Hi all,
I found Ed's posting re: finished bread temperature vs. finished bread
color, as an indicator of doneness, very informative, but I would like to
make a comment based on my baking experience. IMHO, color is not always
the way to judge a properly baked loaf. "Enriched" loaves, or those that
have extra sugars, milk or eggs added, brown very quickly on the outside
while the interior or crumb is still underdone (these loaves often
require a piece of aluminum foil draped over them to allow the interior
to cook without the outside over-browning). Many straight dough bread
recipes suggest baking until "golden" brown, while I learned from Peter
Reinhart's wonderful class that a "red-brown" color showing optimum
carmelization of crust is the desirable color for artisan breads. What
is golden to some may be red-brown to others and vice versa making color
totally subjective criteria. I use the recipe's indicated bake time as
my first indicator of doneness. I then check temperature just as a
confirmation. If the temperature is less than 190 degrees, I put the
loaf back in for a few minutes, because most bread books indicate that
the bread is undercooked below that temperature. Ideally, anything
between 190 and 200 degrees is fine although one of my bread books
recommended a temperature of 210 for breads that have lots of fruits or
other moist items in the dough.
Ellen aka Gormay
PS I baked breads for years without the benefit of a thermometer. Timing
and thumping the bottom of the loaf worked well every time. Bread baked
at home was always received by friends and family as a delicious change
from "store bought" and if they were underbaked or overbaked we didn't
know it :-)