Why does my bread ferment in the middle?
I had been making bread reliably for a few years until we moved (from Sweden to Austria) six months ago. Suddenly, any loaf I make rots within a few days in the bread bin. Specifically, it goes soft and moist in the centre (the crust stays fine) and it starts to smell like rotting grapes.
I have tried:
- Swapping the flour. I have tried various kinds and qualities.
- Swapping the yeast (I use instant yeast)
- Baking longer (at 230°C)
- Changing the bread bin for a large tupperware with the lid very loose. In Sweden I did not have a bread bin, so I kept bread in a plastic bag, but we never had rotten bread.
- Making sure the bread is completely cool before placing in the bread bin.
Can anyone suggest where I might be going wrong?
Best Answer
I have marked George M's answer as the accepted answer, but I thought I would post a slightly expanded answer.
I can confirm that the following ideas that were raised in the comments did not work:
- Hotter oven
- Cooking longer
- Cooling completely
What has worked is to wrap the bread completely in a tea towel or two until completely cool. Then, the bread stays really fresh for at least a day.
I also found that bread thus cooled can be placed in the bread bin still wrapped in the tea towel, and it doesn't rot.
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Why is my bread still gooey in the middle?
Your oven was too hot, so the outside of the bread cooked faster than the inside. You pulled your bread out of the oven too early. You didn't let your dough reach room temperature before baking it. You didn't check your bread's ideal internal temperature.How do you tell if your bread is Overproofed?
Step 1: Perform the fingertip test to make sure your dough is overproofed. The test involves gently pressing your finger into the surface of the dough for 2 seconds and then seeing how quickly it springs back. The dent you make will be permanent if the dough is overproofed.What happens if bread dough is over fermented?
When your dough is over-fermented, the scores will not \u201copen up\u201d during baking but instead will flatten and melt into the dough. Scores don't really open up. The resulting bread will be flat and not have a good oven spring. The crumb can look dense and compressed, especially towards the bottom of the loaf.Why is my bread burnt on the outside and raw in the middle?
Even though your oven may say it's preheated to 350\xb0 F, tests have revealed that oven temperatures can be off by as much as 75\xb0 F in either direction! If your oven runs hot, your bread is likely to brown and bake up on the outside before the center has a chance to fully cook.Don't make this ONE STUPID MISTAKE when Baking Bread
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Answer 2
Most likely you are suffering from a cooler oven and underbaked bread. But you should also consider getting back to an older way to store bread - in a fabric bag (preferably cotton). This will keep it fresh enough without risking rot quite so much.
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