Notes on Oven Spring

Oven Spring: In bread baking, Oven Spring is the final burst of rising just after a loaf is put in the oven and before the crust hardens. Oven spring is a good indicator of the crumb of your bread: more oven spring means a light and airy interior and little oven spring indicates a dense, compact crumb. Oven spring can be elusive - it's part of the craft of bread baking.

During those first few minutes as the dough starts to heat up, the yeast go into a feeding frenzy, converting the sugars in the dough into carbon dioxide and alcohol. Water in the dough is simultaneously turning into steam and pushing its way out of the dough. This steam and the carbon dioxide from the yeast work together to inflate the dough like a balloon. Once the internal temperature of the bread reaches about 120-degrees, the yeast stop reproducing and the crust begins to solidify, curtailing the rise of the dough.

There is an optimum time to put your loaves in the oven. The yeast needs to be in its most active stage to get oven spring. It has to be on the up swing. If you let your dough sit and rise, you will see it rise vigorously to a point and then the rising slows. The activity of the yeast will increase to a point and then become less active. To get oven spring you need to bake your loaf when the yeast is on the up swing. You will only learn how to get oven spring over time.

Some causes of low oven spring: The dough may be over proofed and therefore not rising and possibly even collapsing in the oven. The hydration of the dough may be to high, that is, too much water in the mix. The loaves may not be shaped properly and therefore lose their shape. The gluten structure of the dough might be under developed and causing the loaf to not hold its shape.