Pale and dry looking bread
Last weekend I had a chance to show my Sister how to bake with a natural levain. She asked if I would bring some starter when we came to visit so I brought a batch of Pain Au Levain mixed per SteveB's post a while back. It has 90 grams of rye in the flour mix and I like the combination.
I built the levain the night before we left and the dough on that morning, mixing by hand. I had a chance to fold it after about 1 hour of fermenting and then it went into the cooler for the 3 hour drive. When we arrived, I placed the dough on the counter to warm back to room temp and folded again. It was showing signs of developing gluten but hadn't doubled yet.
At around 4 PM I shaped and left it to proof for 45 minutes. It was slashed and brushed with water and baked in a gas oven at 460 for 30 minutes. The spring was OK but the crust looked pale and maybe gray instead of the usual orange brown caramelized tone I usually get. It was the first time I have used a gas oven for bread.
So I am wondering if anyone who uses gas to bake in has had a similar experience? I didn't steam as I didn't have anything preheated to pour the water inn and I didn't want to toss water into the floor of my Sisters oven. LOL
I suppose it could be I just let this ferment so long that the sugars were consumed, hence the pale crust. Any takers on this?
The other reason I'm concerned about the gas possibility is that I am thinking about replacing my gas cook-top and electric wall oven with a gas stove/oven combination.
Thanks in advance.
Eric