December 18, 2011 - 1:53pm
Bread tearing when baking
Hello all! This is my first post on this site and am quite excited to have found it!
I have a brick oven based on Alan Scott's design.
I am running into a problem with my breads tearing on their sides while baking. I do slash the loaves on top right before baking.
Can anyone help?
thx!
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not proofing long enough..
are not proofing it until it passes the "dent" test If you HAVE proofed it sufficiently, we used to have this problem w/ at least one or two of the breads we were regularly baking - the oven spring was so powerful the thing just tore wherever, and we got weird "noses" on the side of the bread.
That had to do w/ how we were shaping it, of course, among others, but no matter how precisely we worked, we always had a loaf or two that looked weird. Our solution: one cut down one side, deep below, did the trick (in addition to your other cuts).
I have found that this happens for a couple different reasons. One could be commercial yeast. If you are using commecial yeast it can have such a powerfull oven spring it can blow out the side. Another problem can be not proofing the bread long enough. If you were to put the bread in the oven underproofed the crust will set on the top before it is finished springing and it will blow out the side where it is weaker. And lastley I have found that if I dont steam the bread good enough the crust will set to fast and you can blow out the side. The steam keeps the bread cool for longer allowing for a better oven spring and crust color.