All things baking with Ankarsrum

Internal temperature
In order to be sure that the bread is well-baked or not overbaked, we recommend using a thermometer.

Guide to internal temperatures:

Light bread: 98 °C (208 °F) when you take the bread out of the oven
Dark bread:  95 °C (208 °F) degrees when you take the bread out of the oven
Rolls:  96 °C (205 °F) when you take them out of the oven

Once the bread is out of the oven, leave it to rest for 45 minutes before you cut it. Leave for 15 minutes if you have made French rolls.

Hard crust
If you like a crisp crust on your bread, turn the oven right up to 275 °C (527 °F) for the first 5-10 minutes of baking. Then reduce the temperature to the one recommended in the recipe.

It can also help to put a dish of water in the oven as soon as the oven gets hot, which creates steam at the start of baking, or to pour a little water on the bottom of the oven just before you put the bread in. When the bread is placed in the oven, the dough is “cold” in relation to the oven. If you add steam initially, which condenses on the bread, it transfers a lot of direct heat. This helps the dough to rise as much as possible before the crust hardens.