The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Commercial Oven Vs Dutch Oven, Crust doesn't crack, No Ear visible.

sevenowls's picture
sevenowls

Commercial Oven Vs Dutch Oven, Crust doesn't crack, No Ear visible.

I like to share my biggest challenge and i think  i have hit the wall again. I have invested heavily into a Taiwanese Commercial Deck oven called Sinmag. What upset me the most   is that this oven doesn't works the way I was expecting it. After a great time spent on researching the net, almost all the reviews and comments were very positive about the commercial deck oven. So i went on and bought a new one with stone built in and steam injection specs.

I like to share the comparison of my bake using a simple Dutch oven pot and the one without it. This is a 73% hydration dough. One is baked with DO and the other's were baked free standing on the stone without any supporting  vessels like cast iron pan. since it's a stone deck oven, I felt it's not necessary for a vessel to hold the dough shape with this hydration . ( I'm ain't sure if i have to for wetter dough, pls advise if it's common to use a pot for wetter dough)

The oven temperature have a little offset of +- 10-20C. So , if for eg, i set upper roof temp 200C and the lower deck (stone) 200C. My surrounding ambient temp will be 180C.

If im going to achieve a temp of 230C, Sometimes I will use (250C/250C) but since I believe that the problem of this cracking issues were caused by the overheated roof temp , I relied on using a different temp such as to reduce the upper deck temp , for eg (350C below and 230C, but this is not the temp i might want to use it because it burnt the bottom ).

I have developed the gluten , as u can see in the picture that oven spring is not an issue. Baking in a dutch oven to prove that everything will look exactly as one expecting. There's a surface crack , good ears and fibrous torn , as i expected compares to the one that totally none. You could see the bread did it's part to released steams but the surface hardened too quickly and failed to crack the top.

http://i1071.photobucket.com/albums/u506/wildrestark/ScreenShot2012-07-30at115436AM.jpg

 

 

sevenowls's picture
sevenowls

Hello, can i get some help here? May i know why my bread crust doesn't crack at all. thanks in advance.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

The photo you have in your TFL post looks under-proofed, under-steamed and under-baked, although its pallor could be from over-fermentation too.

To answer your question, high-hydration doughs do no need to be baked in a container always. Think ciabatta. However, it depends on the type of bread, not just hydration.

David

PatMax's picture
PatMax

"wildrestark's Library is Private."

 

PatMax's picture
PatMax

the top of the loaf and the oven element ?

Rob H's picture
Rob H

I'd look at the oven settings,

Commercial ovens have a damper setting, if it's left open your steam will leave the oven as fast as it goes in, leaving a less than desirable crust

Probably not the cause but definitely worth checking(the damper should be closed for the first 10-15 mins)