Ed, I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the subject of thermometers, but
must politely disagree with you. My bread did not become consistently great
until I bought a thermometer. For a home baker, eyeballing the bread is a
good technique only if you don't vary your ingredients very much from loaf
to loaf. Flours, sweeteners and washes will all affect the browning of the
loaf.
My sister makes the most incredible white bread I've ever eaten. She
doesn't use a thermometer as she knows the exact color it should be. But
this is the ONLY bread she bakes; she knows the look and feel of this bread
so well that she doesn't even measure the ingredients!
I'm the opposite sort of bread baker. I love to play around with all kinds
of ingredients and techniques. I HAVE to have a thermometer because my
bread is never the same from week to week. The sesame-onion braid will
never be the same shade of brown as my multi-grain loaf. But they both turn
out great thanks to my handy little thermometer.
> From: Ed Okie <okie@digital.net>
> Subject: bread temperature, another perspective
> Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 08:43:29 -0400
>
> The best idea, use Jeff's KISS formula: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
> Use your eyes. Bake by the color.