my toasted bread slices do not brown?
Hi,
I have been making a basic utility bread loaf recipe for a few years. It's a 75% hydration dough using King Arthur Organic Bread Flour, water, salt, and yeast. I employ a 2 hour autolyze stage before adding the yeast. I bake the loaves in large bread pans to make a simple wholesome sandwich bread with an inconspicuous, but golden-brown crust.
I had been using a 12-hour preferment to bolster the flavor, but eventually opted to emphasize an impression of sweetness caused by an absence of sourness, so I utilize the autolyze method to add some malty complexity while avoiding a tangy sensation.
Due to a busy schedule, I purchased a loaf of "store-bought" factory bread last week. I was reminded that my bread slices do not seem to brown when I toast them. The factory bread slices brown to a beautiful appearance when they are toasted.
It made me reconsider the idea of supplementing my recipe with some form of sugar so that the wonders of the mallard reaction could burnish my bread.
I would like to keep my recipe as simple and wholesome as possible, but I would like to try to find how to make the slices brown a bit in the toaster.
What might I do to try to accomplish the goal?
Thank you.
My breads always take two trips through the toaster to get any color, but they do eventually brown. Maybe it’s the retained water content in the crumb since the water on the surface needs to evaporate before the sugars can brown. I’m pretty sure most store bought breads have low moisture.
Just a thought.
-Brad
I assume it's the lack of sugars in our breads vs store bought stuff but I've seen the same. I just toast again and it's good.
Try adding some diastatic malt flour - this should help the bread to brown.
I'd try 0.5% based on flour weight to start with.
Lance
Thank you for the suggestion. I had previously read about adding small amounts of sugary substances to achieve the goal but did not know which to choose or the amount to use.
I'll have to find some of the malt and give it a try.
Thank you!
I agree, or another option is malt extract. I don't know how much to suggest, maybe a tablespoon per loaf or so. It's all about trial and error with these things...
Homemade often contains more moisture. Storebought makes use of the lower toaster settings. Storebought may also contain more sugar in the recipe. Fresh bread takes longer to toast. As bread ages and is dryer, it toasts faster. This is because a certain amount of moisture must leave the crumb in order to toast it. The first toasting dries it so the second toasting can toast it.
Or turn up the setting on the toaster to do it in one step. The next round will go faster as the toaster is warmed up so you might have to toggle it down a wee bit.
I agree with toast twice but there is more going on here than moisture. I bake exactly the same recipe with varying fermentation times and get very different browning behavior. Loaves with short fermentation brown quickly, those with long fermentations toast slowly.
I can predict the sourness of my bread by how long it takes to brown.
If you need to toast again, then so be it - but I don't think it's a great idea. Of course home made bread tends to need a little more toasting, but if it needs a lot, the bread seems to go brown all of a sudden with a tendency to be burnt and the browned surface is more of a thick, tough skin.
Lance