I’ve been asked a few times what causes some people’s breads/buns to harden when baked. Here are a few tips that might be of some help inshaAllah.
Hard crusts/bread/buns etc means that you are either baking on too low heat and for too long, OR the dough you started off with was not kneaded well enough. So inshaAllah next time when you knead the dough, follow these tips:
1. Make sure the water/milk you use for kneading the dough is warm. Not HOT, but WARM! Hot water kills the yeast so make sure it is finger-tolerable warm.
2. Knead the dough well, for a good 8-10 minutes and get it to an almost sticky consistency, then dab a bit of oil on your palms and apply all over the ball of dough and cover it, let it rest to rise as per the recipe.
3. Make sure you pre-heat the oven before putting the tray of bread/buns in. Putting a tray of buns in a cold oven then turning on the heat whilst it’s in there makes them take longer to get done, thereby hardening them in the process.
4. Add a little bit of milk to your egg yolk before brushing over the bread/before baking. The milk helps keep the buns soft and the yolk gives them a good colour.
5. Standard temperature for breads/buns ranges from 180-200 C. So keep your oven in this temp range unless the recipe states otherwise.
6. If your oven has separate functions for top and bottom heating/grills, don’t turn on both at once, first use the bottom grill, then midway turn on the top one to even out the colour.
7. Buns take between 12 mins to 20 mins to get done, depending on the size of individual pieces. So if after this time they are not yet sufficiently coloured, you can crank the heat up slightly to speed things along. But keep a close eye on them.
8. Immediately after baking, whilst still hot, brush a bit of butter on the buns, then cover with a kitchen towel to retain moisture and keep them soft.
FAQs
The magic of an egg
Adding egg white will make the dough more stable as it rises, less likely to collapse, giving you buns that feel more soft and bouncy. So add egg to your mix for a natural bun dough improver and emulsifier.
How do bakeries get their bread so soft? ›
How Do Bakeries Achieve That Perfect Softness?
- Consistency: Bakeries often use machines to ensure consistent kneading and proofing times. ...
- Special Ingredients: Many bakeries use dough conditioners or enhancers, which improve the texture and extend the bread's shelf life.
The magic of an egg
Adding egg white will make the dough more stable as it rises, less likely to collapse, giving you buns that feel more soft and bouncy. So add egg to your mix for a natural bun dough improver and emulsifier.
How do I make my bread softer? ›
To soften a stale loaf of bread, you need to heat it so that the starches will reabsorb the water. The thing to know is that this reabsorption starts to happen at about 131 F and continues up to around 185 F. The point is, you need a relatively low temperature to do it properly.
How do you keep buns soft? ›
Basically gluten is good at absorbing vapor which results in softening. Without heated water vapor, it would turn out rubbery or tough & chewy. Another method is to rub the surface of the buns with water, but not to make them soggy. Then heat in microwave on medium high for 10-20 secs.
What is the secret to soft fluffy bread? ›
Add Sugar
Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.
What is used to make bread soft and fluffy? ›
Final answer: Baking soda is used to make bread soft and spongy. Q. Baking soda is used in small amount in making bread and cake. It helps to make these soft and spongy.
Why aren't my buns light and fluffy? ›
If your dinner rolls aren't fluffy it could be because of one of two reasons. Either, you added too much flour or you possibly used all bread flour. Alternately, not giving your dinner rolls enough time to proof and get puffy before baking could yield dense rolls.
Why are store bought buns so soft? ›
Many of these breads, especially packaged ones, are made with a ton of chemical additives such as calcium propionate, amylase, and chlorine dioxide which help keep them soft, light, and fluffy for days.
Why are my buns not fluffy? ›
One of the most common reasons for dense bread is over or under-kneaded dough. Kneading your dough directly affects gas production, as it increases the rate that fermentation occurs. Without kneading, bread dough will take much longer to ferment fully.
Bread storage takeaways
Store airtight with the two cut halves facing each other and pressed together. Wrapping bread to retain moisture keeps it soft, though it robs crusty artisan bread of its crispy crust. Wrapping in plastic (or foil) rather than cloth keeps bread soft longer.
How do you soften baked buns? ›
Take a towel and make it damp, wrap the bread in the damp towel, and place the bread on a baking sheet. Bake the bread at 350 degrees for five minutes or until the bread is soft. Take a towel and make it damp, wrap the bread in the damp towel, and place the bread in the microwave.
Why are my buns so dry? ›
Your Bread Has Too Much Flour
Adding too much flour is one common mistake for beginning bakers. This produces dry bread with more crumbs. The key is to find a balance between the flour and liquid ingredients in your recipe. It can be tricky because bread recipes don't always give you an exact amount of flour.
How do you soften rock hard buns? ›
Preheat your oven to 300º F (150º C), wrap your bread in foil, and set it in the oven for 5-15 minutes. If the crust is soft, unwrap the foil and give it an extra 5 minutes. Or, pour a shallow layer of water into a steamer and bring it to a boil. Place your bread in a steamer basket and steam it for 5 minutes.
Why are potato buns so soft? ›
It's all about the starch
So when you add potato to your bread dough you're upping the dough's starch content, effectively increasing the resulting loaf's total liquid retention — which translates to bread with soft, moist texture and a long shelf life.
