How brown is too brown?! | The Fresh Loaf

My go-to recipe is Ken Forkish’s Country Blonde sourdough from ‘Flour Water Salt Yeast’.

I was a complete newbie back in April, and after months of practice, trial and error, and some invaluable advice from members on here, I now get really consistent results every week!

I love a dark, crunchy crust, but do these loaves look over-done? Are slightly burnt edges taking it too far?! Inside they are light and soft.

Looks fine to me! Some may call that “just over” but I like it. Bravo.

Thanks Brian. I think “just over” is probably a fair description! Tastes good?

Depends on how much credence you give "scientific studies."

See: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=is+black+toast+cancerous%3F&t=fpas&ia=web

and look for references to acrylamide:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=acrylamide&t=fpas&ia=web

Thanks for those links, I have had a read.

There doesn’t appear to be any substantial evidence to link the acrylamide in burnt toast with increased cancer risk in humans. I’m happy to take a chance that the singed crust edges on my sourdough won’t be the death of me.