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A good crust is one of the delights of eating a truly good bread. Fortunately, there are several simple things that one can do to assure a good crust when baking bread. Perhaps the most important is to provide a high degree of moisture in the oven. This can be accomplished by placing a Pyrex or other suitable dish or pot with with hot water in the oven when preheating it and keeping it there while baking the bread. The result will be a browner, crisper crust. Another trick is to drizzle a very small amount amount of cooking oil (such as olive oil or walnut oil) on the top of the loaf just prior to placing it in the oven. It can also be painted on the top with a pastry brush. In addition, for some types of breads, the flavor can be enhanced by lightly sprinkling the top with salt after the oil has been applied. The salt can be ordinary table salt, sea salt or kosher salt, which has larger grains, according to one's preferences. Created September 30, 2006. |