June 11, 2020 - 1:50pm
Oven Temperature for Baking
Is the convection setting good at 450F for making sourdough? Or is it better to keep it on bake at 500F?
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Is the convection setting good at 450F for making sourdough? Or is it better to keep it on bake at 500F?
Also, what are some ways to get a good oven spring? My dough rises alright in the oven but I don't see any gluten strands where I've scored the bread. Should I let it steam for longer? It also takes way longer than 20-25 minutes to develop any browning.
most recipes call for an initial hotter bake for 15 minutes which is when most of the spring takes place and then a lowering of the temp to finish the bake and brown the crust.
Using steam or cloche or dutch oven will help with the spring as steam will stop the crust from setting allowing more expansion of the bread.
Baking straight from the fridge also helps as the dough will have drawn in more moisture during the retard which will then help the spring.
Finally scoring the dough will force it to open in a certain way and cause it to rise.
I set the oven to 238C/460F and pre-steam the oven before loading the dough. I bake free-form on a stone. After the dough is scored and loaded, I keep the steam up for about 5 minutes. After about 15 minutes when the loaf has started to take on some colour, I lower the temperature to 215C/420F. The total bake takes 40 to 45 minutes. I make 750g doughs to suit my bannetons. Don't use convection/fan-forced setting.
What kind of oven - gas/electric, and how do you steam your oven.
I have a Miele electric oven that has a "moisture plus" function (steam) that can inject steam as you need. I use the conventional function, not fan forced.