Open Crumb vs Closed Crumb Weigh In

First off, my heart goes out to you and your husband. My wife Patsy is fighting cancer now for the second time. I also know how it affects the healthy spouse. My prayers are for both you and your husband. I’ll pray today and continue to pray into the future. God’s Best to both of you...

”Why is an open crumb bread considered superior to a closed crumb one?” I define open crumb as light and airy with closed crumb being more dense. IMO, the lighter the bread the better. I talking here about uniform gas pockets of reasonable size as opposed to the tiny holes, similar to store bought bread.

About the wide open crumb craze. Speaking for myself (I’m chasing that crumb train), it is the challenge that draws me to it. I don’t expect better tasting bread, I just like the way it looks. To me, it’s bread art. If I ever succeed I’ll have to dawn latex gloves to eat the sandwich. Hehehe   Trevor Wilson lured me on that train with his book, Open Crumb Mastery. By the the way his book is outstanding IMO, and has taught me many things that are used for other breads. Anyway, that’s my take on it.

Dan Ayo

An open crumb is often associated with a long-fermented bread dough, which brings superior flavor. I think that the open crumb has come to be the goal, rather than merely a sign that a goal has been achieved, and many bakers pursue it to extremes beyond reason, to the point where there isn't much actual bread inside the crust.

I read somewhere, perhaps it was an old journal archive, that a holey crumb was at one time considered a flaw.  There can be problems with it.  Consider a holey sandwich slice smeared with mayonnaise, of use to keep the bread from becoming soggy from the filling.  It's difficult to minimize the mayonnaise when there are huge holes to fill in the crumb.  A finer crumb might be preferable to keep the fingers less messy.

If you're eating a baguette, perhaps sliced lengthwise or even just torn, then dipping it in something like garlic, olive oil, and herbs, having large holes may be desirable to hold more dipping sauce.

Who says that it's superior? It's nice in a ciabatta or baguette but I don't appreciate mustard on my fingers when trying to eat a sandwich!

Whilst it would be great to get that really open crumb, realistically a more practical crumb would be “lacy” rather than holey but I suspect the topping may well drip through even a lacy crumb!

when I started baking bread again 6 years ago, all wanted was a light airy loaf even though hubby was happy with what I gave him.  For me, it was a dense tight crumb. today I can get a lighter loaf with much more flavour and I think a moderately open crumb is where I will be in a “happy place” so long as it has volume as well. currently I can get crumb but not volume/height so the challenge remains.

I don’t think one crumb is necessarily better than another - personal preference is what counts and that is more important.

Happy baking everyone

Leslie

My guess is that the current enthusiasm for large holes in bread comes from the real satisfaction and pride that can come from demonstrating a real skill in handling high hydration doughs, but I am not a fan. My ambition in every bake is just to produce a light and airy crumb.

One of life's great pleasures is a slice of fresh sourdough bread covered with a generous layer of butter topped with a large spoonful of runny honey. Not possible with large holes.

Never forget that ancient proverb, " Large holes inevitably lead to sticky knees"     (anon)

Alan

p.s. I might have made that last bit up.

I'm glad the topic came up. I'm beginning to understand the fascination with holey crumb. I'm old enough to remember when a major bakery chain adopted the slogan, "Look ma, no holes" for their sandwich loaf advertising. No doubt this 'propaganda' scarred my youthful psyche with deep seated, unreasonable prejudice. However, I also have a few practical reasons for not avidly pursuing a 'holey' crumb. Basically I make bread for sandwiches and toast for my wife and myself. Nothing 'holey' about those objectives, especially because she likes mayo. Maybe one day I'll add all the things needed to pursue a more aesthetically pleasing loaf to our already overcrowded kitchen cabinets. 'Til then I'll just plug along looking for flavor and nutrition with the economy essential to old folks. If I were going to open a downtown art gallery I'd want Duchamp's "Nude Descending a Staircase" on the wall - but I'm more or less running a smoky, dimly lit waterfront dive so something by Alberto Vargas is hung behind the bar.

I think it simply comes down to the self satisfaction that goes along with technical achievement.

Not necessarily to offer a substantial advantage. And as we point out often disadvantages.

Catching a fish on a fly almost never is an advantage compares to other methods of tackle but there is glory to be had in stubborn challenges.  

Another idea is something Michael Pollan talked about in his netflix series Cooked  that has to do with the way your body tastes foods in multiple ways and the air in bread opens up more flavors from the back of the throat...? To be honest I can't remember exactly so I might be completely off the mark. (First time for everything...)

But it might be part of the answer.

For me personally,I prefer open crumb.. I'm almost obsessed with it,when I take the bread out of my combo cooker I can feel by the weight of the bread if it' going to be a nice airy light bread crispy but light inside. it's also a nice sign of dough handling,folding and of course fermentation.for me it's art.. everything you do all along the process shows off at the end. if you have been in a hurry or if you are angry.. the bread will show it..at the end this is my opinion. I totally respect others views.happy cooking