,

2. Retain the advised bake time but reduce the temp by approx 10-15%?

3. Or a combo of both?

Any advice or previous experience of this?

Thanks

Hello all - 

just finished a rehab of my starter from a dormant period of 4 months

so this is my second loaf, its been a struggle getting back into the rhythm - 

the real issue here is that i seem to always be guessing at baking time. the loaves come out chewy (which i have grown fond of) and even after a long cooling period when i finally them open they still seem to be somewhat moist and tender. even when i used an instant read thermometer i had the same problem. 

The Loaves.

83% Hydration Loaf 

Baking Time break Down

Preheat oven w/ stone @ 500 dF for 30-40 minutes (w/oven thermometer)

Bake at 425 for first 10 minutes

drop to 400 and bake for another ~30 minutes give or take depending on the loaf. 

This weekend I baked Peter Reinhart's raisin focaccia from his pizza book.  I was intrigued with this recipe, since many on this site have created variations using a sourdough starter.  To keep it simple, I decided to make the recipe as stated in the book, thinking that I might make the sourdough variation some other time.  I made some small mistake making the recipe, since I at first did not understand how I was supposed to spread the dough into the pan, but otherwise I was true to the recipe.  The recipe calls for halving the basic focaccia dough, and adding soaked raisins and so