Underbaked bread is dense, gummy, and goes stale quickly. Slightly overbaked bread can still taste great, but perfectly baked bread gives you the best flavour, texture, and shelf life. In this email, I’ll show you exactly how to tell when your loaf is ready, plus how to adjust your temperature and timing for consistent results.

Adjusting temperature and time

The amount of time a loaf will take, and how it will behave when fully baked will depend on your baking temperature. Higher temperatures, up to 260ºC (500ºF) for small loaves, will result in darker, thinner crusts, and a loaf that is baked quickly.

Lower temperatures, between 177ºC (350ºF) to 200ºC (392ºF), will result in a loaf that takes a bit longer, with a thicker, lighter crust.

Lower than 177ºC (350ºF), it’s going to take a long time, and the bread is not going to develop as much flavour or browning as it would at higher temperatures, but it’s still possible to make edible bread.

Sometimes my loaf pan loaves bake for two hours or more if they start off at 180ºC (356ºF) and my wood oven is winding down for the night, cooling to around 140ºC (284ºF) by the end of baking. In Iceland some breads are baked for twelve hours in hot springs, where the temperature is 95ºC to 100ºC (203 to 212ºF).

How to tell when your loaf is ready

There are a few tests you can do to determine if your loaf is ready:
• Your loaf will feel firm when pressed in the middle. If you’ve baked at close to 233ºC (451ºF), the crust may give a satisfying crackle, if you’ve baked it at a lower temperature, it should feel substantial, not doughy – if in doubt, bake it more!

• The sides of the loaf will appear golden or brown, depending on the loaf and temperature.
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• Any scores or fissures in the loaf will be starting to get some colour.

• For loaf pans, the edges of the loaf will have started to pull away from the sides of the pan, or will pull away easily if you put a thin wooden spatula in.
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• For dutch oven loaves, shake the dutch oven. The loaf should slide around if it’s ready.

• For all loaves, as a final test, you can flip the loaf over and knock on the bottom: does it sound hollow, like knocking on a door? Or is it more of a damp thud? If in doubt, bake it more.

As a final check, you can measure the internal temperature of a bread to confirm whether it is done or not. This is not something I do, as I find that the above cues are reliable and I don’t want to poke holes in my bread. These temperature readings won’t work in high altitudes, but can be useful for bakers closer to sea level. To measure the temperature, first look for the above signs of readiness, and if you’re still not sure, poke a thermometer into the middle of the bread, and allow it enough time to give a successful temperature reading. Dense whole grain breads will be ready at 90ºC to 96ºC (195ºF to 205ºF). Rye breads are best baked to between 96ºC to 99ºC (205ºF to 210ºF). White flour breads are ready between 88ºC and 96ºC (190ºF to 200ºF). The exact perfect internal temperature will vary depending on dough hydration. High hydration doughs will often need to reach a higher temperature before they are ready.

I always prefer to overbake rather than underbake. Underbaked loaves might be appealing to some people when they are very fresh, but they start to stale quickly, and I find the taste and texture of a fully baked or slightly overbaked loaf to be superior.

Bringing loaves out of the oven to check on them will interrupt the baking, cool the oven down slightly, and lead to an even longer cooking time, so it’s best to be patient and only test your loaves once they have baked for enough time at the temperature they’re baked at.

If in doubt, bake it more!

Floury regards,
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Kate

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P.S. If you'd like to access an archive of all previous Floury Friday emails, simply visit http://katedownham.kit.com.

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