Dee Randall wrote:

>I am interested in your statement "...most of the bread's flavor is in the
>crust...." No matter what crust I end up with; i.e., light, medium, dark,
>my crust taste NEVER is tasty to me. It always has a slightly bitter taste.
>Sometimes I've wondered if it is the water I'm using to spray the oven with;
>my oven isn't clean enough and the crust takes on the oven smell; the pan in
>the oven that I pour hot water in for steam might not be the correct metal,
>such as iron vs. stainless? It doesn't matter what flour I use, it always
>has this taste to me. I use mostly King Arthur flour nowadays, but when I
>wasn't, it was the same. Sometimes I make biga, polish, other called for
>"starters," but it is always the same -- just can't figure it out. When I
>buy bread from markets; i.e., Wegman's, Whole Foods, it doesn't have this
>bitter taste.
>
>
Start by getting the thermometers and cleaning your oven. Also, it is a
matter of taste. Europeans love breads that most Americans think are
burned. Dr. Calvel dedicates a lot of his book to encouraging people to
bake bread longer.

So, is it burned, or just not to your taste?

Well.... get the temperature under control, get the oven cleaned (I like
the lye free easy-off), and then see what happens.

Mike