Ross you are a walking book of bread knowledge. I am in awe as I read through much of the posts here. I have not made bread in awhile. For this last few weeks, I have been trying to go gluten free to see if avoiding gluten in my diet will make my stomach feel better. I really miss baking loaves of bread. I am however experimenting with some gluten free breads. Much different in the handling and such. We are looking forward to having the house smell of fresh bread baking. :)

My bread deflated when i slashed it. Why is that? And why the ice cubes to make steam. Does that make better steam than just adding water to a hot pan? Guess I will be trying that one!

     I finally have been producing fairly consistant loaves of bread. Aside from the deflating thing. But I have noticed that  when I remove the bread from the bread pan the bottom and lower sides seem doughy, maybe even undercooked. Should I cook longer or raise the temp? The top is nice and brown and the inside does not seem undercooked. Well, maybe a smidge but by the time it cools it is just right.

     I am ready to add grains for a more nutricious bread, but first I have to get over the sticker shock. Our local grocery (Meijers) has a decent selection but they seem expensive to me.

Thanks be to all of you sharing info. I could never have gotten this far in my bread endeavors without you.

Forgive me, Erzulie, for not typing your name correctly.

aprilejoi said:

My bread deflated when i slashed it. Why is that? And why the ice cubes to make steam. Does that make better steam than just adding water to a hot pan? Guess I will be trying that one!    

What did you use to slash it with?  You have to use a super-sharp knife (pro bread bakers use something called a lame, which is a curved razor blade with a handle-you can get them for about $7 on KAF), or your dough will tear/stretch instead of cut.

I use ice cubes because they're WAY easier and WAY less fuss than worrying about an extra pan, hot water, burns, etc.  Just throw 'em in and close the door.  lol  Nothing magical.

As to your not-quite-done issue, you could do several things.  Longer baking, higher heat, lower rack.  If you think the top is brown enough, but the rest of the bread isn't quite done (this happens most often with whole wheat/whole grain breads), make a tent of aluminum foil to put over the top of the bread after it's baked about 20 mins or so.  Keeps the crust from getting too brown while allowing the bread its necessary cooking time.