# Bread browning



## gagamag (Jan 1, 2008)

I am experimenting with bread making. the final bread is cooked about right but the crust is just starting to brown. the best bread I tasted  has  a nice crisp brown crust.  How do you adjust the time, temperature and/or bread position in the oven to produce this additional browning withouut over cooking the inside of the bread ?


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## miniman (Jan 1, 2008)

I would leave it for about another 5 minutes and it will brown without affecting the insides too much.

I cookk my bread at gas mark 5 for about 30 minutes and has a nice brown crust on it.


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## sage™ (Jan 1, 2008)

make sure your oven temp is correct. I know my ovens temp is off, I think its a bit cooler than it says. Maybe brushing the top with a little butter(before baking) will help it brown.


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## Katie H (Jan 1, 2008)

Are you making plain, white loaf bread?  When I make my plain bread I bake at 400F for 30 minutes.  The loaves are always nice and brown.  I should note that I use glass pans, which is why I don't bake at 425F.  If I use metal pans, I usually raise the oven temperature to 425F.


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## gagamag (Jan 1, 2008)

*type bread*

I am making sourdough bread,  am a complete novice. I know what a good french bakery can come up with and am hoping to get close. the sourdough starters are well kept secrets and am hoping to get a good starter recipe. if you can help here, It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the reply.


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## ErikC (Jan 1, 2008)

I am a novice when it comes to making bread, so these hints are simply remembered from something I saw on TV once. I seem to recall that spraying the loaves at some point during the baking process aided in browning the crust. It was either water or milk that they sprayed it with. Maybe you can google some of those terms and see if anything more useful than my ramblings comes up.


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## jpmcgrew (Jan 1, 2008)

What shape is it is it a bagguette shape or are you baking in a pan or on a flat pan or stone?Depending on the bread you can use a egg wash,some breads require a little steaming to get that crust like french bread.You can tell your bread is done by thumping it if it sounds hollow its done.


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## justplainbill (Jan 1, 2008)

You can just paint the loaves with water before placing in the oven. They tend to brown more the higher they are located in my oven. When my oven is set to 375F and thoroughly preheated the stone temp goes to 400F and a 3/4 pound torpedo takes about 40 minutes to bake and develop quite a crusty brown exterior. For the last 15-20 of the 40 minutes the bread is baked on the stone.


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## gagamag (Jan 1, 2008)

*bread*

I am baking on a flat pan with  hand formed egg shaped loaves. the recipe call for basting with a cornstarch and water mixture brought to a boil and then allowed to cool, used once ten minutes into cooking  cycle. It also call for setting a pan of water in the bottom of oven for duration of cooking. C
an you please give me details of how to mix upand  use egg wash ?

Can you tell me more about the stone you are referencing. I never heard of  such a thing !

Thanks for help, people. please dont lose patience as this is something new for me !!!!


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## justplainbill (Jan 1, 2008)

I've used the cornstarch on rybreads. I paint before baking and have seen instructions to paint a second time after the oven spring has stabilized (after some 30 minutes). The stone I was referring to is a 1 " thick clay tile which is almost as wide and deep as my oven. Whole eggwash is likely to give you browning before a thick and crunchy crust develops. Unless the flat pan is perforated, the bottom of the loaves will not be a crispy as they might otherwise be. The 'stone' really crisps the bottom of the loaves. Steaming (the pan of water) or spraying a mist on the loaves while they are baking is a good way to go but I get by just painting the loaves with water.


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## gagamag (Jan 1, 2008)

*stone*

are you telling me you cook the bread directly on the stone ? it sounds like if I use the the eggwash with a little adjustment I can get nice crispy brown crust ?  can you give me the details of how to make and use the eggwash ?

  Thanks  again,
    Tony G


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## jpmcgrew (Jan 1, 2008)

Egg wash is just an egg and maybe 2-3 TBL of water lightly beaten together then brushed in bread before it goes into oven a thin layer is good dont use it all if there is leftover


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## jpmcgrew (Jan 1, 2008)

Go here lots of great info.
bread101_intro


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## justplainbill (Jan 2, 2008)

gagamag said:


> are you telling me you cook the bread directly on the stone ? it sounds like if I use the the eggwash with a little adjustment I can get nice crispy brown crust ? can you give me the details of how to make and use the eggwash ?
> 
> Thanks again,
> Tony G


Baking from the outset on a stone is considered by many as best but I'm afraid of a collapse if I try to move raw risen loaves from a cookie sheet or peel onto the stone.  That's why I bake for 20 - 25 minutes on a cookie sheet where the loaves have risen before moving to the stone.


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