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How do I make sure the crust of a baguette, etc. turns out a nice golden-brown when baking?

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9 Answers 9

up vote 15 down vote accepted

The trick is steam and high heat.

  • Heat your oven up to 450 F (230 C).
  • Bring a pot of water to boil on your stove.
  • Once boiling, pour the water into a deep roasting pan on the bottom shelf of your oven. If you can place it directly on the bottom of your oven (it doesn't obstruct vents) then that is ok too. 1" (2.5 cm) of water is enough.
  • Let the steam build up for 5 minutes
  • Spray your baguettes with water, they should be rather nicely wet. Don't forget to slash them as well
  • Put your baguettes in the oven on the top shelf. BE CAREFUL opening your oven. Don't let the steam blast you in your face or other exposed body parts. Let it dissipate a bit.
  • 5 minutes into baking, spray the baguettes again (be careful)
  • 10 minutes into baking, spray the baguettes again
  • 15 minutes into baking, carefully remove the tin of water from the oven
  • Let bake for a final 20 minutes

Depending on how even your oven is browning the crust you may need to turn the pan at the spray intervals.

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And of course, now there is the steam method that's only mostly sane. –  derobert Aug 10 '12 at 10:06
No need to egg-wash them at all? Or do you spray your bread with water when they're already egg-washed? –  Gigili May 25 at 6:00

A light brush with an egg wash will give you a nice color to your bread every time.

Crack one egg into a bowl and add about ½ teaspoon of water. Wisk the egg well. After your dough is formed and ready for the oven, brush a light coating of the egg wash onto the dough and put it in the oven. After that, cook as you normally would.

Another thing you can try is to use a recipe with a little sugar in it. That will also help brown the crust as the sugar on the exterior of the dough will caramelize and give a nice color.

I also agree with the other recommendations of cooking with some steam in the oven. I do that every time I

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Another possible method is to bake the bread in an oven-proof pot with the lid on, which will help to keep the steam in. This is essentially the method I use in baking no-knead bread, which uses a dutch oven. I bake the dough for 30 mins with the lid on and 15 mins more with the lid off. The result is crusty brown bread.

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Excellent idea. Another tip I learned years ago when making rhubarb pies was to put the pie inside a brown paper grocery back sealed shut and bake the entire time. I wasn't sure why this made the pie so beautiful but now realize it must have been due to sealing the steam in. The bag does not burn, though there is a bit of a smell. These days may be difficult to find a paper bag, and I much prefer the idea of using a Dutch oven. –  Tanya C Sep 21 at 19:19

I use an easy technique ... i mix together an egg wash with melted butter, shove it in a spritzer (a spraying machine) and spray the bread about 5 minutes before it's done. I then switch the heat to broiler for 5 minutes, ..... voila!

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You can also just brush with an egg wash immediately before baking - this is a classic technique for getting a shiny, golden glaze on breads and pastries, as well as an effective "glue" for toppings (seeds, salt crystals...) –  Shog9 Jul 19 '10 at 21:51

The technique I use is a slight modification of the one Peter Reinhart describes in The Bread Baker's Apprentice (a must-have for any serious home baker, in my opinion). I put a heavy-duty commercial half-sheet pan on the bottom of my gas oven and a baking stone on a middle rack, preheat it to 500°F and boil some water. Then, when the bread goes on the stone, I pour a cup or so of boiling water into the pan and close the door. This is a great way to get steam burns, so be careful. Reinhart says to open the oven and spray the walls with water a few times at 30-second intervals, but I've never found that makes a huge difference.

Use a dedicated sheet pan for this, as after a few loaves it'll look like it was run over by a truck. I've also heard of using a cast iron skillet in the same role.

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I find that since I've started baking my bread straight on a baking stone, the crust is much crunchier and thicker. I preheat to the maximum allowed by the oven (250 C), drop some ice cubes on the oven floor, slide the loaf of bread in and reduce the heat to 200 C, then bake for ~40 minutes.

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Here's what I did today to get a browned crust:

I added a cube of ice to the beaten egg (instead of 1/2 teaspoon water suggested by Al Crowley) and sprinkled a pinch of saffron on the ice cube (it shouldn't go inside the whisked eggs), then after a few minutes the ice cube melted and made a really nice orangish red color.

There you go:

enter image description here Another point is, you must bake your breads in a very high temperature, that's the point of getting golden brown crust.

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In addition to the other techniques mentioned, diastatic malt will produce more free sugars to undergo browning reaction. The result is a slightly sweeter, more flavorful bread and a more browned crust.

Suggested amount: 1 tsp (5 mL) diastatic malt per pound/450g flour.

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I also mix egg wash with milk in order to get a golden brown.

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