Understanding baking temperature and time
Hi all, I literally just started my first bread a week ago, and has been baking almost everyday, learning from failures and tried again. By far I've made 5 attempts of milk bread roll from one recipe with 73% hydration as my learning ground to learn about the dough kneading technique and how fermentation works.
I have a newbie question about oven and temperature, as general knowledge on how it works, regardless of the oven.
PS: the temperature mentioned here is based on my oven setting as reference only, may not represent the actual temp
a) Is it better to bake in lower temperature (150C/302F) for longer time (20-30 min), or higher temperature (190C/374F) for 18-20 min? Does it have any impact on flavor or texture?
b) When is the good time to rotate the pan? Will bread deflate during temperature drop when oven door was opened)?
I heard high temperature can help to rise the dough but it can also kills the yeast too fast or forming the crust too fast and inhibit further rise. However some recipe for soft rolls suggested lower temperature to achieve softer texture/crust.
I baked a batch today in 190C. It has nice ovenspring. After 8 mins, the top started to brown and I rotated the pan, baked for another 10 mins, reduced the temperature to 150C, turned off the power, opened the oven door slighty and left the bread inside for 5 mins before cooling on the rack. The texture is nice and pillowy, but not moist enough.
Also, I notice whenever I baked in lower temperature (160C/320F), the nice butter and milk smell spread out throughout my apartment. There was very little fragrance with higher temp (190C/374F). Which one is the good sign?
Now, about my oven. It's a 9L toaster oven with temperature dial. It's all I have and can afford within my place's limited space, yet it does the job!
Today, for the first time after 4 attempts, finally I achieved the fluffy roll that bounced back! The surface is still bumpy, I'm still learning how to get smooth, elastic dough, but I'm happy with the texture.
Understanding how temperature and time works will help me playing around with any ovens, so I hope to learn more knowledge from this forum. Thank you very much!
The rolls look nice. Don't over think this.
You are experimenting, which is good. I like higher temperature (500F/260C) for a shorter time, for doughs with no enrichment (no eggs, sugar or butter). For enriched doughs, lower temperature (375F/190C) helps avoid burning.
When you rotate the pan, you lose heat from the oven when the door is opened. I would avoid this. Yes, it achieves more even cooking, but is it really necessary? The bumpy texture on the rolls could be caused by opening the oven and the oven temperature dropping too much. Bread will not strictly deflate like a souffle, but it will be affected by temperature drop.
Baking smell in your apartment is no indication of quality. It simply means you used butter and milk in the recipe, and that the air currents from the oven and through your apartment reached your nose.
I use the external color, and experience, to judge when bread is done. You are on the path to success. Keep going.
These look very good! You should be pleased. Rolls are pretty forgiving, because they "bake through" quickly so you're not much worried about getting the interior hot enough. You're also not aiming for chewy or crisp crust, which is the other reason to push temperatures higher. These rolls have enough sugar (from the milk, even if you add no more sugar) that they brown in a medium oven. I would do 350F and watch the browning, though you could probably go a bit hotter. Rotate whenever. They're not gonna deflate.
A general caution is that what it says on the oven dial may not be what is going on in the oven. And that's not just toaster ovens! Whatever oven you get, you have to learn how it behaves through trial and error.