Burning bread is a kitchen mishap that not only makes your bread baking worse but also frustrates you about all the time you have spent on baking, preparations, and mixing.
I remember, during my early days of baking, I burned so many pieces of bread and couldn’t find any reason or solution, but I never gave up. I tried and tried, but still no improvement.
One day, my aunt, also a head chef in a known bakery, told me about how bread burns and the ways to avoid burning bread. So, I will share the reasons and solutions for burning bread with you all.
Remember, you can’t be a master in baking without burning bread even once. But it’s crucial to understand reasons and solutions. Let’s discuss the basics and learn everything about burning bread.
Reasons for Burning Bread
Fig 1- Reasons for burning bread
Imagine buying all the ingredients of bread, measuring and mixing them properly as per the recipe, all excited to bake soft and fluffy bread, but from all the efforts, all you got is burned bread. Cranky???
To avoid this, one should know the reasons for burning bread. Let’s explore.
1. Maillard Reaction
Fig 2- Maillard reaction
When food is heated to a higher temperature or above 280 °F, a chemical reaction between amino acids (building blocks of protein) and carbohydrates (sugar) occurs. As a result, a Maillard chemical reaction happens, causing browning of bread.
This chemical reaction is responsible for pleasant aroma and delightful taste. Well, if this Maillard reaction increases, it results in burning bread. When bread is burned, protein and sugars go past the point of caramelization to fully blackened and carbonized state with bitter taste and unpleasant smell.
Talking about sugar, do you know what is the main function of sugar in bread making? If not, then you can look into this article: Main Function Of Sugar In Bread Making| Unleash The Sweet Science Behind Perfect Bread
2. Over Heat Exposure
Fig 3- Overheat exposure for burning bread
The perfect bread contains a balance of moisture, sugars, and proteins. When too much heat is applied, these components will react too fast, resulting in over-browning and burning of bread. That is why keeping an eye on the baking process is foremost.
3. Uneven Heat Distribution
Sometimes, ovens produce more heat to certain parts and less to other parts. This causes your bread to burn in some parts. You need to identify spots in the oven where more heat is produced as compared to other parts.
The part of the oven that produces more heat causes the Maillard reaction to produce more caramelization (browning), resulting in an even burning of bread.
4. Fault In Oven’s Thermostat
One of the most common problems with the oven is a broken thermostat. Because of this Faulty thermostat, you don’t know what temperature you are setting.
You may set it at a casual temperature, but due to the fault in the thermostat, it will change to a higher or lower temperature, resulting in under-baked or over-baked bread.
5. Over Baking Bread
The common cause of burning bread is overbaking. Overbaking happens when you don’t know how much time is required to bake bread properly or forget to put bread in the oven for a long time.
This extra time in baking causes a blackish-dark brown crust with a very unpleasant taste and smell.
6. Type Of Oven
Fig 4- Electrical oven for avoiding burning bread
The type of oven plays a specific role in keeping bread from burning. The problematic oven in this aspect is the electric oven.
They produce less humidity as compared to the gas oven. Humidity prevents your bread from browning quickly, while an electric oven releases less humidity and may brown to dark brown bread before baking it properly.
Want to know more about electric ovens? Read our brief article: Electric vs Gas Ovens: Which Is Best For Baking Bread?
7. Dark Color Bakeware
Fig 5- Dark Colored Baking Pan that causes bread burning
As we know, black and deep color absorbs heat more efficiently. That is why it will transfer heat more quickly to the bottom of the bread and eventually cause it to burn. To avoid this, dull color bakewares should be used.
8. Dry Dough
Fig 6- Dry dough that causes bread burning
Moisture in bread distributes and absorbs heat while baking. Tough bread dough has less moisture. Less moisture bread is more prone to burning of bread, because there is less moisture to distribute and absorb the heat.
9. Rack Placement
Placing the bread dough close to the heating tube can result in potential burning.
10. Flammable Toppings
It’s obvious that we were tempted to add some extra flavors or toppings to make it look more yummy and to improve the taste. But actually high flammable toppings on the bread, such as cheese or sugar, can cause frequent burning.
