Give the bottom of the loaf a couple firm taps with your thumb. The bread will sound hollow when it's done. If you're new to this technique, try doing this every five minutes toward the end of baking and you'll hear how the sound changes.
Use your senses: Sound
“For crusty artisan bread, one way to determine doneness is by thumping the bottom of the loaf,” says Barb. “Give it a few quick knocks on the bottom of the loaf with your knuckles; if it sounds hollow, that tells you it's fully baked.”
Take your loaf or rolls out of the oven (Carefully), turn them upside down and give the bottom a tap - it should sound hollow. You could use a thermometer to check the temperature of the centre of your loaf. If the temperature reads 190ºC to 200ºC your bread should be ready.
When bread is undercooked it is softer, perhaps even close to the texture of the original dough, there is little if any noticeable crust or browning on top and the texture can be stickier. The smell can also tell you, if it doesn't have that glorious freshly baked bread smell, it probably isn't done yet.
A perfectly baked bread should have a deep golden-brown crust, a firm texture, and a largely dry interior. An instant-read thermometer is the most accurate way to check the doneness of bread.
You may be ready to throw in the towel and try eating your bread anyway—but please don't. Breads made with flour and/or eggs can contain dangerous bacteria. It's best to play it safe and not eat the undercooked bread.
Germs can find their way into raw flour during harvesting, processing, or shipping, and in your grocery cart or at home. Raw eggs may contain Salmonella bacteria, and should never be consumed raw or undercooked. Breads, cookies, cakes, biscuits, and any other baked good should always be fully cooked before it is eaten.
Absolutely you can overcook sourdough bread. Just like yeasted bread, sourdough bread can be left in the oven too long. Overcooked sourdough bread will have a very hard, crunchy crust that is difficult to cut and bit through. The interior of overcooked sourdough bread will be drier than it should be.
We sometimes advise checking the internal temperature of a loaf of bread before making the decision to pull it from the oven. A properly baked loaf typically registers a temperature between 195 and 210 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, depending upon the type of bread.
It's important to allow bread to cool all the way, or until it's just barely warm, to complete the cooking process before cutting. Rolls will take only about 20 minutes to cool. Bread baked in a loaf pan can take as long as 1 hour and a large free-form loaf can take as long as 1 1/2 hours to cool.
Gently press your finger into the dough on the top. If the dough springs back quickly, it's underproofed. If it springs back very slowly, it's properly proofed and ready to bake. Finally, if it never springs back, the dough is overproofed.
Your bread could be undercooked or unbaked inside for the following reasons: Your oven was too hot, so the outside of the bread cooked faster than the inside. You pulled your bread out of the oven too early. You didn't let your dough reach room temperature before baking it.
Sugar's melting point is 366 degrees F (186 degrees C).
So if you place a half-tablespoon of sugar in an oven heated to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and the sugar does not melt; your oven runs cold. Likewise, if you put the sugar in a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven, and it melts; your oven runs hot.
Doneness Tips for Breads
If you're ever in doubt, it's better to cook the loaf a little longer than to undercook it.
The outside of the bread looks firm and browned, but you can't see what state the inside is without cutting into it. If you cut a slice and realize the inside is not fully cooked, is there any way to save the loaf? Luckily, bread can be re-baked, and put back in the oven if it is underdone.
Undercooked bread dough can contain the same bacteria as raw dough. These bacteria can cause food poisoning and make you sick. It is crucial to bake bread dough all the way through to kill these bacteria. Otherwise, you could end up with a stomachache or diarrhoea.
It is important to remember that common “kill-steps” include boiling, baking, roasting, microwaving, and frying. Symptoms to watch for if you have consumed raw dough products include stomach cramps, fever, vomiting or diarrhea. If you or a family member experiences any of these symptoms, contact a doctor immediately.
The dough will not be crisp and will likely still have a raw, doughy flavor. When you take a bite, the texture may be sticky and the dough may pull away from the roof of your mouth. An underbaked crust will also have a tendency to collapse, making it difficult to cut and eat.
A temperature of 190°F at the center will yield bread that's fully baked (soft and moist) but not over-baked (tough and dry). For thin/crusty bread with a dry interior, like baguettes, small crusty rolls, or focaccia, rely on crust color to determine the point of optimum doneness.
In cooking, proofing (also called proving) is a step in the preparation of yeast bread and other baked goods in which the dough is allowed to rest and rise a final time before baking. During this rest period, yeast ferments the dough and produces gases, thereby leavening the dough.