Expert: Elyse Grau - 1/7/2010

Question
How do you get bread crust nice and soft like the stores do? I can make the bread and the inside even comes out nice but the crust is always so hard you can't eat it?
What am I doing wrong?
Is there a particualr ingredient that makes it soft?

Answer
Joyce:
Commercial breads employ all sorts of dough conditioners, special flours and additives. Usually a crusty crust on homemade bread is a welcome change. If you want your bread softer you can add some powdered milk to the recipe. You can also use milk as the liquid. Brush the loaf with milk or cream rather than egg if you are glazing it. Another trick is to lay a tea towel over the loaf while it is cooling. And if the crust is getting too brown, you might want to cover the loaf loosely with foil during the last 5-10 minutes of baking.

Elyse