Brownies – The Topic

[Shel_B]

If you freeze the grated cheese and add it frozen to the pizza just before cooking, you can get a well done crust with minimal cheese browning.

 

That's what we did when making pizza at home many years ago.  Joe, the owner of Joe's Pizza in El Sobrante, CA sometimes used that technique when making pizzas for certain customers.

 

Just a guess here - couldn't the cheese be added soon after the pizza goes into the oven, or is that not possible?  Thinking about how this might apply to brownies....

Edited March 25, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[paulraphael]

It's great that you're getting a crusty top that way, and more crust on the sides. I prefer not having a crusty top ... just the sides.

 

There seems to be a way to get a crust you like without adding extra sugar:

 

http://acselementsofchocolate.typepad.com/elements_of_chocolate/ACSBrownieChronicles.html

 

Scroll down to Crust or No Crust.

Interesting about beating to develop a meringue. I wonder what that does to the texture overall.

 

My method doesn't actually introduce extra sugar to the recipe ... it just redistributes it. The amount I sprinkle on top is subtracted from the rest of the sugar. The only issue is that it's not quite the same kind of crust that arises naturally from other methods.

 

It's funny, one reason I use professional baking pans is for consistency in texture from edge to corner to center. If there's crust on top but never on the edges, then there's a pure democracy of brownies. No elitist grabbing for the crusty ones (or the moist ones).

[dcarch]

A metal pan in a high heat convection oven will probably work much better.

 

dcarch

[lesliec]

... after all, I got a nice crust on about 1/4 of the edge while the top and center of the brownie was nice and chewy and fudgy. 

 

Shel, that suggests to me a bit of unevenness in your oven temperature, which is not at all uncommon - they all seem to have their (relatively) hot and cold spots.

 

How about giving your pan a 90° turn or two while it's cooking?  You could end up with half your edge crispy - 100% improvement!

[Shel_B]

Shel, that suggests to me a bit of unevenness in your oven temperature, which is not at all uncommon - they all seem to have their (relatively) hot and cold spots.

 

How about giving your pan a 90° turn or two while it's cooking?  You could end up with half your edge crispy - 100% improvement!

 

Yes, the unevenness could be.  However, by opening the small oven, a lot of heat (I suppose) could be lost, so baking times would have to be adjusted, yes?  By rotating the pan to even out the heat, wouldn't that lessen the crust since the hot area would then be cooking the cooler part of the brownie, and cooler part the hotter, and perhaps, crustier part, thereby actually reducing the crust?

 

I made another batch this after noon - they are still in the Breville.  This time I preheated the pan somewhat, although I didn't note how hot the pan became as a result of the preheating.  Well, another 30-minutes or so, and I'll see the results.

[lesliec]

Good point; I wasn't taking the small oven into account.  But still worth further experimentation.  What's the worst that can happen - you end up with lots of brownies?

[Shel_B]

We Got Crust!  Preheating the pan seems to have helped, and there's a nice, crunchy crust completely around the brownie.  I also allowed the brownie to cool for 90-seconds in the oven (heat off, door open) before removing it to cool on the rack, in the baking pan.  For the most part, I'm pleased

[gfweb]

The air in the oven doesn't hold much heat (see discussion of specific heat somewhere here on eG). Its in the walls of the oven, mostly, I think.

 

The ratio of wall to oven volume in the BSO might well be better than that of a larger oven. 

 

So opening the BSO isn't that deleterious.

 

I think.

[Shel_B]

Now, what's the best way to store these brownies?  In the freezer?  Best way to wrap 'em?  Hopefully the crust can stay a little crunchy ...

Edited March 28, 2014 by Shel_B (log)

[gfweb]

In general, refrigerating promotes stale-ing reactions.

 

I'd do wrapped/covered at room temp for what you can eat over a few days/week...and freeze what you cannot.

 

I doubt that the crunch will last for too many days

Edited March 28, 2014 by gfweb (log)

[scott123]

I've read that it's easier to get a crust in recipes that have a high sugar content. I couldn't confirm the science, but it sounded plausible.

 

I've confirmed the science myself through my own experimentation.  More sugar = greater crust propensity.

