Internal temperature
 

I'd always used time and the color of the crust to tell me when the bread
was done as I like it. Since I always bake into a cold oven, I add
5-minutes to the recipe recommended baking time. All of my recipes
recommend 30-35 min.

I execute it by timing 5-min, and then 2, 15-min. segments. Depending one
what I'm making, I sometimes break that final 15-min segment into 3, 5-min.
segments. The initial 5-min interval is to make me get up and check on
how the loaf has sprung, and to be sure to check the temp to see that it's
correct--and/or turn it down in case of a hotter than normal start.

The first 15-min segment is just time to pass, and the second one is to
fine-tune the color and amount of "doneness" that I'm looking for.

So, after getting a phone call and not hearing my timer last
week--remembering it only when I could smell that something was going up in
smoke...I broke down and bought a couple of those instant digital
temperature meters. One has a temperature alert setting; in that I can set
the target temperature, and it'll alert me when it's been achieved.
Finally, I was going to be able to bake at the 20th century level!

What motivated me was hearing about folks undercooking the insides of their
loaves--and a curiosity as to how this was affecting me.

I have nearly a dozen recipes that I bake on a regular basis. They are all
recommended at 30-35 min. At the moment I'm baking a pair of high-hydration
Coccodrillo loaves. The recommended target temperature was given to me as
"at least" 203F. Most of what I've read on this list seems to indicate that
an internal temperature of at least 197F or so was desired.

Well, since I can't push a sensor into a HH glop of dough waiting to be
baked, I had to wait for it to at least firm up. After about 15-min it was
puffed out, and starting to brown. I put in the probe, and it immediately
spun up to 208F! I took the loaf out, after about 22 min. total, when it
reached 210F.

I used the second loaf to see how high the temp gets when I bake it the
normal way (by time). Pretty well the same thing happened. In 15-min or so
the temp spun up to 210, and stayed there until I'd run the full 35-min
course of baking.

Now, to my questions. What purpose is served by baking to a specific
temperature? And what does it mean if the "end" temperature seems to be too
high? Should I stop baking when the temp gets to the recommended temp? Am
I using the wrong temperatures?

FWIW; I just did a calibration on the meter. It was within 1-degree at 32 &
spot-on at 212F. So I'm relatively certain that it's accurate enough.

I'll report what I find when they cool enough for cutting a bit later this
PM...

Hope someone has a clue they can pass on...


Dusty
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