Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer – Washes

These simple little tips are the secrets behind giving your breads shine and color. Find out more on today’s Tuesday’s Tip with The Kitchen Whisperer!

Making bread dough can be a little scary to the novice.  All that proofing, mixing, kneading, punching, rolling, shaping, forming, lamenting and washing.  Washing?  Yeah, washing. Have you ever gone into a bakery and see those gorgeous golden loaves of breads?  They shine like glass. They have deep colors of golden brown. Want to know how that happens?  It’s honestly all about that wash.

So a wash in baking terms is something that is brushed on something prior to baking or immediately after it’s done baking to produce a specific desired outcome.  Typically this is an egg wash, milk wash, bun syrup or butter baste wash. They all are applied to the dough before baking and depending on what you use, the outcome differs.

Egg wash – An egg wash consists of either the whole egg beaten with a trace amount of water or just the egg white with some water. It’s beaten until frothy and then brushed on the dough prior to baking.  While it bakes it starts to produce a glorious shine. Now if you only use the egg whites you’ll get a clear shine.  If the yolks are used too you’ll get a more golden shine.

Milk Wash – A milk or cream wash consists of just that – milk or cream. It’s used when you want to create that deep caramelized color.  Dairy contains certain amino acids and sugars and when exposed to heat together they produce a Maillard Reaction. Or in layman’s terms – a seriously gorgeous browning effect.  However with this you will get a dull shine.

Butter Baste (wash) – Now melted butter is the only wash you can use either prior or after baking. Prior to baking it will produce a lighter golden color with a slight shine.  If it’s brushed immediately following baking it will impart more flavor into your dough.

Bun Syrup wash – This is simply a sugar syrup solution that is brushed on immediately following baking to give a glaze appeal. This is just equal parts of water and white sugar. Bring to a boil until all of the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from the heat a allow to cool completely. Once cooled place in a jar and store in the fridge.