The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

crumb too thin (toaster oven)

Pierre-Louis's picture
Pierre-Louis

crumb too thin (toaster oven)

Usually I go to my relative to bake (they have an entry level normal sized convection electric oven) because I only have a toaster oven :

Lately I’ve been trying to bake with it using my usual recipe.

It works ok :

I baked this one at 250° for 30 minutes. The crumb is good, same as with the other oven, the problem is the crust, it’s paper like, crumbly and dry, very unpleasant.

Is there a way to fix this? Is it because I’m not using a dutch oven? What should I look for in an oven if I want to have a regular crust.

 

Ps : do you think this oven could work if I use a dutch oven so sorry it’s all in chinese, I live in Taiwan, I don’t understand everything myself, buying a oven out here is quite a challenge, I have to go for a japanese brand because the western brands are too pricey. Basically asking you to take a guess.

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

I've had two previous discussions on baking in a toaster oven.  Rather than repeat all the questions to learn about how the upper and lower heating elements work on your toaster oven, perhaps you can just read these two threads:

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/64251/baking-bread-low-pizza-oven

and: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/63133/need-some-doctoring-please

They are not exactly like yours, but I hope you can pick up some ideas to experiment with.

Bon chance, et bon appétit. 

Pierre-Louis's picture
Pierre-Louis

I was wondering about the crust specifically.

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

As far as I can tell, both of those threads address your issue.  It's about how to use both upper and lower elements correctly. And you may benefit by using aluminum foil to "tent" the loaf for at least part of the bake.

Pierre-Louis's picture
Pierre-Louis

Thanks for the answer, it doesn't help with the crust. I probably need to invest in a better oven.

Pierre-Louis's picture
Pierre-Louis

Giving an update in case someone finds this post while looking for an answer.

It's true that bottom heat + covering the bread is your best option.

I also recommend just doing a good old pan loaf, here is my recipe for example.

beermanpete's picture
beermanpete

Try covering the inside of the door wirh aluminum foil. This will help reflect heat back into the oven and will improve the cook evenness.

ciabatta's picture
ciabatta

That's actually quite a handsome loaf you have there from a toaster oven. looks like great oven spring.

baking without a dutch oven or without steam gives you that matte dull crust finish.

few things you can try

- use a clay pot as a dutch oven, there should be plenty in Taiwan for cheap. you can even heat up the pot on stove top first to give it a boost in preheating. you may not find one with a flat lid you can fit into there upside down, but maybe find something else flat for the bottom and just flip the clay pot over as a cover on top of it. even if it's not a perfect seal, it should help.  i use a clay pot as one of my DOs over a baking stone.

- spritz the dough a bit when it goes into the oven with a fine mist sprayer (this may only yield small improvement on its own.)