Hi there,
I have a very high hydration loaf pan bread our family loves, which I bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes and then 375 for 20 more.
But I have been playing with some other recipes for a bit of a tighter crumb for the PB&J type sandwiches (less holes! 😅) and have made some good loaves. But every time, I find that the crust of the bread ends up quite dark and overdone before the bread reaches a good internal temperature. It seems that most lower hydration sandwich loaves are asking you to bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.
In a lower hydration loaf pan bread, how do I get a less thick and overdone crust? Should I use my 425/375 formula for the higher hydration loaves, or is that going to backfire on me for a lower hydration loaf?
Any tips and advice would be so welcome!
Drop the hydration and temps little by little till you get what ya want. Enjoy!
Thank you for the advice!
I love my Pullman pan sandwich bread.
Crust light and crumb perfect for sandwiches. 330mm (13 inch) Pullman pan. 1 kg dough. 60% hydration.
Bake at 40 to 45 mins at 204C (400F) Flavour exceptional.
Thanks! I don't have a Pullman but could adapt this easily enough for my loaf pans. They take about 550-600g of dough per pan. Appreciate the info!
Try tenting the loaf with foil if the crust starts to get too dark. I have to do this occasionally with enriched pan loaves.
Right, why didn't I think of that! Good suggestion, thanks!
If it is an enriched AP flour loaf, I bake at 350F-375F. Nice golden and good interior. How long depends on which oven I'm using (I have 2), and the dough temp when it has finally proofed. If the house is a little cooler, then it might take longer.
If it is a 100% WW loaf and enriched (has butter or oil), I bake at 350-375F.
Enrichment and density make a difference for me. Higher hydration,less dense (ciabatta) seem to do better with higher oven temps.
I have tried two enriched recipes, one a bit more enriched than the other. Perhaps trying at 350 would help me. Good info that higher hydration doughs do better at high temps. Thanks!
Most of my bakes are 100% whole wheat sourdough sandwich breads, baked in a loaf pan. Hydration averages ~ 85%. I do add 1 Tbsp (US) of canola or olive oil as well, as it seems to make the crust and crumb more to our liking.
Sometimes I bake in a Pullman pan, other times I just use a twin size loaf pan on top like a lid. I got that idea from Steve Gamelin videos, via idaveindy's helpful suggestion. Which one I do is kind of and of a coin toss, and somewhat depends on how much dough I mix up. And my baking temps are identical to what you posted. The difference is mine stays covered until the last 10 min of the bake, regardless of which pan setup is used. Taking the "lid" off at the end let's things brown on top without getting too dark/hard.
Photos below, so you can see crust/crumb. This one was very edge of being on overproofed, as I was trying to adjust after some recent under proofed bakes. The dark spots on top are where a couple of big bubbles had surfaced under the crust at the end of proofing. The top edge of the sides seems to always come out darker than the bottom section, and darker than the bottom of the loaf - regardless of which pan I use. Not sure why that happens, but it doesn't seem to matter for the eating part. 😋 Oh and this one didn't spend much time with the lid off, because the internal temp was done and I didn't want to dry the loaf out. (We live at 6,000 ft and things stale here fairly quickly.)
Mary