Pandoro internal temperature
What is the correct internal temperature for pandoro?
The recipe I use says to bake the pandoro in a convection oven at 325°F for 35 minutes: "The loaves should be a rich golden brown and their internal temperature should be 185F (http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2009/12/15/pandoro)." Other recipes say 190°, but most don't mention internal temperature at all, just baking time and crust color.
My pandoro always measures nearly 205°F on an Instapen (I used an infrared thermometer to verify that both the oven and Instapen are accurate). Does this mean they are overbaked? I hesitate to experiment because this bread takes so darned long to make!
For that matter, why do different breads require different internal temperatures? Isn't there a specific temperature at which flour becomes cooked?
Janet
is generally considered the ideal temperature. Overbaking can lead to loss of flavors, that in a very rich dough like pandoro is a serious flaw.
Another possible mistake is baking at home in convection mode: generally it leads to excessive dry-outs, while sweet doughs (and pandoro in particular) should have some residual moistness. I'm not saying that baking pandoro in convection mode is always a mistake, but home ovens generally don't do a good job in convection mode unless you have a rotating dish underneath. If you can bake in conventional mode you had better prefer it over convection!
A gentle 160°C is the perfect baking temperature, especially if you use only the lower heater (I *always* do it).
Is there anything in dish? And is 94°C the correct temperature for all breads, or just pandoro-type breads?
Janet
that makes the difference, but the rotation.
In real convection mode the air is heated by the heating element around the fan, in practice the oven works like a hair dryer! If you keep the hair dryer fixed on the same spot your head will burn very soon, so will the bread in the oven. It's only the rotation that makes the bread bake through without burning on the side facing the fan. I have both a convection wall oven and a combo convection microwave made by Sharp. Guess which bakes better? The second, for the reason I explained.
If you have an old-style, plain convection mode (also called fan-assisted) you don't need a rotating dish because there's no heater around the fan. The fan just moves around the air heated by top and bottom heaters. It's easier and overall it's the fan solution I prefer.
All rich doughs that I know of bake perfectly at 94°C.
I see; the pan sits in the dish and rotates.
enriched bread recipes I have say to bake 185 F to 190 F on the inside without steam ( the tops are usually washed with something wet) and no convection. Other breads are baked with steam for 8-20 minutes, no convection and when the steam comes out then convection goes on and they are baked to 200 F to 210 F on the inside. Some SD deli rye are baked to 195 F though.