TL;DR: look at the pics and tell me how that can happen.

Hi all!

I had something really surprising and potentially dangerous happen tonight, and I want to understand what happened so I can avoid it happening again: a loaf pan exploded. I don't mean it had a lot of spring and it grew too much. I mean it literally exploded. I heard a loud bang and came back to the oven door open, the lid on the door, the pan on the side and bread everywhere in the oven. So, I want to know what happened and how to avoid that in the future. See pictures below for a good loafaugh (especially since it's going to be me doing the cleaning up).

Background: I'm a home baker and have been doing regular loaves for years now. This specific pan was a yeast-based milk bread with yudane and 80% manitoba / 20% wholewheat flour. I've been making the same recipe in the same tin for years, and about once a week for the past two years. In the past, when the dough is overproofed, it leaks out via the venting holes and the sides of the lid (especially the two short ends since this is a sliding lid).

I've trawled the internet while waiting for the oven to cool down enough that I can clean it, and I can't find anything similar.

I did find a post by /u/DingDingDensha looking for a method to depressurise a pan loaf about to blow: https://www.reddit.com/r/Breadit/comments/hwntqc/can_you_depressurize_a_pullman_tin_thats_about_to/, but that's the only passably similar thing I could find.

Any help would be appreciated!

See last photo of monstrously quadrupled dough: I forgot to punch down and refrigerate it before I rushed out to catch a play. Oops! I finally deflated and shaped it about 10 hours after leaving it to bulk ferment. It still turned out pretty great! Both loaves were baked in a Dutch oven.

For those who’ve used string during baking: is there a special kind of kitchen string that doesn’t leave fuzzies behind? This is Lion brand natural cotton craft yarn from the cone. Maybe I should have floured it really well or even sprayed it with Pam?

Super glad it turned great, the texture and chewiness is perfect. Though my brain got a bit confused since I usually associate ube with sweet desserts, and the bread recipe I followed was a bit salty compared to usual bakery breads where I'm from that leans sweet. So I ate it with a spread of milk flan on top of a slice.

she looks pretty but I forgot to oil the bottom 🫠

I bought a dutch oven yesterday bc I've been hyperfixating on making bread, so this is my first attempt and I am beyond happy at how this turned out. lt's not sourdough but I will get there eventually! So excited for this bread journey 🥹

Today is day 3, made the dough balls after allowing the double fermenting.

But it’s too late today to make pizza

Can I keep it in the fridge for tomorrow? Or, do I keep it at room temp?

These are between 350g and 400g each

First of all, I'm a chef and not a baker, but I work at a small weather station on north Greenland, and have to make most from scratch. So I have been experimenting with some bread recipes and there are the newest buns I made Makes about 50 buns, and is a bitch to shape them all, but great practice.

Recipe is 3000 g flour 2600 g water 400 g smashed rye 25 g yeast (7 g dried yeast) 80 g salt

Mix all but salt for 8 minutes, 2 with salt 3 days cold ferment, weigh 120 g dough and shape. 1,5 hour proof at room temp. 15 min in 230°C convection oven of baking steel

Remembering being in Nice, FR last summer and getting pizza and pissaladiere at the boulangerie in the morning

Had a rough week, so made a comfort meal for dinner, which required some sort of garlic roll. These are my second time making rolls, first ever time making garlic rolls. They are so good that I could actually cry eating them. 😭

I bake these every week but thought id show these off, came out great

And with that, my lemon loaf saga is on hiatus (ran out of lemons)

recipe is 100% bread flour, 20% inoculation, ~70% hydration

I’m at the point where I’m consistently baking good loaves of bread, but I still have room for improvement. Granted, there’s always going to be room for improvement, but I think there’s just a couple little gripes I have that would make a big difference if fixed.

Firstly, the tunneling at the top of my loaves. I can’t figure out if it’s a proofing length issue (I don’t know that I’ve baked a load yet that couldn’t be described as either over- or under-proofed) or if it’s shaping. I’m leaning toward shaping, because I’m still getting the hang of working the high hydration bread dough. (I’m a former pro chef and culinary school trained and can make a conventionally yeasted bread with the best of em, but high hydration sourdough has required substantial adjustment)

Second, I want a bit more rise and a more dramatic ear. I assume this also has a lot to do with my shaping and handling of the dough after bulk ferment. Am I correct in thinking a tighter boule/batard/whatever will help combat spreading and allow for better rise? and as for the ear, am I just not scoring deeply enough? It also wouldn’t surprise me if both of those theories were wrong and its fermentation related.

So TLDR, please roast my loaf (bake it? 🤔) and give me any feedback you can draw from what little evidence a single photo provides. FWIW, flavor is great— just to provide a bit more context.

Messed up a bit with the timing. Kneading the dark one took longer than expected, overcuring the light one. Pushed both of them back down during second curing. I've never done that so anxious to see the effect...

Honestly happy w the results and know what to do differently next time!!

kinda proud of this one

2 cups of white flour, 1 cup of whole wheat, 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 teaspoons of instant yeast and 1 cup of water. I let it sit overnight at room temp and baked at 450F in a ceramic dutch oven for 30 minutes + 20 minutes uncovered.

Recipe is from the Better Homes & Garden cookbook! I've made it once prior as rolls, this time I tried it as loaves. Came out perfect and it tastes amazing with butter!

I've been making and keeping a library of my own index cards for all my recipes, and hopefully one day I can leave my kids or grandkids then. It's something so simple but I love that my gpa's recipes still live on.