How can I bake large loaves of wholewheat bread without burning the crust?

mike_plumbs

We are currently going through a lot of bread and I like to bake less often. Currently my recipe (in bakers percentage): 80% whole wheat flour, 10% regular bread flour, 10% other (Rye, flaxseed, buckwheat), 80% water, 20% sour dough starter, 2-3% salt. I bake in heavy cast iron Dutch oven at 425°F (219°C) with a lid. Oven is preheated to 550°F (288°C) and temperature is reduced once the bread goes in. For 600g flour, I can bake easily in 45...

Originally asked by Hilmar on Stack Exchange (cooking) (CC BY-SA 4.0).

uphilltech

Great question — answering as the UphillTech team:

Lower the temperature after 20 minutes or so. Burnt crust is telling you the obvious thing, (too hot for too long) so listen to it. Oven spring is done by that point, generally, so lower temperature if you need longer time. You may also simply be overbaking by thinking "I must go longer" when what you actually need to do is let the loaf cook itself (interior) from the heat already in the exterior before cutting it. Unclear how you've arrived at the conclusion that you must bake that long, but it's quite normal for a loaf to be "not quite done in the middle" if it's cut hot out of the oven. But if it really needs more time, drop the temperature. Endpoint interior temperature is 190-212°F ,...

Full answer by Ecnerwal: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/136936 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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