Easy Crusty Vegan Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes bread more crusty? ›

CREATE STEAM IN OVEN

Close the oven door immediately. You've just created a "steam bath" in your oven. Steam hitting the bread surface will facilitate the process of creating crust, especially during the first part of the baking process. That's why many professional bakers use steam-injected ovens.

Our secret to a brilliant crust even when no dutch oven is in sight is to fill a pot with water and put it below the pan you have picked for your bread. Then as it cooks, make sure you check on the water level so that there is always some as it bakes.

As the loaf cools, any moisture which is left in the loaf escapes through the crust as steam and this is what causes the softening.

Storing your bread on the countertop in a plastic bag (or well-sealed plastic wrap) will help keep it from going stale, but be warned: the crust will suffer and grow mold due to trapped moisture. Toasting the bread (if it's too soft but not yet moldy, of course) will bring some of the crust's crunchy texture back.

This seems counterintuitive, but if you've got some soft crust bread you want crisped up, crank your oven up, then wet the bread where you want it crispy (running a wet hand over it is about enough water), and chuck it in the oven directly on the rack and bake for a few minutes until you're satisfied.

Wetting the dough causes the surface to steam. Covering it traps the moisture. This partnership stops the bread from drying out on the surface in the hot air of the oven and forming a premature crust. Your bread rises more and produces a richer colour, becoming glossy on the surface.

Once the bread has finished baking, it will still contain some moisture, however if sufficient moisture hasn't escaped the crumb during the bake time, it will move outwards to the crust as the bread cools. This can cause the crumb to collapse and also soften the crust, weighing it down and further creating collapse.

Add moisture.

Brush or spritz water all over the bread. Use more if the loaf is very dry and/or has a thick crust. Use less if the loaf has a thin crust or just needs a little pick-me-up. I've actually run the crust of a stale loaf directly under the faucet for a brief second without the bread getting soggy.

The flour could have too low a protein content, there could be too much salt in the bread recipe, you did not knead it or leave it to proof long enough, or you could have killed the yeast by leaving the dough to rise in a place that was too hot.

This has been used to great success by many No-Knead bakers. Oven-safe casserole dish – Really, any oven-safe casserole dish will do. Just check the documentation and make sure it's safe up to temperatures of 500°F, just to be on the safe side.

Does steam in the oven make bread crusty? ›

Steam also helps produce a really crisp crust. When the surface of the dough reaches 180°F, the starches in the slowly forming crust start absorbing moisture.

For best results, make sure you're using a pot or dish that's at least 4 inches deep in order to give the bread room to rise as it bakes. A 5 or 6 quart saucepan or stock pot will do a great job - just make sure it's oven-safe (like this one, which is safe up to 500 degrees F!)

Slash the bread: Before baking, make sure to slash or score the top of the bread to release some of the steam, which will help the crust become crispy. 5. Brush with egg wash: Brushing the top of the bread with an egg wash (beaten egg and water) before baking can also promote browning and create a shiny golden crust.

The short answer is: yes, bread crusts do contain more nutrients. The reason for this is that the baking process causes the exterior of the bread to become firmer and more browned. This chemical baking process also results in changes to the nutrients in the crust of bread.

Yeast is definitely the simpler answer to this question, however the reality is that the gluten and airyness produced by the chemical reaction between yeast and sugar (which produces gluten) that really makes bread soft, rather than just being a block of cooked flour. Bread minus leavening is a recipe for disaster.

While there are many types of French bread, some of the most popular kinds—like baguettes and boules—have an extremely crusty exterior and a chewy crumb, making them perfect for tearing, dipping or slathering with butter. It's not uncommon for these breads to require a lengthy preparation process.