Why is my bread burning?! Bakers, help!

[ZappDogg]

After mastering the art of making artisan loaves in an enamel-covered cast iron dutch oven, I'm now trying to make sandwich loaves in a normal breadpan. The problem is that where the artisan loaves would bake for almost an hour, my sandwich loaves are burning on the top after only 30 minutes.

Maybe it's the increase of sugar in these recipes? Maybe the fact that the pans are uncovered?

What am I doing wrong?

 

[jlee]

Try a lower temperature?

Are you following a recipe?

 

[biggestmuff]

Loaves are to close to the top of the oven where all the heat collects.
Cooking time is too long.
Oven temperature is too high.

 

[ZappDogg]

I following a rough recipe provided by King Arthur Flour, with my own tweaks. This is the first bread I've made with honey, sugar, and powdered milk, so not sure if I'm doing something wrong or not.

My artisan loaves were just bread flour, yeast, paprika, a pinch of salt, and water. Almost impossible to mess up.

 

[minendo]

Look up Maillard Browning. It's the sugar.

 

[racolvin]

Try putting it on a lower rack space in the oven and drop the oven temp by 25-50 degrees F. This will increase your cooking time obviously

 

[ggnl]

maybe move the rack down a little lower in the oven so the top gets less heat

 

[ZappDogg]

i had the rack at the lowest level last night, and got the worst burning yet =P

looking up maillard browning now

 

[BoomerD]

Maybe your oven thermostat is off. Not an uncommon problem. You set it for 375, but you actually get 450.

You'll need an oven thermometer to verify this.

 

[nerp]

How are you treating the top of the loaf? Are you buttering it, glazing it or doing anything like that?

 

[ZappDogg]

I haven't treated the top of the loaves that go in the breadpans. In the dutch oven, I would coat with olive oil.

 

[AndrewR]

Why is my bread burning?!

Wasn't that a Midnight Oil song?

 

[linuxboy]

Yep, it's either the sugar or oven temp. King Arthur makes good flour, so it's not that. Verify the oven temp with a thermometer and if too high, lower oven temp. Also, if you are preheating beforehand, switch to bake, because preheating uses both top and bottom elements.

If you want a quick fix, take a piece of aluminum foil and make a dome, sort of like you would for a pie crust so the edges do not burn. Bake for 60-80% of the total time (internal bread temp of about 170 degrees F), and then remove foil to finish up. If crust is too light then, brush with egg and finish in the oven for a few mins.

 

[MoPHo]

I'm no baker, but when I make bread I usually put aluminum on the top of the bread like Linuxboy says and add a very little amount of butter once it's firm enough to apply.

And just so this thread doesn't go without a useless MoPHo contribution;

Originally posted by: ZappDogg
I haven't treated the top of the loaves that go in the breadpans. In the dutch oven, I would coat with olive oil.

I think your sexual practices of dutch ovens with olive oil are sickening.

 

[ZappDogg]

good tips

 

[BrokenVisage]

:music:How do we eat when our bread is burning?:music:

D'oh! Looks like AndrewR beat me to it.

 

[Howard]

What's the hydration of the dough?

 

[Modelworks]

I always put a small container of water in the oven with the bread.

 

[MovingTarget]

Well, at least you can get it to rise. I've had success in cooking bread, but rarely can I get the bread to rise properly, even after preparing a proper starter sourdough...

 

[ZappDogg]

Screw sourdough starter. I experimented with that once...that ended when i came home from work one day, and the tiny bit of starter had multiplied by a factor of 100, creeped out of its bowl, all the way down the flat counter, and into the sink. The kitchen stunk for days.

 

[Born2bwire]

Originally posted by: MovingTarget
Well, at least you can get it to rise.

That's what she said.