November 14, 2008 - 2:11pm
Baking the bread
Can anyone help me. I have been baking plain sourdough bread for about a year, now. I had great success with the no-knead recipes, but have decided to try some other recipes. When I tried to bake a sandwich loaf, the crust got very thick and hard. I decided to put the loaf pan and all, into my cast iron dutch oven and cook as I used to cook the no-knead. I set the temperature for 450, preheated the oven and dutch oven, popped the bread in it and set the timer for 30 minutes. At that time, I inserted a thermometer into the bread, and left it for a further 15 minutes. The internal temperature came up to 192 degrees, and never went above that, even though I left it in for another 30 minutes. Any comments or suggestions?
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I'm not sure why you wanted an internal temp above 190F for a sandwich loaf. Did your recipe call for a higher temp? Was it a specific recipe for sandwich type loaf? At what temp did you bake the loaf? The hard crust may have been caused by baking it in too hot an oven.
Sandwich bread also has additional ingredients, such as egg, buttermilk or plain milk, and butter, and those enrichments will result in a much softer crust.
granniero I tried the NYT no knead and was not happy with the results, only tried twice but decided it wasn't for me. I bake my sandwich loaves at around 350 and it takes 25-35 minutes or so, depending on what recipe I use. I use heavy 9x5 pans and seldom test with thermometer, though have been known to use one. My husband isn't fond of the thick, chewy crust on some artisan breads. He prefers a regular sandwich type crust. I always brush my hot loaves with butter using a pastry brush, this keeps crust even softer. Keep at it, lots of good info at this site.
Thank you for the comments. I have found some sourdough breads wet, when not cooked to a high enough internal temperature. The no-kneads seem to be best at about 200. I have been trying the 1-2-3 loaves, and playing around with the recipe, to see if I can find a way to make a loaf with sourdough that has a softish or at least thin crisp crust, is not too heavy, and will replace the store-bought bread my husband seems to favour.