The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Different colour breads

oo7wazzy's picture
oo7wazzy

Different colour breads

HI TFL

 

I have a question about the colour of my baked loaves. I baked this morning, one loaf at a time, the conditions were exactly the same, temp the same, time the same... you get the picture.. but the loaves turned out totally different in appearance.

the fist loaf was really dark and the second was light in colour. How is this possible ?

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Was the darker loaf baked second?

Perhaps your oven takes longer than you think to heat up properly. 

Oops... just reread and the first loaf was the dark one.  

Here's another possibility...

You baked the first one on high for 20 minutes before turning down the temperature for the remainder but forgot to turn it back up for the second one. 

oo7wazzy's picture
oo7wazzy

HI Lechem

 

I did everything the same, but i think my oven heats up more than the dial shows. It must have been cooler for the second loaf. 

clazar123's picture
clazar123

I am getting to know a different oven and as a result have learned that my oven can be responsible for many qualities of the final loaf. This "new" (to me) oven tends to overshoot and undershoot the temp setting until it is properly preheated. Mine also tends to have a wide swing when it is supposed to be maintaining the temp. As a result, I am finding my baked goods drier than usual. One of these days, after the chaos of moving settles down, I will need to check on that.

Perhaps your oven is overshooting when first turned on and actually hotter than you think.

oo7wazzy's picture
oo7wazzy

HI Clazar 

The oven definitely goes higher than the temp on the dial. its an old oven and needs to be checked i guess. it takes about 1/2 hour to get  to 220C

breadforfun's picture
breadforfun

Lighter colored crusts are often attributable to insufficient steam. You didn't mention how you baked the breads, but you may want to look at the steaming method.

-Brad

oo7wazzy's picture
oo7wazzy

HI Brad

I cooked both loaves on a baking tray. On the bottom shelf i had a glass dish that had two tea towels that were soaked in water. they give off steam for the first 20 mins, then i remove them. the first loaf must have had more steam because the second loaf went straight into the oven after the first but the tea towels had been out of the oven and probably weren't giving off as much steam as the first time they were used.

gary.turner's picture
gary.turner

Were the loaves from the same batch of dough? Maybe the second loaf is more fermented due to waiting for the first to bake. If so, it would have a lower sugar level, thus less browning. Combined with any or all of the previous suggestions and ...

gary

oo7wazzy's picture
oo7wazzy

HI Gary 

 

yes they were the same batch, proofed over night in the fridge. the second loaf would only have had 45 mins longer waiting time. it did however not hold its shape as well as the first, and flattened out abit, but i think this could have been due to poor shaping.

On the subject of shaping...Is it advisable to reshape a loaf before it goes in to the oven if it has had a long proofing, like over night ?

gary.turner's picture
gary.turner

There are just too many things that varied from one loaf to the next; unstable oven temps (do get an oven thermometer and monitor your temps), different steam amounts, and likely the least in this case, the extra counter time.

Re the last, remove one loaf at a time when you're ready to pop it into the oven. Turn it out of the basket, slash it and bake the cold loaf; no need to allow it to warm up. It's likely the extra time, at room temp, for the second loaf has a trivial effect unless the room is exceptionally warm.

The most effective key to good baking is consistency. Do things the same way every time. (Obviously, different breads and size and shapes have different requirements, but whatever those requirements are, do it the same.)

An important note: When experimenting, change only one thing in each trial. If you change more than one, you won't know what effect(s), if any, a given change caused

gary

oo7wazzy's picture
oo7wazzy

Thanks Gary

Ill try baking it cold, hopefully it holds its shape better too, i find once i proof the loaves, especially if they are proofed out of the fridge, they keep fermenting and are difficult to handle.

I totally agree that consistency is the name of the game. thanks for the advice.

RoundhayBaker's picture
RoundhayBaker

...it was, as Gary says, over-proofing which took the second batch of loaves a little too far. Proofing the second loaf in the fridge might be worth trying. Also calibrating your oven is pretty important. 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Naked Swamp Alien Zombies behaving badly.