Bread and Bread

One of my favourite things to do is rip off a chunk of bread from a roll and eat it before digging into the rest of the baguette. I've always loved the taste of bread, even as a kid, I was perfectly content to eat plain slices of bread. I think discovering baguettes is one of the best things that has happened to me in my life. I know they're generally made with butter, but it's one of those things where I don't care. It's worth it.

I think this is my favourite type of bread. Even though I love the softness of Japanese / Asian breads, and the sweetness of steamed buns, it's hard to go past crunchy exterior, and the chewy interior.

So from my careful research, done by watching episodes of Yakitate!! Japan, I have learned that in order to get a crunchy top, you need water in the oven, because having water settle on the dough while it bakes gives it that crunchy crust. I read that professional ovens will spray water during the baking process, but since most people lack an oven with that feature, I've read that you can open the oven during baking and use a spray bottle, or maybe have an oven-safe tray with water in it to create steam that will settle on the crust.

There aren't any baking comps for the foreseeable future (though Mr_Boss suggested Anzac cookies for ANZAC day), so I think my next focus will be baguettes.