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Light rye/wheat banana bread too dart

Casey's picture
Casey

Light rye/wheat banana bread too dart

Hello All.

This is my first post so I hope I am within the guidelines. 

I make a banana bread using a rye starter. The dough consists of a 50/50 mix of light rye and light wheat flour.

I shape these into oval loaves and put them in banneton baskets, and from there, they go into the fridge overnight. The next morning, I take them out of the fridge and let them sit for about 75 minutes before going into a preheated 450°F with steam. After 10 minutes, I lower the oven temp to 400°F. 

At some point in the baking, the loaves look terrific but the internal temp is far from being done (200°F). So by the time the internal temp reaches 200°F, the top and bottom of the loaves are too dark, in my opinion. I have tried to cradle or wrap the loaves in foil some time into the baking but it doesn't seem to stop the browning process. 

Does anyone have any tips for me? Any help would be appreciated. And, please, let me know if further detail is needed. I thank you for your help.

Best,

Casey 

phaz's picture
phaz

Lower the temps across the board and keep an eye on them. Enjoy!

Rock's picture
Rock

Not sure what percentage of banana you are adding, but the sugar content of the bananas will certainly cause more browning. What's your hydration level?

Are you baking on a stone or steel? Since tenting with foil hasn't worked for you, phaz's suggestion might be a good place to start. 

Dave

Casey's picture
Casey

Dave,

Here is the recipe:

levain

Whole rye: 86 grams, Water: 68 grams, Rye starter: (stiff) 9 grams

Final Dough:

Light rye flour: 255 grams, White Whole Wheat flour: 255 grams, Salt: 12 grams, Banana: 280 grams, Water: 138 grams

It goes in the fridge overnight and then steam for 10 minutes at 450 degrees and finish baking until done at 450 degrees. I bake it on a stone in gas convection oven. 

Rock's picture
Rock

Are you still lowering the oven temp to 400° as you mentioned in your first post? I'm figuring the 450° is a mis-type for your final bake. I don't see anything in your recipe that would be causing a problem.

The gas convection element may be an issue. Is the convection on all the time? If so you may have to experiment with lowering the the temp overall, including the start temp. The convection at a higher temp could well be baking the outside on the bread too quickly and at the same time not allowing the interior to heat enough to fully bake.

As an example of heat adjustment, when I bake loaves on a stone (electric oven) I have to move the stone up one rack to avoid over browning of the bottom of the loaf. For pizza I use the bottom rack.

I'll be interested in what you try for your next loaves. Keep us posted.

Dave

Casey's picture
Casey

My apologies, I was just copying the recipe and did forget to change the final bake temperature from the called recipe's 450 degrees to the 400 degrees that I have been using. 

Dave, I will try lowering the temp all around, including the initial steam temperature.

But, I noticed you talk about raising the rack as well. I might give that a try. I seem to struggle with dark loaf bottoms or dark on the bottom edges. My only obstacle on this is that I have a lower double oven so the most bottom oven isn't as spacious as a single lower oven might normally be. But if I am not using a Dutch oven then I think I will be okay.

Thank you for the tips. I appreciate it very much.

Best,

Casey

Econprof's picture
Econprof

But that bread looks and sounds delicious!