October 29, 2008 - 12:33pm
Nwebie question - Cooling the fresh baked loaf
Ok newbie question (I cant seem to find the answer searching, though I'm sure its been asked before)
It seems taboo around here to cut into a fresh baked loaf of bread. If I'm going to eat it right away then it seems a no brainer to cut into a hot loaf. I love the bread hot out of the oven, it seems to taste best then. I concede that a loaf "finishes" cooking as it cools (just like a piece of meat, steak, roast etc) and it would loose steam if it was cut.
also how do you cool your loaves, just leave them on a wire rack? if I finish cooking late at night, I usually put my loaves on a cooling rack inside a paper bag, to keep a little air off them, but not trap moisture and ruin the crust