Bread bakers of the forums: what am I doing wrong?

[mathnerd]

I'm a pretty skilled baker, but breads aren't something I have a lot of experience with. I generally do desserts. That's changed recently, as I've moved to an area with a distinct lack of Cuban bakeries, and I really do miss my Cuban bread, so I decided I would make it myself.

The first few loaves were tasty, but not quite right. After a dozen or so loaves, I've got the flavor and texture down, but there's one thing I can't quite get: the "split" on the top. All of the recipes I've found say to use a very sharp knife to cut a slit on the top after it finishes rising, right before you put it in the oven. If I do that, the whole loaf deflates. Also, it just comes back together, and doesn't give me the pretty split that's supposed to be there. I know that this is a cosmetic thing, but it's bugging me. Any advise for what I'm doing wrong?

[Ironclad Alibi]

Could you be cutting the slit too deep?

I looked up some recipes. A couple of them said to stretch a string down the length of the loaf instead of cutting to form the slit. I think you cook with the string on the loaf.

Using string recipe 1

Using string recipe 2

[EricKei]

I'm not a baker, but I play one on TV...

As IS suggested -- maybe the slit is meant to be extremely shallow, just barely breaking the outer "skin" of the bread patty?

[mathnerd]

I'll try the string. Traditionally, as I've read, it's done with a palmetto leaf, but I'm not entirely sure how they used the palmetto leaf to make that signature slit-that's-not-really-a-slit look.

[Kittish]

A slit cut into the top of a loaf of bread before baking should be very shallow- 1/8 of an inch or so. That's part of why you want a very sharp knife for it, so you can basically just brush the knife's edge along the top of the loaf, and also a knife that is not serrated because serrations will grab at the dough and mess it up. Use the body of the blade, not the tip, and support most of the weight of the knife yourself.

Never heard of using string, but it seems like it might work. Be sure you use undyed cooking twine if you do try it, and definitely sterilize and dry the string before using. I think the first recipe linked kind of misses the point by putting the string or palmetto leaf on the bottom of the loaf, though.

[BearLeeBadenaugh]

Most bakeries have a special bakers razor for cutting the dough, called a lame. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/...-slashing-tool

Stick the corner in and give it a quick slash, keeping the handle out of the bread, all the deeper the cut needs to be.

[CoffeeMonkey]

1) Get a lame (la-MAY) as mentioned above. It's basically a razor on a stick, and it will give you a much cleaner cut. Or just use a clean razor blade.
2) Slashing loaves is not just cosmetic. It also prevents blowouts by giving the rise of the bread somewhere to go. Slashing crusty breads is an important part of their baking.
3) If your bread is deflating after you slash it, it's been overproofed. There's so much gas in there that the gluten matrix can't support it. Yes, you want it to proof nice and puffy, but not too much. Test your loaf by poking a finger into the end of it. If the loaf holds the poke without the dimple filling back in, you're ready to slash and bake. Then just be careful not to manhandle it too much, as that will also squash it.
4) I would not recommend baking the loaf upside down. The slash should be on top so that it can do the structural thing that it does. Also, the seam of the loaf is what should be on the bottom. If this is a soft crusted bread that does not actually NEED to be slashed, then that alleviates the former concern, but it should still be seam-side down.
5) Using a preferment improves just about every aspect of bread baking. It shortens the kneading time, strengthens the gluten, shortens the initial fermentation time, gives a better rise and better crust. It also makes for more complex flavors. There are many different kinds of preferment, but the easiest to use, IMO, is a poolish. Take a portion of your flour and mix it with an equal weight of water, and about half of your yeast. Proof your yeast first, if using active dry. If using fresh or instant dry, just mix it on in. Mix it well with a spoon until it's well-incorporated, cover, and park it in a warm place overnight. In the morning, it will be all soupy and bubbly and gross. That nasty smelly stuff is baking gold! Combine it with the rest of your ingredients and proceed as usual from there.

[mathnerd]

I've been using just a clean straight razor, so I think I'm okay on that part.

This is the recipe I've been using:

http://icuban.com/food/pan_cubano2.html

I've been following it exactly (including the beverages by the pool part!).

It's a crusty bread, and I've been getting the taste and texture right, it's just the slash thing. I've been timing the proofing, and eyeballing the size, and it seems to be the right amount of time, but I'll try shortening the time for the next loaf and see how that goes.

