Use Water To Avoid Hard Crusts When Baking Bread

By

Mattivp

Hey guys, I find baking bread really discouraging! I mean my crust turns out really hard. There is no lovely brown crust; mostly it turns out heavy not light and fluffy, and the taste is... umm just OK.

I have tried putting a plate of water in the over while the bread is baking, I have adjusted the amount of water because the first time my dough was a little too sticky. I put it at the bottom rack of the oven so that it rises quickly. I have put butter on the top after taking it out of the oven.

My recipe is:
3.5cups all purpose flour (sifted), 3.5 tsp of melted butter, 1.75 cups of water, 1 tsp of active dry yeast, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 Tbsp. sugar.
I mix yeast, let it bubble (approx 10 min), mix dough and water. Knead for 3 min or so, add butter, knead again. Let it rest for an hour (till it doubles in size at least), then make rolls/balls, let it rest about 1/2 an hour more till they all stick together a little, and bake in over at 375 Degrees F. for 30 min.

What do you guys think I am doing wrong? :( Please someone help!

By

Jilson

Actually, I have always used water in the oven to make nice crusty bread! Some bread bakeries even have ovens that have steam injection to make the crust "crustier".