Ok so I finally decided to ask this on a public forum. I have been having issues with my bread and cakes since I bought a new oven 8 years ago and, frustratingly, I cannot figure out why.
For whatever reason my bread and cakes do not rise. They rise a bit but not fully and are horribly dense in texture. I have followed recipes exactly with the proper leavening agents yeast, baking powder and baking soda and it never works. I have bought them new each time I make a recipe thinking the expiry date is the reason and it still doesn't work. I have used a thermometer for when I need to have water at an appropriate temperature when mixing in yeast and that hasn't solved it.
It has led me to believe that my oven is the problem because, previously, I had no problems with my old conventional oven. My new oven is a fan-forced Bosch oven. Can anybody please help me here and figure out what the problem is especially now the holidays is coming up and I want to bake bread rolls.
If it’s all bread and cakes, then your oven is probably too hot. The batters and dough are setting too fast because of the heat. In a conventional oven, heat radiates upward from the bottom heating element. With forced air and convection, the heat is circulated by a fan. Heat envelopes the pan, thereby intensifying the heat.
While forced air and convection ovens are good in commercial production where the interior of the oven is much larger and multiple sheets of product are baked at the same time, they are highly problematic in the home kitchen. Forced circulation of heat in the compact space of a home oven is simply too much heat for the small amount of product.
If you use dark colored bakeware, anodized aluminum, or any coated metal, the heat is further intensified as these types of pans conduct more heat.
Temperature is an ingredient. The amount and method of adding heat effects the rate of protein denaturation and starch gelatinization. Protein denaturation is the uncoiling of protein molecules and subsequent bonding that creates coagulation; this helps set the batter/dough so it will hold its shape after baking. Starch gelatinization is the breakdown of starch molecule bonds, which gives elasticity to the batters and dough. The elasticity allow it to rise, while protein denaturation creates a permanent structure to hold it together. Too much heat, too fast changes the rate of these two critical processes. The result is a low rise, dense texture, and thick crust formation.
Whenever you use a forced air oven or a convection oven or type of bakeware as I described above, you have to reduce the oven temperature by about 25°.
Also make sure your batters and doughs are not too hot after mixing. Mixing makes friction. Friction makes heat. Starting with batters and doughs that are too warm is a recipe for failure.
If you are using the creaming method for your cake batters, make sure you start with butter that is around 65°. You can even start with butter colder than that. Look up the proper way to cream butter on Serious Eats. Stella Parks method of creaming butter is exactly how they teach it in culinary schools. All those recipes that state warming butter to room temperature are plain wrong.
When you’ve completed all the mixing your cake batter should be 70° or lower. I use an instant read thermometer to check dough and batter temperature.
The ideal temperature of your bread dough after it’s been mixed and kneaded is between 70° and 80°.
It’s also important to know your actual oven temperature. If you do not have an oven thermometer, I strongly recommend you purchase one. It won’t do to simply reduce the temperature setting on your oven. If your oven is running 20° hot even if you reduce the temperature by 25° you’re still baking at too high a temperature for the type of oven and possibly the type of bakeware.
