Bread Production
The best made dough in the world is worthless if it isn't baked properly. Luckily, baking is the easy part. There are many different methods used to bake breads. Pans, temperatures, shapes, and oven moisture all affect the final outcome.
Crusty Breads
For crisp-crusted, artisan-style breads, there are two main factors: temperature and steam.
Temperature
Steam
The higher the temperature, the bigger the oven spring (initial expansion of gasses) will be. Standard home ovens heat to 500°F, but the impact of that heat can be increased with the use of tile. Tile and stone hold the heat, and, depending on the placement of the tile, focus that heat toward the loaf. A loaf is slid directly onto the tile surface, which has been preheated in the oven. The dough is formed and proofed on a wooden paddle, called a peel, which is first coated with cornmeal. When the dough is ready to bake, the loaf is slid off the peel onto the tile.
Some oven walls are completely surrounded with tile or stone, which is ideal. It is possible to purchase stone inserts for your oven that intensify the heat and focus it toward your loaf. But even a simple piece of terracotta tile from the hardware store will greatly improve your loaf over those cooked on a baking sheet.
Steam is the second element crucial to crusty bread production. It produces thinner, crispier crusts with a deeper golden brown coloration. The addition of steam to an oven softens the outer skin of a loaf, allowing it to stretch further during oven spring, thus producing a thinner crust. At the same time, the moisture liquefies the starch on the outer surface, allowing it to convert quickly to sugar. This additional sugar gets crispy, and is more evenly caramelized, creating a pleasing crust color.
Professional ovens have steam injection, which allows the baker to pump steam directly into the oven. This is a rare feature in home ovens, but there are several ways to simulate a steam injection. The dough can be misted with water as it goes into the oven, and again every 10 minutes, until coloration begins. This method works well, but the baker must be vigilant. Another option is to place a pan of water at the bottom of the oven, which slowly fills the oven cavity with steam. For quick burst of steam, toss ice onto a pan at the bottom of the oven.
Doneness
Knowing when a loaf of bread is ready to come out of the oven is made easier with the help of a thermometer. Choose an instant-read thermometer that can be calibrated by hand. Test its accuracy by measuring the temperature of boiling water, which should be 212°F, or 100°C (assuming you are at sea level). If the temperature is off, you can adjust the needle with the simple turn of a screw.
Recipes provide a cooking time, but the actual time it takes to completely bake a loaf can vary tremendously. The size of the oven, the size of the loaves, the thickness and material of the pans, recipe accuracy, ingredient variation, and the number of items in the oven at one time all affect the time required. The only sure way to judge doneness is by sight and feel.
A finished loaf should be golden brown in color. It should also feel lighter coming out than it was going in, and make a hollow sound when thumped. The internal temperature of a bread can be taken to determine doneness as well. Insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the loaf. The internal temperature should be in the range of 200–210°F when cooked through.
