January 3, 2015 - 7:52pm
Baking Temperature
I am neither a beginner and definitely not a master, and I have a question I feel I should have solved long ago. If you are not following someone's recipe but are winging it, how do you decide what temperature to bake the bread at? Are there rules dependent on flour type, or hydration or what? Thank you
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Yeah, something like that. Shape too, sugar content, and simple how dark you like your crust factor in too.
I use 425 as my base and make adjustments accordingly. A sweet dough? Cooler, more like 375, or else it will burn. A large sourdough boule I might start at 465 to maximize oven spring but then reduce it to 425 so the crust doesn't get too dark while it is cooking through to the inside.
The internal temp of the loaf when you remove it from the oven is what matters most. Around 190 for enriched loaves, more like 205 for lean doughs. Anything less and they'll still be gummy.
After baking lots of bread and following lots of formulas I can say that when I wing it I bake lean loaves hot. I pre-heat my oven to 475% or hotter and then I lower the temp. to about 425°. I check my loaves at 10 minute intervals so if the crust is getting too dark I will drop the temp.
When baking enriched loaves I preheat to 450° and after the loaves are loaded into the oven I lower the temp. to about 350°. I keep an eye on color too as it will vary depending upon the amount of enrichments in the dough. If the crust is getting too dark I drop the temp. to 325° and sometimes I will even 'tent' the loaf with a piece of tinfoil to keep it from getting too dark.
Temps will vary according to your oven and where you live. I live in Colorado and at a mile high so my temps are generally a bit higher than someone baking at sea level.
No 'strict' rules in this house other than just what works in your kitchen with your equipment to give you the results you want.
Good Luck,
Janet