[pitmonkey]

you might try this
http://artisanbreadbaking.com/techniques/steam/

[CoffeeMonkey]

The recipe calls for brushing the loaf with water, which, in a home oven, is meant to replace the steam of a pro oven. I use a spray bottle to mist my loaves, and then to squirt jets of water into the oven just before i close the door to make the steam. It's a poor substitute for a steam injected deck oven, but it's what I got. The lack of steam is the biggest obstacle to good crusty bread at home.

The recipe? Oy vey. If you get a product you like with it, and it's consistent, then there's no need for you to change, but it makes my soul hurt.

Your last post does offer a bit of a clue, though. You can't time proofing. You can ballpark it, but there are so many factors at play that determine how the dough will behave, including temperature, humidity, the consistency of the dough, the yeast in the dough, the yeast in the room, how much fat and sugar is in the dough, and probably other stuff I'm forgetting right now. All you can do is watch it, and judge how much its grown, and do the poke test. The bread will tell you when it's ready. I've also never seen a recipe that wanted the bread proofed beyond twice its size, so going for 2.5 times seems like a lot to me.

Do you bake a lot? If so, make yourself a proof box. Get a large steralite tote (the plastic is food-safe, I checked) and a cheap probe thermometer. squish the thermometer through the lid. then a towel and a baking rack goes inside. Place a pot on the towel and boil a kettle of water. Dump into the pot, put your tray of bread on the rack, and clamp on the lid. Ideal temp is 80-90F and the steam both helps the rise, and prevents the surface from drying. Don't wash it! Yeast spores will hang out in the air and in the towel. This is a good thing. Just use the towel to wipe the condensation off when you're done, leave it open to dry, and you're done.

I would park my box by a heat vent for some extra warmth. I also put my bowl of poolish in there to stay cozy and safe from the cat. You can also do your fermenting in there, though I usually used the microwave for that part.

If you have a stone baking sheet, it is your bread's best friend. Put it in the oven cold and let it heat up to rocket hot with the oven, and do your proofing on a thin layer of cornmeal on a large wooden cutting board. Then you use the board to scoot the loaf onto the hot stone. The purpose of the cornmeal is so it slips. The extra flavor and texture it brings is a bonus.

There was something else, but now I forget. I'll add it later if I remember.

[mathnerd]

Thanks, CoffeeMonkey! You've given me a lot of information. I'm a skilled desserts baker, but just getting started with breads, so there's an awful lot I don't know. To clarify, what I meant by "timing" was that using the time the recipe states as a guideline, and eyeballing the size within that time frame.

So, a bit about my kitchen, and maybe you can help me make some changes that would be beneficial...

My kitchen is OLD. As in the house was built in 60-something and the stove and oven (two separate units) are original to the house. They are gas powered. My mixing bowls are all metal, so I do my fermenting on top of the stove, above the pilot light, since the rest of the kitchen stays quite cold, unless the outside air temperature is above 95F. The house doesn't have a/c, but stays cold anyway. I don't have a stone baking sheet, but it's on my list of things to buy in the near future. I've been using a light colored aluminum sheet (the darker sheets seem to burn the bottom). On colder days, I've done the first rise and proofing inside the oven, as the ambient air in the kitchen stays so cold, and given that it's a gas oven, it stays warm even when it's off.

I've been using a soft brush for the water, but I'll get a spray bottle and see if that helps. I've also been playing around with the idea of a pan of water on the bottom shelf to keep the humidity level higher. As for the recipe itself; I tried a few, and that's the one that gave me the closest flavor/texture to what I'm used to from the Cuban bakeries in Miami.

[Ophbalance]

I'd pick up a copy of the bread Bakers apprentice. It's a great read with great bread recipes.

[CoffeeMonkey]

You're quite welcome! Knowledge is for sharing!

Being skilled with desserts gives you a good foundation for fussy things. The prime thing to remember is that bread is a living thing, and if you're not nice to it, it will be sad.

If you do a pan of water in the oven for steam, be sure to take it out after the first tennish minutes of baking. Too much steam can make your crust tough and not brown enough. Which, oddly, is also what can happen if you don't have any steam at all. SCIENCE!

When you proof in the oven, where does your loaf go while the oven is going from its warm proofing temp up to rocket hot baking temp? If it's sitting out in the cool room temperature air for any length of time while waiting for the oven to finish heating, that might also be a cause for sadness. I think the proofer may be your key to success.

[mathnerd]

CoffeMonkey, I owe you a thousand thanks. The proofing box made a huge difference. It's still not quite perfect, but I think that's more my poor technique due to lack of experience (so will get better with time).

[CoffeeMonkey]

VICTORY!

http://www.myinstants.com/instant/victory-fanfare/