What makes bread crust tough?

[eridani]

I tried the hamburger bun recipe, but substituted olive oil for butter, and 2 1/2 cups of wheat and oat flour (ground with my KitchenAid) and 1/2 cup gluten for 3 cups of white flour.

It looks like the bread is trying to spring, but is inhibited by the crust. What is the solution here? Spraying the top of the bread directly with water? (I'm spraying the sides of the oven only.) Making more cuts in the top?

[pleah]

1. The same thing has happened to me and I am

not sure what causes it. My only guess is maybe to much flour in the dough?:shrug:

[eridani]

2. The recipe calls for 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 cups of flour

I wound up using only 5.

[pleah]

3. Here is some of the ways I used my bread failures,

Dried and ground it for bread crumb recipes,
Thin slice(as much as possible) for appetizer snacks,
Bread pudding. That is where a lot of my failures went.:9

Sorry I wasn't any help with the remedy for the initial problem.

[eridani]

6. It isn't exactly a failure

I'd just prefer the crust to be less tough. The loaves do make pretty good toast.

[pleah]

9. I'm glad it wasn't. Mine have been.

Just thought I would give some tips on recycling it if it was. :)

Sorry.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

4. Usually a temp issue

I assume you kept it from drying out as it rose, yes? Without knowing your ingredients, a thick, chewy crust is generally caused by too low a temp. You want high heat (at least the first 15 min.) and tons of steam for the thinnest, crispiest crust. Looks like you have dairy and/or sugar in there to account for the toasty color (those will make for a DARK crust in a hot oven). Most of the time, I douse my loaves with water just before I slash and slap them into a hot oven (425), then turn it down to 350 after 15 minutes--NO opening the door to peek, either! With a nice French loaf or ciabatta, especially, I end up with a big spring and a super-thin crust that fairly crackles when you snap the loaf. I bet you could slash yours with a lot more gusto, too, which would help them spring more.

Great--I can almost smell those. Now I have to bake. :P

[pleah]

5. Very useful information, thank you very much!

:hug:

[eridani]

7. By dousing, I presume you mean spraying water right on the top of the loaves?

I have been a little wussy with the razor blade--I'll make deeper cuts next time.

[kfred]

8. My question also

Spraying? Or do you literally douse it to about a quarter inch and count on it evaporating. It's an intriguing idea!

[hippywife]

10. Don't put the water on the loaf

to a quarter inch. Put it in a broiler pan immediately under it. I do sometimes spray it with the kitty torture implement, too. Just be careful not to hit your oven light bulb when you do. I did that the first time. :eyes:

[buzzycrumbhunger]

11. Yes, I practically drown it

If I'm using a loaf pan, I might put 2-4 T of water. If I'm baking directly on stones (my usual method), I'll just spray the heck out of it. It does seem like it would be too much, but the oven is really hot enough to transform it into steam very quickly, so the loaves don't break down. At first, I even sprayed again halfway through, but decided it was more important to keep the door shut and just trust it to be enough.

I used to fiddle fart around with the pan of water instead, but it's messy, it involves one more obstacle to air circulation, and it just plain doesn't do as good a job.

With careful shaping of the loaves, I find I can slash an inch or more without having them collapse on me, always holding the blade at an angle--not straight up and down--which doubles the area it can spring.

I'm afraid I am a devoted Laurel's follower where bread is concerned. If you follow her French or desem recipes, you're pretty much assured of consistent success. I was astounded by how thin a crust could be, which especially seems to win over the anti whole grain folk, who think having to chew your food is a negative. :eyes: I love a toothy loaf, myself, and I think in the case of the bread in the OP, I would probably relish it as toast, which can sometimes render a blah crust into something special.

[kfred]

12. Velly intelesting

I'm game to try that. My next quest will be hard rolls, nothing like them warm with butter. That's after the farmer cheese though. I specifically bought a quart of whole milk to do that and I have strawberries up in the freezer to mix in.