internal temp?

Food technologist working in the laboratory situation testing new ingredients occasionally measure internal temperature during bread baking But as breadmaking is not about how hot is the crumb but also the how the external portion changes during the baking process, the latter is given more importance as that is where the bulk of baked flavor originate and that is what people in bakery research lab do, , on how to improve the quality of bread in terms of taste which is more influenced by the external baking process such as crust formation and browning.

The internal temperature has minimal influence in the acceptability of the bread , Most bakers never care about the bread internal temperature in the same manner that a chef do with meat cookery.

Besides in most bread the highest internal temperature never reach the boiling point of water( 212F). If you bake it excessively it will just change color gradually until ultimately it will be black like charcoal( yes the temperature may go higher than 212F but the result is not bread any more. Nor it is good to eat.

In another way if you bake the bread by microwave there is a possiblity that water inside really but as it dries up fast its unable to raise the crumb temperature of the microwave baked bread to the boiling point.

For home baking, an internal temperature in the center of the loaf of

200°F says it's done. In my classes, I teach people to poke the thermometer into one of the slashes on top of a crusty loaf or into the end if baked in a loaf pan. Quick-read thermometers need to be poked in almost all the way to get an accurate reading. They're designed to give an average reading over about 3 inches of the probe.

Professional baking has different criteria for determining doneness.

Pastorio

Would that temp change at high altitude? Where I'm at, the boiling point of water is about 203 degrees, which is (obviously) 9 degrees less than sea level. So if I measured the bread temp, would I want it 9 degrees less (193 degrees) or would I want it to get all the way to 200, which is just 3 degrees shy of the boiling point?

Donna

It shouldn't be altered if at all possible. That 200°F represents the temperature by which the important chemical and physical changes have happened. Gelatinization, protein denaturing and the other events that combine to make bread happen at certain absolute temperatures and pressures. Significantly lower, and they don't proceed to fullness.

For me the boiling point is usually 209°F. Changes in atmospheric pressure will cause it to fluctuate a bit

Pastorio

Okay -- just curious, anyway. I grew up at sea level, or close enough, so this high-altitude thing has been an experience. Baking has actually been less of a problem than things that cook in water.

Donna

Long years ago, when I was still young, I was in Tibet. At one point, I was told we were at something over 16,000 feet altitude and water boiled there at about 182°F. It was surprising how quickly that "hot" water cooled. It was explained that water was able to evaporate more quickly because of the reduced air pressure. Faster evaporation means faster cooling. I had trouble breathing, with any exertion.

The butter tea was too rich for my western mouth. Rice took forever to cook.

Pastorio

I can sort of imagine. Food here cools off faster than you'd expect, anything cooked in water takes a lot longer, and water evaporates faster from cooking liquid.

When we first moved here, breathing was a little harder, and I needed naps to make it through the day if I exerted myself very much. Some people have problems with dehydration if they aren't careful, and its said that alcohol has a much quicker effect.

I bought a pressure cooker so I could cooked dried beans or tougher cuts of meat in one day instead of two.

On the other hand, when I accidentally dumped boiling water and noodles on my foot, it was still hot enough to do plenty of damage.

Now that I've adjusted to the thinner air, when I go back to sea level, I can "feel" that the air is thicker.

The one nice effect of the thin, dry air is that in the summer, the temperature goes down quickly when the sun sets, so if it's 90 during the day, it's about 60 overnight, so sleeping is pleasant. And the sun effect in winter is nice, too, so that a 50 degree winter day is nice, and 60 is tee shirt weather.