Sandwich Loaf Molding and Baking

I am often asked how to I make my bread have such a nice shape. "Vigorous exercise and a strict diet" is my common sarcastic answer. Honestly folks, there is a method. It's called molding. Not the nasty blue mold on old bread. Goof. It's like molding clay into a shape. That kind of molding is done with dough. Once you see it and try it, you will be surprised how much your bread really holds a nice shape. I think the main beauty of this loaf molding procedure is that it stacks the mesh-like structure of gluten, basic math and architecture meet my loaf pan. Here's how I do it:

First take half the dough from the basic bread recipe( Are You Afraid of Germs? Or the overnight started bread recipe soon to follow in an upcoming post.)

For whole grain bread, I don't flour the counter top, just lightly mist with water.

For three reasons, first, it doesn't put any undue dry yucky flour streaks in my bread. Second, if I used oil, it wouldn't allow the bread to seal correctly and there would be seams in the bread that don't connect. Third, it adds moisture, which is always good for whole grain bread!

Pat dough out into a 16 inch rectangle. It doesn't have to be exact, but close.

Fold one third over.

Fold the other third over the top.

It should look like this. Like most brochures...well ones made of dough anyway.

Now roll and pinch into a log.

Once it's rolled, pinch the seams and the end...and tuck under the roll like this:

Place loaf in a lightly oiled standard loaf pan. The pan size is important. 8 inch by 4 inch. Any larger, and the loaf will end up squatted without a well shaped slice. You can still use the larger pans, but just note, I don't recommend them for that reason.

To keep the top crust from separating from the loaf, spread with butter or oil. This keeps it from getting dry, which is one of the leading causes of crust separation.

I use a little melted butter spreading with a silicone brush so there aren't any loose bristles left on my bread. One of the least exciting things to find on food is a piece of hair from a pastry brush (or worse, a head!)

I then lightly tent the loaves with plastic or plastic bags.

OR place in a moist place to raise...

You may not be like a bakery with a special moisture filled box called a "proofer" just for raising bread. Something else that works however is putting the bread in an unheated oven and misting generously with water from a spray bottle (I have one that I only use for bread and that has never had any chemicals in it). It generally takes between 1 hour , or 1 and 1/2 hours for the bread to raise like this. If it has been in the unheated oven, I remove them a little early to allow the oven to preheat.This gives them space to rise over the top edge of the loaf pan like this:

A preheated oven is also essential for great shaped bread. I recommend a hot oven (425) for sandwich loaves. This hot temperature allows the yeast to reach maximum activity, the loaf to get hot enough to have good oven spring (the loaf gets really tall and keeps nice shape), but then the yeast dies and doesn't keep the dough rising so it sets the outside structure. This keeps big bulges from oozing out the side of the loaf, or the loaf from getting so tall that the top of the bread kind of collapses and the inside of the bread looking almost hollow.

I keep the oven at 425 for the first half of baking, then lower it to 350 for the final 15-20 minutes. This ensures the top crust doesn't get to dark, allows the inside to cook through. At higher altitudes this gets even more important, since the air is lighter and it is easy to over-raise in the oven. In Utah for example, I would go as high as 450 degrees for the first 20 minutes!

Right before I put the loaf in the oven, I lightly slit the top with a very sharp knife. This vent also helps give the loaf a good shape and allows the loaf to raise correctly in the oven. It's not just for a pretty design, but it sure helps.

Baked at 425 degrees 20 minutes. Open oven to vent heat. Lower temperature to 350 and finish baking 15-20 minutes. (Hint: if you have a regular meat thermometer, bread is cooked when the internal temperature reaches between 170 and 175 degrees).

Remove from the pans immediately. This keeps the bottom crusts crisp as well as ensures an easy release. Cool completely before slicing and putting in bags.

Enjoy more beautiful bread.

Hopefully this helps!