Hi,

I wanted to introduce myself as this is my first posting. I have just started to learn breadmaking and have found this site to be tremendously helpful and informative. I began by purchasing a Mini-Zojirushi in November and, never having made bread before, was amazed with what I could produce by just following directions. I never intended to go any further but the more recipes I made, the more I realized the limitations of a machine. It was daunting at first to go hands-on but with all the helpful people here and at other sites I have made some progress. Besides I'm a "gadget freak" and now there are so many new things to buy!

I wanted to share some pictures of what I am learning about the incredible interplay of factors that go into baking a quality bread. Hopefully they can help other newbies also appreciate them.

I made my first baguette today and am quite pleased with the result. I was able to buy a Baporama on eBay and baked the baguette in that. I also made a small roll from the same dough which I baked along side the Baporama pan out in the open in the oven on a baking stone. Although I have read about the importance of steam to make a good crust, I was amazed at the difference that steam in an enclosed space vs. a bare oven can make.

This first picture shows the finished baguette and next to it the little roll I baked out in the open (I was experimenting with it before trying to bake some Kaiser Rolls in the future). The baguette was baked for 30 minutes with the lid on (using ~1 oz of water in the pan) and 10 minutes with the lid off at 450°.

The next picture is just a close-up of the two breads showing huge difference in the crusts.

This a cross-section of the two with the roll on the left and the baguette on the right.

The roll crust looks about twice as thick and was barely cuttable while the baguette was nice and thin, and crunchy and a joy to eat. The crumb on the baguette was also much better developed.

So, I am enjoying learning all this stuff almost as much as I enjoy eating the bread. I do find, however, that the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know. I am looking forward to taking advantage of all the accumulated experience that is shared in this forum.

I have 5 SD breads, with a good representation of levain premix and straight no-knead, created after realizing I have made way too much starter. While they look marvelous, they suffer from a hard crust that I don't really like.  1) Is there anything I can do now to soften my breads? 2) At the point of use, how may I warm the bread so that it comes close to post-baking conditions? 

Thanks to oldcampcook for tips on the prophylactic treatment.

While I appreciate the crispy, GBD crust on more rustic breads, I am occasionally jonesing for an asian style bread. The kind that is light, airy and tender, with a soft and shiny crust. I've tried a few times, but so far I've failed. Any ideas on how to get this kind of crust? 

This weekend I baked the second batch of bread from my newly-minted sourdough starter (so new I haven't named it yet).  The first batch was edible, although the crust was not as crisp as I would have liked, and the holes in the crumb were uniform.

My second attempt fared much better.  The crust was crisp and blistered, and the crumb was riddled with variously-sized holes.  And I wish I could describe the taste!  Suffice it to say that when I went to put the rest of the bread away before bed, I found that my five year old had ripped the crumb out of the middle of the bread and polished it off.

Here's a picture:

Sourdough redux

Hi All,

I've recently started baking my own bread :) I'm still very new to this and so far have been using very simple/basic recipes. I've been trying to get my bread to turn out with really soft soft crust (like in bakeries or store brought bread). How do I do this pls? My mom loves those types of bread.

I've tried spreading some milk on the crust before baking, rubbing with butter after baking.. all these help, but i still can't get that degree of crust softness that you get from bakeries. The inside is lovely and soft though.

My recipe - 3 cups flour, 1 cup milk, 1 teaspoon yeast, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 teaspoons salt.

any advise please?

Thanks

I've baked several loaves of bread using the "My Daily Bread" recipe on this site. Every time it's come out very good but I can't get the crust right. When it comes out of the oven the crust looks perfect, dark brown, and crusty, but as it cools it gets paper thin and soft. Am I not baking it long enough, to long, or something else? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Norm (nbicomputers), in response to my question in his introduction topic, suggested I start a new topic. The question is: How do you get a crackly crust on a sour rye bread?

The sour rye I bake is based on George Greenstein's formula in "Secrets of a Jewish Baker." The formula below is what I actually made, though. The changes from Greenstein are: 1) I used instant yeast rather than active dry yeast, 2) I used whole rye rather than white rye to feed my rye sour, 3) I used 1T rather than 1/2 T of caraway seeds and 4) I used 2 1/2 tsp rather than 3 tsps of salt.