 

Your method is ingenious.  It's not dissimilar to the pearl sugar they press onto the exterior of the dough prior to cooking in some Belgian waffle recipes.

 

I happen to enjoy extra fudgey gooey sugary texture inside the brownie as well. I get around the cloying sweetness aspect by using polydextrose.  Polyd is basically non sweet (10% as sweet as sugar) glucose. Polydextrose can be laxating, so it's not for everyone.  Glucose is sweeter, but it's still less sweet as sugar (60%), so that should give you a gooey interior with crispier edges than plain sugar will, without the annoying level of sweetness and laxation issues.

 

Both glucose and polydextrose are hydroscopic, though, so I can't guarantee how long the crunch lasts for, but, in my house, brownies don't stick around very long.

 

If you can tolerate polydextrose (a tolerance can be built as well) the non sweet gooey sugary texture is out of this world.  You also get a much lower blood sugar spike and polydextrose has the same probiotic health benefits as inulin. I started using it for low carb baking, but, even after stopping low carb, I still swear by the stuff.

[Shel_B]

What causes the brownies to pull away from the pan?  Most of the time when I make my brownies, the mixture pulls away from the pan a bit, and that seems to enhance the crust around the edges of the brownie, which is exactly what I want.  So, why does that happen?  I've not been able yet to discern what I do differently when the brownie's edge doesn't pull away from the pan.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Shel, have you payed much attention to the temperature of your oven on the batches that pull away?  With my own, I find that if there's a heat spike in the last 15 minutes or so of baking, I get that pulled edge crust, whereas if the oven behaves and keeps even heat, the crusts don't do that.

[Shel_B]

Shel, have you payed much attention to the temperature of your oven on the batches that pull away?  With my own, I find that if there's a heat spike in the last 15 minutes or so of baking, I get that pulled edge crust, whereas if the oven behaves and keeps even heat, the crusts don't do that.

 

Not paid any attention to oven temp as you suggest.  Might well be worth looking into.  Tks!

[Fernwood]

My sister-in-law changed my life when she taught me to use a plastic knife for cutting brownies.  This am, as I was working my way through two 9 x 13 pans of >1" thick brownies (college athletes) with a flimsy plastic picnic knife, it occurred to me that I should ask Santa to put something sturdier in my stocking this Christmas.  Does anyone use this Zyliss Dessert Knife?  Or this Bakeware Buddy plastic knife? Other recommendations?

Thanks,  Fern

[prpltrmpt]

I buy into KAF's theory (see : http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/fudge-brownies-recipe ) about the dissolved sugar in the batter causing a nice "crackly" top crust. If you look at Shel_B's link on brownies, they cite the beating of the eggs as the cause of the crackly top. I think, though, that it's the extra beating when the eggs are added, that helps some more sugar to futher dissolve because of the water content in the eggs.

 

I made two brownie batches using cocoa powder (Alice Medrich's recipe), and the one that I heated for longer during the sugar+butter step (I added the cocoa powder after I sufficiently melted sugar and butter) definitely had more crackly top than the one I didn't heat for as long. 

 

Further confirmation for me is cookies that are baked with melted butter definitely have more crackly/craggy tops than cookies made with just softened butter. 

 

PS- I've been on the search for crackly top brownies for quite some time...!

Edited November 26, 2014 by prpltrmpt (log)

[Shel_B]

I buy into KAF's theory (see : http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/fudge-brownies-recipe ) about the dissolved sugar in the batter causing a nice "crackly" top crust. If you look at Shel_B's link on brownies, they cite the beating of the eggs as the cause of the crackly top. I think, though, that it's the extra beating when the eggs are added, that helps some more sugar to futher dissolve because of the water content in the eggs.

 

I made two brownie batches using cocoa powder (Alice Medrich's recipe), and the one that I heated for longer during the sugar+butter step (I added the cocoa powder after I sufficiently melted sugar and butter) definitely had more crackly top than the one I didn't heat for as long. 

 

Further confirmation for me is cookies that are baked with melted butter definitely have more crackly/craggy tops than cookies made with just softened butter. 

 

PS- I've been on the search for crackly top brownies for quite some time...!

 

Your post and the reference to the KAF recipe has been very helpful as I continue on my quest for the perfect brownie.  Thanks!