I have been baking bread for some time now, and am
pretty confortable experimenting with different
addtions/modifications to basic recipies.

One thing that I am unable to acheive is bread with a
skin-like crust like that on Wonderbread. Food-snobbery
aside, my wife likes those, and I like a challenge.

My theory is that I have a plain old gas oven, and that
it is not going to be possible to achieve that kind of
a bread without an electric convection oven with steam
injection and a controlled humidity proofing box (maybe
this will get me approved for a new oven :-))

Any ideas on now I can get that kind of a light fluffy
mealy flavourless non-nutritional bread at home?

Irax.
http://rumimmi.blogspot.com [my own little AdSense
Experiment]

Here's a recipe that's been floating around the internet for a while, it's
for bread machine users, but I'm sure you could manage to mix and bake it in
your oven. I call it my Fluff Bread...

Rina
------------------------------------------------
Homemade Wonder Bread (ABM)

2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110ºF.)
1 tbsp. white sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup instant potato flakes
1/4 cup powdered milk
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1 cup warm water (110ºF.)

Whisk together the yeast, 1/4 cup warm water and sugar. Allow to sit for 15
minutes.

Add ingredients in the order suggested by your machine's manufacturer,
including the yeast mixture. Select the basic and light crust setting.

This recipe yields a 2 lb. loaf.

Comments: A white bread recipe without a strong yeast flavor. Proofing the
yeast first eliminates some of the yeast taste from the final product.


"Iraxl Enb" > wrote in message
...
>I have been baking bread for some time now, and am pretty confortable
>experimenting with different addtions/modifications to basic recipies.
>
> One thing that I am unable to acheive is bread with a skin-like crust like
> that on Wonderbread. Food-snobbery aside, my wife likes those, and I like
> a challenge.

>
> Any ideas on now I can get that kind of a light fluffy mealy flavourless
> non-nutritional bread at home?
>

"Iraxl Enb" > wrote in message
...
> I have been baking bread for some time now, and am
> pretty confortable experimenting with different
> addtions/modifications to basic recipies.
>
> One thing that I am unable to acheive is bread with a
> skin-like crust like that on Wonderbread. Food-snobbery
> aside, my wife likes those, and I like a challenge.
>
> My theory is that I have a plain old gas oven, and that
> it is not going to be possible to achieve that kind of
> a bread without an electric convection oven with steam
> injection and a controlled humidity proofing box (maybe
> this will get me approved for a new oven :-))
>

I think a convection oven with steam injection is the exact opposite of what
you need to make a thin, soft crust.

Iraxl Enb wrote:

> I have been baking bread for some time now, and am pretty confortable
> experimenting with different addtions/modifications to basic recipies.
>
> One thing that I am unable to acheive is bread with a skin-like crust
> like that on Wonderbread. Food-snobbery aside, my wife likes those,
> and I like a challenge.
>
> My theory is that I have a plain old gas oven, and that it is not
> going to be possible to achieve that kind of a bread without an
> electric convection oven with steam injection and a controlled
> humidity proofing box (maybe this will get me approved for a new oven
> :-))
>
> Any ideas on now I can get that kind of a light fluffy mealy
> flavourless non-nutritional bread at home?

Making that sort of bread at home is harder than it might seem. General
hints.... don't use anything other than flour, water, salt, yeast and
some bland oil. Anything else risks adding flavor, and that's not what
wonderbread is about.

Don't steam the bread, that builds the crust. Don't use a convection
oven, that builds the crust. Don't use oven stones or tiles, that
builds the crust.

I'd use a white bread recipe, strip out any "unneeded" ingredients that
might add flavor, use a bread flour, get the dough hydration into the 65
to 75% range, use about 25 to 50% more yeast than you normally would.
Form the loaf as soon as the dough is kneaded, put it into a bread pan,
and then bake as soon as it has risen. I'd bake at 350 to 375 and use a
chef's thermometer to determine when the bread is done.

If you still get too much crust, you can do several things. Brushing
the crust with a bland oil before baking the bread will help. Storing
the bread, once it has cooled, in plastic sacks will quickly degrade any
crust remnants.

Hope this helps,
Mike

Found this page quite interesting. Its sponsored by
Cargill, but nice pix, and ratios...

Thanks for all the responses!

Irax.
http://rumimmi.blogspot.com [my little AdSense expt]


Mike Avery wrote:

<SNIP>

"Mike Avery" > wrote in message
news:mailman.14.1115305510.78192.rec.food.baking@m ail.otherwhen.com...
> Iraxl Enb wrote:
>
> > I have been baking bread for some time now, and am pretty confortable
> > experimenting with different addtions/modifications to basic recipies.
> >
> > One thing that I am unable to acheive is bread with a skin-like crust
> > like that on Wonderbread. Food-snobbery aside, my wife likes those,
> > and I like a challenge.
> >
> > My theory is that I have a plain old gas oven, and that it is not
> > going to be possible to achieve that kind of a bread without an
> > electric convection oven with steam injection and a controlled
> > humidity proofing box (maybe this will get me approved for a new oven
> > :-))
> >
> > Any ideas on now I can get that kind of a light fluffy mealy
> > flavourless non-nutritional bread at home?
>
> Making that sort of bread at home is harder than it might seem. General
> hints.... don't use anything other than flour, water, salt, yeast and
> some bland oil. Anything else risks adding flavor, and that's not what
> wonderbread is about.

I think that adding a fair amount of sugar with the increased yeast and
bland oil tends to produce "Wonder Bread." Also, fermenting the dough at a
relatively high temperature also will help. I might consider reducing the
oven temperature a bit to reduce browning, especially with the increased
sugar.

It is nice to know that there are still somebody unaffected by the
bread snobbery that abounds in most baking related newgroup.
Wonder bread with its very fine cakelike texture is difficult to
attain in home environment due to technical constraints with the
formulations , unique equipment and processing method.
But if you only want to get a softer and thin soft crust in your
breadusing a recipe that contains a fair amount of sugar and fat in
combination with minor amounts of milk solids ( in normal white
bread)will promote such thin crust formation. As long as its baked at
lower temperature say in the vicinity of 380-400 deg F.in a normal oven
you'll be assured of desirable result.
Btw, do not forget to proof the dough in humid conditions as that is
another contributing factor for desirable crust formation. If the dough
surface dries in air( low humidity), it will led to thicker crust.
You don't need much steam like crusty breads, as long as the bread is
properly proofed with moist crust ; that surface moisture during
baking will produce a very mild steam blanket that promotes oven
spring and softens the crust.You are likely to get a softer crust with
gas oven than with electic one, as the combustions of fuel will produce
carbon dioxide and water which improves the moisture content of the
oven atmosphere.

Iraxl Enb wrote:
> I have been baking bread for some time now, and am
> pretty confortable experimenting with different
> addtions/modifications to basic recipies.
>
> One thing that I am unable to acheive is bread with a
> skin-like crust like that on Wonderbread. Food-snobbery
> aside, my wife likes those, and I like a challenge.
>
> My theory is that I have a plain old gas oven, and that
> it is not going to be possible to achieve that kind of
> a bread without an electric convection oven with steam
> injection and a controlled humidity proofing box (maybe
> this will get me approved for a new oven :-))
>
> Any ideas on now I can get that kind of a light fluffy
> mealy flavourless non-nutritional bread at home?
>
> Irax.
> http://rumimmi.blogspot.com [my own little AdSense
> Experiment]