11
votes
How do I maintain the crunchy crust of home baked bread?
The reason the crust is going soft is a combination of factors:
Moisture from inside the bread transfers to the outside during cooling: This is most prevalent in breads with thinner developed crusts. ...
- 496
9
votes
Accepted
When does gluten start to develop in pie crust or biscuits?
Wheat and (other grains) contains the two protein classes gliadin and glutenin, which together can form the composite protein gluten.
This process requires water and is influenced by
a) the amount ...
- 58.6k
9
votes
Pizza dough with sand paper texture?
Oftentimes, semolina is spread on the peel so that the pizza will slide off (known as launching). That could cause this phenomenon.
- 73.8k
7
votes
Best vegan substitute for egg wash
An effective method I've recently tried is using date honey, diluted with water or almond milk at a ratio of 1:1.
Another fine substitute is carob syrup, diluted similarly.
Due to the dark color of ...
- 181
7
votes
Does the "Game of Thrones" browned butter pie crust technique make any sense?
Any kind of crust that doesn't use cold fat could be made with brown butter easily. You can make crust by melting butter (with water and oil) then adding flour, and it's flaky - though not exactly the ...
- 58.2k
7
votes
Why does the crust of a freshly baked loaf of bread become less crunchy/hard over time?
It is not absorbing water from the atmosphere, rather, moisture is migrating from within the bread. Basically, as soon as a loaf of bread is removed from the oven, moisture migration begins to happen....
- 73.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Can I "fill" a chicken pot pie 24 hours before cooking it?
Absolutely not. As the other poster said but I will say with no "I think", I will say I know it will ruin the pastry. You will end up with a gummy crust that will never give you the flaky texture ...
- 181
7
votes
Commercial part-baked baguettes
Pre-baked baguettes are typically not browned at all when you buy them. If there is a crust all all, it is still very soft and mostly the same colour as the inside of the bread. The main chemical ...
- 10.6k
6
votes
Best vegan substitute for egg wash
A mixture of soymilk and agave syrup works beautifully! It gives a nice glaze and when we make bagels and brush them with the soymilk/agave before baking the seeds really stay on.
- 61
6
votes
Greasy Pie Crust
I don't know what it is, but I can tell you it is neither the ratio nor the temperature.
I needed dinner anyway, so I made a small experiment. I made half a batch of crust using the ratios from your ...
- 136k
6
votes
Accepted
Should I lightly boil or steam meat (eg, beef) before searing?
Yes, but I don't know if there's an official name for it. We do this a lot in pressure cooking, to get the appealing mallard reactions (caramelization). Typically, after cooking you can put the meat ...
- 594
6
votes
Is there a way to make this bread recipe's crust less crunchy?
I make the same Challah bread recipe every year, and mine says to bake at 350°f for 35 min and the crust is chewy but not crunchy or crisp. I've never had it under baked either.
- 871
6
votes
Replicating the thin, soft crust of Portuguese Sweet Bread
I'm the OP. After a lot of experimentation and reading, I've found that the solution is to use steam. A lot of articles talk about how steam is necessary for a hard crust so that made me think it was ...
- 745
6
votes
Pie crust too soft to put in pan
That's an unusual problem, rollable pie crust recipes will in my experience always get hard enough in the fridge and actually too hard/brittle after a full night there.
Troubleshooting should go in ...
- 136k
6
votes
Accepted
Hot Water Crust Pastry: effects of different ratio of ingredients?
So, first of all, the method you chose for listing the ratios is not exactly the most effective in depicting the ratios for comparison...
Usually we just list ratios as parts or with the quantities ...
- 2,848
5
votes
Accepted
Pyrex pie plate on hearthstone
The stone should work just as well. And you'd presumably put the pyrex dish on a preheated oven shelf without worrying. That would give more thermal stress because some parts of the dish would be ...
- 43.7k
5
votes
Can I use amaretti cookies in a cheesecake crust?
Sure you can. Just blitz the cookies in a food processor, and add a stream of melted butter until you can form the crust into a ball in your hand. Then just press the cookie mixture into the pan you ...
- 211
5
votes
Pretzel burger buns: how to make soft crust?
Since what you're making is a pretzel that you want to act like a soft loaf, I would try treating it like a bread.
To keep the crust on homemade bread soft, people brush the top with a fat of some ...
- 3,045
5
votes
Why does my pizza crust turn out too hard?
Possible problems:
You have too little water in the dough (you said that it felt OK, though)
You baked it for too long at too low a temperature (likely).
You let it proof for too long or too high a ...
- 4,694
4
votes
Baking - Substitutions for a gingersnap crust
I suggest you look for a similar recipe that makes its crust from the crackers you have, then add ginger to that. The fat content (and therefore the fat you need to add) will vary, as will the sugar. ...
- 43.7k
4
votes
Does the "Game of Thrones" browned butter pie crust technique make any sense?
If savoury
I imagine the type of pastry used here would be a hot water style. Something I usually use for pork pies as it is free standing, easy to work with and compliments the meat better in my ...
- 4,324
4
votes
Can I use sugar as a pie weight when blind baking at 425F?
Unfortunately sugar decomposes at 367F/186C, so I don't think using it at 425F is a good plan.
That said, I think that lower-temperature blind baking will work on pretty much any pie crust recipe. I'...
- 58.2k
4
votes
Can I "fill" a chicken pot pie 24 hours before cooking it?
I think the moisture would destroy the pastry. You could always roll out the pastry and prepare the filling in advance and store them separately in the fridge. Then you just put it together and pop in ...
- 10.6k
4
votes
Unpleasant crust on bread
The recipe specifies a two hour proof after the twelve hour fermentation. Depending on the activity of the yeast and the ambient temperature this might be too long. In overproofed bread the gluten ...
- 2,406
4
votes
Is there a way to make this bread recipe's crust less crunchy?
Another way to ask this question is: how can I cook the exterior of this food less, while keeping the inside cooked? The answer to this question is a lower temperature. This applies to most foods, ...
- 1,850
4
votes
How to prevent crust forming during frying, baking and grilling?
When you buy grilled meat from a store, it has been sitting in a fridge for some time, the crust will get less crusty because of the release of humidity from the meat.
You could do it at home, grill ...
- 20.5k
4
votes
Tapioca flour pizza crust is gummy?
Well, first things first... as I mentioned in my comment, tapioca flour gets gummy when heated. That's expected.
In Brazil we do have something called just tapioca, and otherwise known as tapioca ...
- 2,848
4
votes
Accepted
Can I use traditional pie crust to make ice cream pies
As you don't have much experience with baking, I would recommend that you find a recipe for a crust specifically intended for an ice cream pie, and then work from there.
It's possible that you'll find ...
- 80k
4
votes
Can I substitute sambucca in my pie crust instead of vodka?
It will add a taste of sambuca (as opposed to vodka's neutral flavour) and lots of sugar, which might affect the texture of the pastry a little. But if the dough came together and felt normal it ...
- 11.9k
3
votes
Accepted
Why did the crust get too hard on my Blueberry Cheesecake?
Your ratio of butter to cookie is probably the main problem here: using too much butter and refrigerating it overnight will give your crust the texture of... well... refrigerated butter.
So, change ...
- 5,827
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