The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Why start high with baking temperature

lenb's picture
lenb

Why start high with baking temperature

I'm trying to understand how time/temperature combinations are chosen for different recipes. 

I think a high temperature increases caramelization of the crust; but  doesn't it also harden the exterior more rapidly and thus reduce oven spring?  I'm wondering why not begin the bake slowly for maximum oven spring and then raise the temperature to enhance browning.

Any thoughts about this?

Thanks & happy baking.

Len

 

iPat's picture
iPat

The crust can only harden once the moisture is gone, and moisture is responsible for the oven spring.

For small buns, the oven spring would have been done by the time the crust is formed.

For larger loaves, you need to add steam at the beginning of baking to delay the crust formation, giving more time for the oven spring.

 

High heat turns the moisture into steam quickly, giving rise to the bread before the crust and the crumb can set.

Low heat would just set everything slowly without any sort of springing.

Think of you jumping into the pool vs. slowly slipping into the pool. The first would make a big splash shooting the water up into the air quickly, while the second would barely disturb the water at all.

suave's picture
suave

For the most pat it is to offset huge loss of heat that occurs during the loading and steaming.  That being said, people do bake from the cold oven, usually in dutch ovens, but you really need to have your duck in a row for it to go right.