Hi all! I’m looking to get my homemade sandwich loaves as soft as store bought loaves, but so far I have only gotten loaves with hard crusts. This is my own recipe that I’m tweaking to perfection (because I hate myself, apparently 🫠). Is there a trick I should know?
Here’s my recipe, anything I should tweak?
- 100g starter
- 230g water
- 3 tbsp butter
- Tangzhong: 25g AP flour and 115g milk
- 300g AP flour, 100g bread flour, 25g WW (450g total flour)
- 15g sugar
- 11g salt
I mix it all together, knead for 8-10 minutes until I get a windowpane, then place it in an oiled bowl to rise for ~10 hours. I shape it, plop it into the sandwich tin, wait until it rises to the lip of the tin, then bake at 375 for 45 minutes.
—> I’m thinking of changing the butter to an oil, baking at a lower temperature, and emphasizing more steam in the oven (I’ve tried ice cubes, didn’t do anything lol). Anything else I should or shouldn’t be doing?
My most recent loaf is the picture attached.
by coridoodledop
40 Comments
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Additives.
i recently made my first loaf of sourdough sandwich bread using the tangzhong method and it was a gamechanger for the texture. way softer than the loaves i made before.
After cooling for one hour, I pop my loaf into a plastic bag. The bread sweats just enough to soften the crust nicely.
The butter helps make the crumb tender but actually make also cause the crust to brown more. That being said, playing with the amount of oil/butter may be a path here.
The other option is baking longer slower so you don’t have as tough of a gradient. Are you baking covered? More steam can help inhibit the crust.
Lastly, cooling covered with a towel can help trap some of the steam which will help soften the crust as well.
Best of luck!
Wasn’t in a sandwich bread recipe but I ran out of bread flour so I used all purpose for I think most of the recipe and it was softer than usual. Maybe cutting out the bread flour entirely and replacing with AP?
I was having a hard time with crust being way too hard, so I baked lower temp (425 instead of 450) for 30 min and then went down to 415 for 15 with the lid off.
Once I took the loaf out of the oven, I covered it with a towel during its cool down stage. It worked wonders!!!
Add a little milk. Or a little fat.
Gain weight, quit showering. That worked for me.
Add olive oil to your dough recipe.
Butter your crust while warm. My great grandmother always softened her crusts this way.
You might try covering the loaf with a tea towel while it cools. It will hold in some moisture but not enough to make it soggy.
Adding oil or fats like butter inhibits some gluten development, leading to a softer crumb.
If you want a softer crust, you need more moisture in your oven. A very dry oven leads to a very crusty crust. A humid oven softens the crustiness a bit.
Try the tangzhong or yudane method!!
Store sandwich bread is a product of food science, you won’t be able to replicate that with just flour, water, and yeast (i.e. you need additives)
There is a video about industrial sandwich bread by Adam Ragusea on YouTube, try checking it out
Looks great
That looks like brioche.
Add oat porridge. Check out the Tartine Book #3 recipes. Game changing if you like soft, custardy crumb.
This looks amazing
I make sandwich loaves with sourdough weekly and the big difference is that you don’t need to bake it as long or as hot as most sourdough recipes would have you think. 375˚F is great, but you don’t need anywhere close to 45 minutes. Most loaf recipes call for about half an hour with a dough that is at room temp. If you are rising in a refrigerator, you might add 5 minutes, but not more. For steam, you can take a few tablespoons of water and pour it on the floor of the oven and then shut the door while you score your loaves. You will have plenty of steam when the loaves go in a minute or so later.
I also use milk instead of water in my starter and in the recipe. I don’t use butter or oil at all. I’m not sure either of those really are the difference makers, though. I think lower temp and lower time will get you less crunchy crust.
Alright, I baked bread every day for my cafe and will give you the secrets. I typically enjoy baking my bread dark but the other baker I trained bakes way lighter and people enjoy their loaves more. Early on I put myself on an observing shift and while I thought I trained them to spray the bread, they actually put a sheet pan at the bottom of the oven filled with water and leave it there for the whole bake. Way softer crust. So put a sheet pan filled with water at the bottom of the over 5 minutes before baking and leave for the entirety of the bake. That’s what I’ve seen work with same recipe, proofing, and shaping, just a different bake method. We now bake the softer crusted bread daily.
Tanzong is the answer, I believe. I haven’t yet made this recipe, but from what I’ve read, it produces a great bread. Tangzhong Sourdough Sandwich Bread – Stretch and Folds https://share.google/4rE4zYmf8o8b0rD4a
less water, more milk.
try a minute or two less in the oven.
it looks beautiful
Put it in a bag after it has cooled, and the crust will soften.
My son makes all of his sandwiches from sourdough loaves that I make this way. He refuses to eat store-bought bread.
I used to watch an Amish lady on YouTube. She would just lay a damp towel over it for a little bit. It would soften the crust without leaving it damp. It wasn’t sourdough, but I guess it’d give the same result?
Turn the oven off after it’s done, cover with a towel and leave it in there to sweat. I leave it for 2-3 hours
I use [this recipe](http://www.lionsbread.com/soft-sourdough-sandwich-bread) for my sandwich bread and it always turns out really light (except the one time my starter decided it hates hot weather and went on strike). If I overproof it gets pretty airy, very much like store bought bread.
I use about 15g of sugar instead of 20g of honey and avocado oil instead of olive. I also just use like a cup of water in a pan in my oven instead of ice cubes. And I cook it until it’s about 105-107°f in the center instead of trying for deeply brown crust, it’s usually just kind of golden.
Which is to say, you might just be over complicating things.
Brush with butter while it’s warm. It’s a fantastic trick.
WW?
I get a damp tea towel and put it over my loaves for an hour once they’re on the cooling rack. I saw an Amish girl doing it once for her loaves and I do it for all of mine! It doesn’t get soggy or mold my breads either. At least it hasn’t the last couple of years I’ve been baking yeast breads. I’ve just started sourdough.
Stack another baking tray on top and do not remove for duration of bake until the last 5 minutes. Do not add water nor mist dough before baking.
Every sandwich loaf I have made, no matter the recipe, is soft. I just fill a deep baking sheet with about an inch of water and heat up the oven with it in there. Then I bake the bread with that in there. I’ve done it for half the time but have also done it the whole time with good results. The bread always seems to come Out rock hard but after an hour or so when it cools
It softens up.
I love [this recipe for soft sourdough sandwich bread.](https://amberskitchencooks.com/natural-yeast-sandwich-bread/) it uses coconut oil and makes three loaves at a time.
My sandwich loaf is as follows;
Before bed I make a bigga with 100 grams of starter, 100 grams of water and 160 grams of flour. The next day I add 160 grams of warm milk ,120 grams of melted butter and 90 grams of honey. Around 430-480 grams of flour. This makes two loaves or around two dozen English muffins. It’s nice and soft and I like to also rub butter on the top crust a couple times.
Yudane or scalding 100%
Steam! Throw an ice cube or two in a tray when your loaf is in the oven. That’s worked for me 🙂
I use oil in my recipe, which i think helps a lot. But my trick for softer crust is butter! The moment it comes out of the oven, while it’s piping hot, I spread butter over the top and let it roll down the sides. Makes the crust the nice dark brown color, but it’s a super soft crust!
A couple of things will make the crust softer
– keep the steam going until the end of baking (whatever method you use)
– add some oil to the dough (try say one or two tablespoons of olive oil)
You can also try covering the top with aluminium foil while baking to reduce browning.
I often make very fluffy shokupan and that recipe uses all milk instead of water but also browns easily