This professional temperature probe (0-250ºC) with alarm and timer is a must for any budding artisan bread baker. Take the guesswork out of baking your lovingly crafted loaf by using a temperature probe to tell you that the inside of the bread is cooked.
Spending a day nurturing a loaf only to find it has been ruined by under-baking must be one of the saddest things to happen in a kitchen!
Under-cooking your loaf is a common problem when learning the craft. Take the guesswork out of baking your loaf: don't:
Rely on the colour of the loaf as it only tells you how well the outside has cooked.
Rely on the loaf sounding hollow when tapped as this isn't reliable.
Rely on time alone as varying doughs and loaf sizes take different cooking times, to say nothing of the evenness and quality of the oven.
A loaf is cooked when the inside gets to at least 90ºC. So, why not use a temperature probe set to 95ºC, with an alarm to call you when the loaf is done? You will still need a small amount of experimentation to become fully familiar with this method of baking, but it is easily mastered.
Artisan bread-making is an extremely rewarding and traditional craft using natural leaven to raise the dough and create fantastically tasty sourdough breads that will leave you in awe of your friends and family! To learn more about this craft, see Dan Lepard's seminal book, The Handmade Loaf.
