Hi everyone! I've been baking variations of challah recipes, and always come into the same problem. My challot always TASTE delicious, but their looks don't do it justice! Here are the two I just pulled out of my oven.
How can I get the brown glossiness to cover the entire surface? I've tried just about everything. I first let it rise an hour after shaping, do the first egg wash, let it rise another hour, then do the second egg wash before putting the sesame seeds and popping into the oven. I've even tried taking it out after 15 minutes, doing a light eggwash over the white parts, and then letting it finish its bake. Nothing seems to help. By the way, it is always fully baked, and the bottom is quite dark.
What am I doing wrong? How can I achieve an even, browning? Any advice is MUCH appreciated.
Bless
you are asking for the impossible. If you want your bread to rise beautifully, which it did, that will cause the spread between the braids and will naturally be lighter than the top. The top begins to brown immediately... then after about 10-15 minutes as the oven spring gets underway the loaf opens up and is not going to brown like the top. I'm thinking if you are really are insistent on this goal, then turn up the heat midway.... tho in my opinion your loaves are lovely and don't need any change.
hester
Thank you for the compliments! I'm just baffled by how stores and bakeries get their challot completely browned..but then I realize they simply never taste as good as mine, if I should be so bold. Perhaps this is an impossible mission. But I am curious if turning up the heat will solve the issue. I've been baking them at 350 F for about 28 minutes, never more than 30. If an even brown surface is the goal, would you suggest going up to 375 or 400 after 15 minutes?
Less oven spring (as others have suggested below and I alluded to above) with more uniform browning, or what you have now, which imho is how challah should look. What's key is taste of course.
hester
Maybe if you let your bread have a longer final proof so the oven spring is not as much? Don't let it overproof, of course, but letting it rise a little more before baking will reduce the amount of oven spring, so there should be less white areas. By the way, your challah looks fantastic :) As long as it tastes good
I think the problem is that there is too much rise or spring in the dough. The braids expand apart as it cooks. The areas that are then exposed are not egg washed and don’t get as much exposure to the direct heat. Perhaps they making them a little thinner / longer if you want them brown all over. Good luck!
First, as others have mentioned, aim for a full, or nearly full, proof before egg washing and baking. Challah will have a lot of oven spring anyway because of the egg content.
Second, the braids should be fairly loose at shaping. They will expand during proofing and again during baking, so they need room for that expansion. A tight braid will produce a knobby loaf and is more likely to exhibit the tearing and “blond” zones that you are seeing.
Paul
Thanks so much pm! That makes a lot of sense. I'll try this out the next time I bake my challot (in 2 weeks since I always make 2 and freeze 1).
Only baked challah once so not going to even try and give advice on the bread itself. But on a different perspective altogether... have you tried rotating the loaves half way through the bake? Might be the back of the oven is hotter than closer to the door so you get an even all over browning.
a few years back and it worked. Here is a video. Note the looseness of the dough strands.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=llhB1eNh580
There are also several things happening as well that you may not have noticed.
When the braid is done, notice it is on the tray much shorter than when it was on the table. If you watch carefully, you can catch the baker pushing the ends toward each other to make an even shorter thicker looser braid. This is done when transferring from bench to tray. Now that you know, you can watch for this and see it happening in just about every video on braiding. Another tip is to taper the ends of the strands and make them thicker in the middle.
Remember not to stretch out the braid when braiding or transferring to the baking tray to proof and cover with either a dry or lightly damp cloth depending on your relative humidity. If you brush on a wash right away, cover with plastic wrap and give a second thin coat when removing the plastic wrap.
Another tip. If you are trying to follow the 4 strand video to make a braid. It is easier to follow if you lay the pad or phone flat on the table and then turn the image upside down. This puts you in the right position.
Hi Mini!
Thank you SO MUCH for this advice and the video. I really appreciate it. I will keep you updated for next time. Fingers crossed!
Hi. I have been making challah for awhile. My loaves tend to be taller and not as spread because the braiding (6-braid) I do is tighter. As a result, I don't get as much outward spread during proofing and a more browned loaf. Also, I use convection versus convention with rotation half way through baking, plus steam initially. Now, I still have some not so browned spots, but much more of the loaf is brown as compared to ypurs.. Also, perhaps the amount of honey or butter is culprit.
HI dhaban
Challah never has butter, and mine doesn't have honey, but it seems like others are saying I probably braided too loosely not too tightly, as the tightness was creating some tears. I've never steamed my challah the way I would for french breads or sourdoughs. What would you say is the benefit of steaming for challah? Yes also my oven is definitely not helping my cause hahaha