My stepmom's one sentence about my bread crust really got to me | Baking Fails And Wins - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals
My stepmom's one sentence about my bread crust really got to me
She watched me pull a sourdough loaf out of the oven and said, 'it looks like a football that got left in the sun.' I was doing the classic wet towel steam method and my crust was way too thick. I switched to adding a tiny pan of boiling water at 450 degrees instead, using my Dutch oven at the bottom rack, and the difference is night and day. Anyone else get crust advice from a non-baker that actually worked better than the pro videos from Portland?
My crusts looked like deflated basketballs until my neighbor who burns toast told me to stop opening the oven every five minutes. Tried her advice and suddenly had a crackly, thin crust that actually made that satisfying sound. Now I take bread tips from anyone under the assumption that even a broken clock hits the right time twice a day.