The Fresh Loaf

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crispy crust softens on cooling :-(

Hippytea's picture
Hippytea

crispy crust softens on cooling :-(

There is a sadness in my life.

I bake loaves of lovely bread which come out of the oven with a crisp crackling crust, but by the time they've cooled down, it's gone soft. They still look picture perfect, but not a whisper of crunch remains.

I bake at the max temperature for my oven, about 270C with fan for the first 20min, then turn it down to about 180-200C until it sounds hollow. I use a preheated cast iron griddle (flat) as a baking stone and I put water in a tray on the bottom to make steam.

My typical recipe is either white AP flour with around 70%  hydration or 50% wholemeal with about 75% hydration. I use milk as the liquid but otherwise don't add fat.

Are the hydrations at fault? But I'm sure I've seen high-hydration bread on here with a lovely crust. The crumb is perfectly cooked, not underdone. The only problem is the crust!

Any thoughts?

richkaimd's picture
richkaimd

I have watched this happen to the baguettes my brother, who lives in rural France, buys from his local bakery.  The crust gets softer as time passes.  When he wants it to crisp up he paints it with water and pops it into his hot oven for a while.  Works like a charm.  The crispness of the crust does disappear faster the higher the ambient humidity.  I truly doubt that the percent hydration of your dough has much to do with it.  

This technique works in my kitchen in California, too.

BobBoule's picture
BobBoule

I have exactly the same problem and I live in a fairly dry region of California. The crust is stunning and the slightest touch results in the loveliest crust sounds, but after letting it stand the crust is soft and leathery. I'll try the water idea bit I'd like to know how to cause it to stay crispy after I start slicing it. Thanks.

Hippytea's picture
Hippytea

Mine won't even stay crispy long enough to slice it. It starts to soften within 10min of coming out the oven and is completely soft by the time it is cool.

Wild-Yeast's picture
Wild-Yeast

Actually it's David Snyders'. Bake with steam for the first 15 minutes. Bake without steam for 12 minutes. Open the oven door and let the steam out. Bake for an additional 3 minutes. 

The crust will absorb water from the atmosphere once out of the oven - there's no easy way around that other than what Richkaimd mentioned; brush with water and recrisp for several minutes in a hot oven.

Wild-Yeast

Hippytea's picture
Hippytea

Interestingly, I had my first go at a cold start (putting bread in a cold oven and then switching it on) yesterday, and I ended up with a better crust, which stayed crisp after cooling. No idea if the cold start is responsible, or if I ended up baking longer due to paranoia resulting from it. This worked on two AP flour/instant yeast pan loaves, and one bread flour/sourdough pan loaf (my first sourdough!!!). I put a pan of cold water in the bottom of the oven before switching it on.

 

Thanks for the other suggestions re: cracking the oven open; I pretty much do this anyway. After the first 20min I take the bread out of the tin and put it back in, then it comes out two or three times to check before it's done. There's definitely no steam left in there by the end!

 

(Taking pan loaves out of tins after the first stage of baking is a tip from the Good Housekeeping Cookbook - it's a good one, speeds up cooking and improves the side and bottom crust. You take it out pretty much as soon as it has set.)

gerhard's picture
gerhard

Does your recipe include oil/fat of some sort, maybe reduce or eliminate that.

Gerhard

Hippytea's picture
Hippytea

Hi Gerhard - thanks for the suggestion, but no, there's no fat in my bread unless I use milk instead of water, but even that is a tiny amount. I gave up adding oil or butter some time ago because I couldn't detect a difference in flavour. If I want extended shelf life I use a tangzhong, or freeze it.

Hippytea's picture
Hippytea

Double post

sandytroy's picture
sandytroy

Hi, everything I have read on line and in books re crust staying crisp for high hydration no knead bread all say the same thing.  I make a 78% hydration dough. With high hydration doughs (no knead bread) the crust will be lovely and crisp when removed from the oven.  Darkness depends on how long you leave it in the oven uncovered after the bread has reached 200 degrees F.  And due to the high hydration dough - the crust will become less crisp with in hours.  

All the sources I have read say.. just pop the whole loaf back in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes (no container) to get the wonderful crisp crust back again.  This works for me.  Had a dinner party at a neighbors house yesterday and made bread mid day.  Four hours later at the neighbor's home I reheated the round loaf and 2 fougasse for 10 min in a 350 oven to specifically re-crisp the crust.  Works well all the time.

I also notice when I use the toaster oven on my sliced artisan 78% hydration no knead bread... lots of steam rises from the toast.. additional verification that a day or two after making the bread much water remains in the bread.

Hippytea's picture
Hippytea

Good point about the steamy toast. It does make sense that the crust softens quicker with high hydration. 

A few weeks on, I'm still getting better crusts with the cold start, that stay crisp for quite a while after cooling. I can't fathom why. It's not like the crust should end up dryer - I'm still using steam, and by the time the steam is gone, the oven's up to heat. Total baking time is about 40min, so no longer than before, either. It's a puzzle.