Any bakers in the house?

I regularly bake some simple, well… let’s call them ‘bread rolls’, and I am trying to perfect their texture.

Ingredients include nothing but flour, yeast, and water (although it is possible to add a pinch of salt if desired).

In any case, the rolls are ‘layered’, in that I shape the bottom half, place it on the baking paper, then add a top and getting them to stick together by first brushing the face of the bottom bit with some water, then once they are layered, poking them all the way through in different places with a toothpick.

Hopefully I haven’t made that sound too complicated! It’s all very simple.

What I am concerned about, though, is that after they have baked at 180 for between 15 and 20 minutes, and come out a nice light golden brown, the exterior of the roll tends to get ‘crusty’ – that is, the texture of the bread is fine, but the exterior takes on an egg shell-like texture that, when cut, means that it ends up flaking off.

Does that make sense?

In any case, if anyone on here is a regular, competent baker, I would appreciate hints as to how I might avoid this. In other words, I would like the exterior to be, as much as possible, soft, so that it does not get that ‘egg shell’ quality, and that when cut, it does not flake away.

My wife says, give them a light brushing with milk just before you put them in the oven.

And also possibly try a slightly lower temperature

Try a tablespoon of oil in the dough, it helps soften the crumb. Its what iuse in my bread recipe, I don’t use a milk wash.

Temp wise, I start high and then lower once the crust starts to go. I can’t remember the temps I use off the top of my head, it’s been a while.

conversely I’d suggest to try hotter (200 or 210 even) for not so long – less time for the crust to form

edit – conversely to bill’s suggestion!

And/or you are proving too long

Higher temp with steam delays crust formation and gets better oven spring. Cover them with a tea towel when you take them out and you’ll get a soft crust.

I’m confused about the layering process. Rolls are usually produced in one piece rolled into a ball and placed on the tray. Short second prove to rise again and then into the oven.

The layers and sticking together with water is providing for steam generation within the roll when baking which is then unable to go anywhere due to the crust forming first in the hot oven and trapping it.

I thiink he means he builds snowmen shaped rolls.

As per johnners – covering them in the oven (to stop moisture escaping) and/or adding moisture (by putting ice cubes in the tray or spraying with water for example) will help delay the crust setting (and hence giving a better rise), but covering them with something after they come out of the oven, to allow the residual moisture to soak into the crust and soften it, should give you the texture you’re after.

Agree that hotter+shorter probably better too.

When I used to make bread I would, as suggested above, either spray water in the oven or throw a quarter of a cup of water in the bottom of the oven to add steam and delay the crust forming.

Something else to try if you are using a fan oven is to try turning the fan off if that is an option

Those are super helpful suggestions. Thanks all!

RIchard Bertinet is my go to for bread. His simple white dough recipe has 350g water to 500g of flour which is wetter than most recipes and he doesn’t add any more flour when he works the dough. It starts out really wet, but creates a really soft light bread. He starts the oven at 250 and for large loaves drops to 220, but smaller loaves stay at the high temperature. He adds steam depending on the different types of bread he is making. Working the wet dough can be quite tricky, but a mixer solves this problem. It works really well for me.

His sweet dough bread recipe is amazing and makes awesome burger buns!

I find him super annoying but the way he kneads wet dough is great and it makes a big difference to pizza having the dough quite wet

What you are looking for is an ‘enriched’ bread. Enriched means some fat is incorporated into the dough. The fat can be of any sort – olive oil, milk, butter, egg are all common. Probably best to start with a some neutral oil like light olive/sunflower/rapeseed. You don’t need much – try a tablespoon in the dough. If you add too much you’ll end up with a focaccia!

I would also bake the rolls close together on a tray and cover with tea towel whilst they are cooling down.

Just a dry tea towel? Would it help if it was slightly damp?

@joshvegas All becomes clear through the cold fuddled mind.In that case joining 2 balls of dough is normally done with a finger through the top one into the bottom à la brioche but for rolls I would use a cling film covered pencil with some oil on it blunt end first through to the base. Almost like rivetting them together