10 TIPS TO MAKE CRUSTY HOMEMADE BREAD

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10 Tips for Crusty Homemade Bread

1. Beware of bread recipes that call for more than 1 tablespoon of instant yeast per pound of flour: your bread will surely taste like yeast, not bread, with that much yeast. Less yeast and a longer, cooler rise result in tastier bread with much more character.

2. Use high-protein flour for chewier, crustier bread.

3. If the recipe calls for any fat (oil, butter, and so on), add it only after some of the liquid has already been added to the flour; otherwise the fat will coat the proteins and prevent gluten from forming as easily as it should.

4. Don't add hot liquid to the dough; anything above 115 degrees might kill the yeast.

5. Knead the dough vigorously and slap it onto the counter a few times during kneading to develop the gluten; the more gluten develops in the dough, the better the dough will rise and the airier the bread will be.

6. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a moist towel as it rises; this prevents a fine skin from forming on its surface. The skin not only mars the final texture of the bread, it also inhibits rising.

7. Slash shaped loaves with a sharp razor blade immediately before baking; this prevents them from bursting at the seams as they expand dramatically in the oven. Make slashes about 1/4-inch deep on a diagonal with a swift, sure motion, not a sawing motion.

8. Bake bread directly on a heated baking stone for an extra-crisp crust and chewy texture. If you don't have a baking stone, heat 2 baking sheets in the oven for 30 minutes instead.

9. Spray the bread with water from a spray bottle 3 times during the first 10 minutes of baking; the steam prevents the crust from forming too early, which in turn would prevent the bread from rising to its full potential in the oven. As the bread bakes, the humidity from the steam will eventually make the crust crisper.

10. Cool bread on a rack to keep the crust nice and crisp; if the air doesn't circulate, the crust will become soggy

 
Thanks for the tips. I like the slapping part too for fun-- I didn't know it had a purpose....

I have a different steam method (from Julia Child): I put an iron skillet on the floor of the oven as it heats up, then after sliding the bread in I toss a half cup of water in the pan and quickly close the oven, and leave it closed for 10 minutes.

Either way, the steam makes a wonderful crust.

 
I didn't like the idea of misting- do you do the 1/2 cup once? or more?

 
Just once. And I've used more than 1/2 cup since with my newer oven it doesn't seem to last as long

I should mention that the skillet is for a gas oven. For an electric oven, Julia just throws the water into the oven.

For me, I could easily forget to mist several times, and after the first 10 minutes it's too late. I know other cooks swear by misting directly but they must be less scatterbrained than I am!

This way I add the water after I slide in the bread, set the timer and forget about it. It doesn't produce a thick blistered crust like you get by spraying the loaves, but I don't necessarily prefer that. I've sacrificed one of my iron skillets to rust for this purpose.

 
Just throw the water in, that is something I can do

I have an electric oven, I am rising my foccacia bread (to go with Tomoto Florentine) I'll be cooking the bread shortly, I'll throw the water in and mist. Like you, I do care the heavy crust, I was looking for moist

 
I go for ice cubes thrown in a preheated cast iron pan on a lower shelf..

don't want the oven floor to warp with the sudden change in temp. (electric oven BTW)

 
Joe, my bread came out excellent, moist and an even golden

crust and quite tasty and fluffy inside. I misted the bread like you said and threw some water in. Clark, enjoyed it and even my son Joe (excellent name if you ask me personally) who usually doesn't care for bread ate quite a bit of it. Thank you

 
Success! I don;t mist the bread at all, I just do the one easy gesture of tossing water into a hot

skillet, but I'm sure doing both won't hurt. I think it's good to keep the oven shut to maintain an even temperature.

I should try your foccacia recipe--it's interesting that you brush with oil after baking. I've always done it before.

A great name, indeed!

 
I hope you do and I made Tomato Florentine Soup RECIPE:

as follows. Best suggestion for the soup is make it the night before and reheat for dinner is filling and delicious enough to be a meal. And thanks again.

TOMATO FLORENTINE SOUP
Ingredients


28 oz. can chopped tomatoes (2 14oz cans)
6 tomato’s put 3 in blender & whip & 3 diced
14 oz. can chicken or veggie broth (or 3 chicken bullion cubes
2 cups of water, put in microwave heat for 3
minutes, use a fork to break down cubes)
2 cups water
1/2 onion, chopped
5-6 oz. pkg frozen spinach (about 1/2 of the package)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tablespoons sugar
salt & pepper to taste
2-3 tablespoon olive oil
5 0z pkg mini pasta shells (or ½ 10 oz pkg)
½ zucchini, leave peel on, dice
½ carrot, use a potato peeler, shave carrot than dice
shavings into teensy pieces *it will melt into soup
2 additional cups of water may be needed (I used it)



Step 1

Sauté garlic and onion in few tablespoons of olive oil until translucent and tender.

Step 2

Add spinach and cook for a few minutes on medium heat.

Step 3

Pour in tomatoes, broth, water, and mini pasta shells. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

Step 4

Let simmer about 15-20 minutes and or until mini pasta done. Serve with crusty bread or foccacia bread

 
I've seen an Italian technique where instead of classic kneading

you take the dough in a ball, treat it like you're going to throw a ball, reach back and fling it onto the counter, holding on to one end meanwhile. This stretches it. Fold it up in three, like a letter, give it a half turn, and fling it again, stretching it the other way. Just a few of these flings apparently replace 10 minutes of the common kneading. (It works!)

The crustiest bread I've made is from a book by a woman who has trained in artisanal bread baking in Europe and San Francisco. She recommends spraying the wall of the oven several times in the first 10 minutes, not spraying the bread surface itself. (This works too!)

I second the pizza stone recommendation. This gives an amazing crust, as good as you find in bakeries, if not better.

 
It is and with all the vegetables you don't realize you're eating

healthy. It a meal not just a soup.

 
Sort of yo yo ing haha. I will try this technique it sounds fun. Thanks

 
Yes they do. The zucchini (with peel on) are diced/minced and

the carrots USE A POTATO PEELER are in shavings then the carrot using a potato peeler into carrot shavings are diced/minced: this will cause the majority of the carrots to melt into the soup and the reasoning for this is to compliment the soup and not bite into chunks of carrot & zucchini that way you will be able to enjoy the soup. Make it the night before, refrigerate over night and reheat the next day, tastes so much better, but, of course you can eat it after you cook it. I find it thinkens by cooking it the night before. Its almost like a pasta meal but it's soup and I prinkle parmasean cheese. You really will love this.

 
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