How To Avoid Burning Bread
Fig 7- Solutions to avoid burning bread
In order to make your bread aromatic and beautiful caramelized brown, you should keep the bread from burning. Luckily, there are various ways mentioned below that can be used to avoid burning bread.
1. Lower The Oven Rack
Fig 8- Baking in lower tray in the oven to avoid burning
To bake bread evenly from all sides, placement of bread inside the oven is very important. If the bread is placed too close to the heating point (on the top portion), the chances of burning the bread increase.
To avoid this, place bread on the lower rack. It helps to regulate the temperature around the bread to bake evenly without burning.
2. Cover The Bread With Aluminum Foil
Fig 9- Adjusting aluminum foil in baking tray to avoid bread burning
Sometimes, the top of the bread browns more quickly compared to the rest of the bread.
To avoid this, cover the top of the bread with aluminum foil. You can also use aluminum foil at the bottom of the bread to stop bread from sticking to the pan. It acts as a shield that not only prevents the bread from burning but also helps in maintaining its color.
3. Reducing the Temperature Of The Oven
One effective method to avoid burning bread is to lower the temperature. High temperatures can cause your bread to burn immediately before it has a chance to bake.
Reduce temperature to around 25 °F. Reducing the temperature allows bread to rise and makes the bread more moist and fluffy.
4. Use A Different Baking Pan
Type of baking pan can also affect the texture and quality of the bread. Dark and non-stick pans absorb more heat and effectively take part in burning bread.
In contrast, lighter color pans reflect heat, making a perfect loaf of bread.
5. Rotate The Bread In Between Baking
Rotating the bread halfway helps distribute the heat evenly in the whole bread. It helps in preventing over-cooking in any part of the bread.
6. Preheating The Oven
Preheating means introducing some steam in the oven already, so when you put bread in the oven, it actually loses a lot of heat.
Depending on the type of oven. It is an appreciable practice to preheat your oven 20 degrees higher than you intend to bake.
My oven takes 15-20 minutes to heat efficiently if not preheat properly. Low-power ovens take longer to recover as compared to high-power ovens.
Preheating also gives the bread a warm atmosphere, resulting in moist bread, and keeps bread from molding.
7. Check The Bread Frequently
Checking your bread while baking and not forgetting it after putting it in the oven is the most essential practice to avoid bread burning. With a cake tester or toothpick, you can check whether your bread is ready or not.
If the bread is ready, remove it from the oven and enjoy your moist, fluffy, and aromatic bread.
How To Use Burnt Bread
Fig 10- Burned bread
If you have accidentally burnt your bread, then you don’t need to waste it. You can still use that bread in the following ways.
1. Remove the burnt portion.
If your bread does not burn completely, you can easily cut and separate the burnt parts from the bread. The remaining bread can be used to make French toast or banana bread.
2. Bread crumbs
Grind the burnt bread and use it as bread crumbs for toppings. You can also store the bread crumbs in an airtight container.
3. Bread Pudding
Cut the burnt bread into small pieces and bake bread pudding with it. In this way, no bread got wasted.
FAQS
1: Is Burnt Bread Good Or Bad For You?
Slightly burning bread tastes good. Totally burnt bread is not easy to tolerate by taste buds. Also, it is not healthy to eat burnt food.
2: Does Burning Bread Reduce Calories?
No, burning bread doesn’t mean that you burn calories. Burning bread means that your bread is now stiff and of unpleasant taste and smell.
3: Is Burnt Bread Good For Your Stomach?
Burnt bread contains charcoal, which can easily absorb toxins and can upset your stomach.
Conclusion
Baking is all about patience. If you don’t want to get frustrated by burning bread and want to enjoy delightful, aromatic, sweet brown-crusted- bread, then you should check all the possible reasons and solutions mentioned above.
With the right techniques, even the simplest slice of bread can become a culinary masterpiece. With a little knowledge and practice, you can solve all the problems regarding burning bread.
By understanding baking science and techniques, you can enjoy delicious bread without the risk of burning.
More Resources
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