I've been baking SD over the last year, getting much of my info from
this newsgroup. One chronic problem I've had is soft crust. Right out
of the oven, the crust is really hard (so hard I have trouble sticking
a thermometer in it), but within an hour it becomes spongy enough to
press in with your fingers. The bread is otherwise fine and tasty, but
I prefer hard crusts.

Here is some background info about my technique:
-dough is made of bread flour, starter, salt, and water
-preheat to 500 in electric oven w/ pizza stone for 45 min
-pour boiling water into pan near bottom of oven right before putting
bread in
-slash 1kg loaf, spray lightly w/ water, slide onto stone with peel
-after 10 min, turn temp down to 400
-bake ~35 min more
-check temp inside bread (usually between 200-215)
-cool on wire rack at room temp for at least 2 hrs

The crust becomes progressively softer starting after about an hour of
cooling, with the bottom of the loaf degenerating first. I've varied my
technique in a number of ways (with no success) including:
-trying different cooking temps from 400 to 525, often lowering it 10
min into baking, but not always
-making less steam by not spraying loaf w/ water and not putting a pan
of water in oven
-making more steam by spraying water in the oven every few minutes in
addition to the pan of water
-shaping loaf in a banneton and shaping it as a freeform loaf
-varying rising times from 2.5 hrs to 7.5 hrs
-autolysing and not autolysing the dough at the beginning

I consulted a cookbook from "America's Test Kitchen" that said soft
crusts were caused by too-high temps and recommended baking at 500
initially and then lowering it to 400. Didn't work.
I don't know what possibly could be causing me problems; I've run out
of ideas. But if anybody has had similar problems and figured out a
remedy, please let me know.

I"ve had this problem with some recipes and not with others. One thing
that has helped with the soggy crust recipes is to let the bread sit in
the oven to cool. After the bread is baked, turn off the oven and open
the oven door and let the bread continue to sit in the oven. Seems like
letting it cool this way keeps a crispier crust for me.

marcella

In article .com>,
"LT Smash" > wrote:

> I've been baking SD over the last year, getting much of my info from
> this newsgroup. One chronic problem I've had is soft crust. Right out
> of the oven, the crust is really hard (so hard I have trouble sticking
> a thermometer in it), but within an hour it becomes spongy enough to
> press in with your fingers. The bread is otherwise fine and tasty, but
> I prefer hard crusts.
>
> Here is some background info about my technique:
> -dough is made of bread flour, starter, salt, and water
> -preheat to 500 in electric oven w/ pizza stone for 45 min
> -pour boiling water into pan near bottom of oven right before putting
> bread in
> -slash 1kg loaf, spray lightly w/ water, slide onto stone with peel
> -after 10 min, turn temp down to 400
> -bake ~35 min more
> -check temp inside bread (usually between 200-215)
> -cool on wire rack at room temp for at least 2 hrs
>
> The crust becomes progressively softer starting after about an hour of
> cooling, with the bottom of the loaf degenerating first. I've varied my
> technique in a number of ways (with no success) including:
> -trying different cooking temps from 400 to 525, often lowering it 10
> min into baking, but not always
> -making less steam by not spraying loaf w/ water and not putting a pan
> of water in oven
> -making more steam by spraying water in the oven every few minutes in
> addition to the pan of water
> -shaping loaf in a banneton and shaping it as a freeform loaf
> -varying rising times from 2.5 hrs to 7.5 hrs
> -autolysing and not autolysing the dough at the beginning
>
> I consulted a cookbook from "America's Test Kitchen" that said soft
> crusts were caused by too-high temps and recommended baking at 500
> initially and then lowering it to 400. Didn't work.
> I don't know what possibly could be causing me problems; I've run out
> of ideas. But if anybody has had similar problems and figured out a
> remedy, please let me know.
>

LT Smash wrote:
> I've been baking SD over the last year, getting much of my info from
> this newsgroup. One chronic problem I've had is soft crust. Right out
> of the oven, the crust is really hard (so hard I have trouble
sticking
> a thermometer in it), but within an hour it becomes spongy enough to
> press in with your fingers. The bread is otherwise fine and tasty,
but
> I prefer hard crusts.
>


Your problem is too much moisture during the last part of the bake,
Try leaving the oven door slightly ajar at the last 10 mintues of the
bake.

Happy baking..