How is baking bread in a ceramic pan different from using a metal one?
I just used my ceramic bread pans for the first time. The top crust was just like it used to be when I baked with those cheap metal pans with the stick-free surface that I'm wanting to avoid now to avoid toxicity. However, the sides and bottom of the loaf were very light colored and the loaf itself was a wee bit doughy towards the center.
Any tips for how to get an evenly cooked loaf? Change the temp up or down? Extend the baking time? Thanks for any help you can offer!
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This ceramic pan is light colored, and not transparent.
This means that it reflects more heat than a traditional pan might, and is probably also opaque to infrared, which means it is not going to promote browning as a transparent glass pan will. (Most glass bakeware actually requires lower temperatures, due to infrared being transmitted to the food, where it heats it directly...)
All in all, it is a very poor choice for baked goods or anything where crust formation is critical; I would only use it for the type of casserole that simply gets heated through. It is designed more for looks than for performance.
If you do want to use it for bread making, it seems likely that you are going to have to increase the oven temperature by about 25 F, and watch closely for your bread to be done (usually, an internal temperature of 200 F will tell you, but check your individual recipe). If the crust starts to over brown, as EatSmart recommended, cover it with aluminum foil.
The difference is in the conductivity of the materials with the glass being less conductive than metal.
If the center isn't done...simply add more time. Worried about the top browning too much..cover with foil for the additional amount of time. OR cook at a slightly lower temperature for a longer time.
ALSO...check the temperature of your oven. Just because you set the dial to 350?F doesn't mean that it is accurate! Buy a small oven thermometer and check the temperature. If it is off look at the instruction manual for your oven to see if you can calibrate the oven. If not...allow for the temperature difference by turning up (or down) the oven to get the proper temperature! (This is much cheaper than a service call.)
I recommend buying a good instant read thermometer and baking bread to at least 200F. If it goes up to 210F it's fine and will have a better crust. When you take the temp, push the thermometer all the way down and pull it out slowly while you watch the temp change. This is why you want instant read (digital) because it reacts immediately. It is not unusual to have different temps from bottom to middle. It needs to be 200 all the way through. Otherwise, I don't think you should have a problem with that pan. Also, most recipes I've seen, suggest you take the cover off about 2/3 of the way through the baking process. Alternatively, you could also, take the bread out of the vessel about 5+ minutes before it should be done and put it directly on the rack for best browning on bottom. We do that with pizza all the time.
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