Getting a crusty bread

When I try to bake a bread with a robust crust, the following happens a lot. When it comes out of the oven, it has a great crust, but by the time the bread cools, the crust has completely softened. Any thoughts, and thanks in advance.

[Greg]

Fill a spray bottle with water and lightly spray the dough before you bake it. Even better, if you have a steam/convection combination oven, bake for the first 2-3 minutes (maybe less) using the steam/convection oven combination setting, then go to just convection to finsh.

[This message has been edited by Greg (edited January 19, 2000).]

[Pete]

With the spray bottle method, don't only spray the dough before you put it in the oven. Also spray it every 4-5 min for the first 15 min of baking.

I've seen this done but why does it work?

This may answer the question about why steam makes crusty bread....Yeast is very active at first, but is killed when the temp reaches 140 degrees F. Therefore, by injecting steam into the oven (approx 3 times during the first 10 minutes) it helps keep the crust soft so that the bread can expand rapidly and evenly. The steam also helps to distribute the heat which also aids in oven spring. If you don't use steam, the crust will begin forming earlier and would become thick and heavy. When the moisture of the steam reacts with the starches on the surface of the bread, some of the starches form dextrins, and when you stop using the steam, the dextrins and the sugars in the dough caramelize and turn brown. This results in a crisp, glazed crust. You asked for it....hope I didn't bore you to death!!!

A belated thanks to those who offered advice. I haven't had a chance to bake a bread yet and check out the suggestions.

check out this months Cooks Illustrated. They always go to extremes when trying to come up with the best methods. This month there's an article on baguettes. It was quite informative.

I've made this recipe a few times and it is fabulous. Absolutely the best I've ever been able to make I like the cold rise in the refrigerator, I'm able to play around with the rise time a little without affecting the results, very convenient since I often have an erratic schedule to work around. Amanda

Originally posted by linda swiontek:
check out this months Cooks Illustrated. They always go to extremes when trying to come up with the best methods. This month there's an article on baguettes. It was quite informative.

[m brown]

Check out the book No Need to Knead, It will be reviewed on our home page soon. In the book Suzanne Dunaway gives great information on creating breads fast with a wonderful crust. Her method is less is more.
enjoy.

[chefjohnpaul]

I think Woody has said it all! Hooray!