{"id":2922,"date":"2021-12-01T17:14:45","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T22:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bakingnook.com\/?p=2922"},"modified":"2022-05-11T11:27:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T15:27:23","slug":"why-is-my-bread-gray-in-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bakingnook.com\/why-is-my-bread-gray-in-color\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is My Bread Gray in Color? Most Common Reasons Why"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
This post contains affiliate links.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Making bread is one of the most comforting activities a home cook can master. Homemade bread has an extra level of warmth and enhanced taste that store-bought bread cannot begin to achieve. However, if you are new at bread baking, making the perfect loaf of bread may have some challenges. A frequent source of confusion for new bread makers is the occasional gray bread or gray dough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a general rule, your bread dough is gray in color because the dough was untouched for a few days. When bread dough is left out for too long, it develops a gray coarse layer that has a tough and leathery texture. Gray bread is safe to consume, however, it will taste different if not fixed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately, if your dough or bread is gray in color, there is an easy way to fix that! With a bit of investigation, I discovered how to get my bread back to being fresh again. Knowing this will help you enjoy your homemade bread without any more inconvenient gray colorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your bread can turn gray because of improper storage, poor ingredients, too much moisture, or mold in the dough. Because of these reasons, the dough can form a coarse gray layer that will need to be fixed. If the dough is left unfixed, the bread will have a tough, and chewy texture.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If your bread is gray, it is likely due to one of four reasons: <\/p>\n\n\n\n While some of these can be corrected by making sure you are following the recipe correctly, others may only be corrected after examining your cooking techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Side Note: <\/strong>I recently wrote an article that talks about How To Store All Types of Baking Yeast.<\/a><\/strong> This article breaks down exactly what you need to do to store your opened unused yeast<\/strong> to keep it fresh for longer. You can check out this article here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What Types of Improper Storage Can Cause Gray Bread?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If too much moisture gets to your dough when it is proofing, your bread may turn gray. This may be due to the dough being stored incorrectly. If you failed to cover the dough tightly or kept the dough in the refrigerator for longer than three days, your dough may be too moist and may result in gray bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One tip that I use when I am baking bread is to store any dough in the freezer<\/strong> if I think I am going to have problems baking it within three days. In the freezer, the dough can typically last for up to 14 days.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you use the wrong type of salt or old flour, it can cause your bread to turn gray. In the case of salt, you may experience gray bread if you use a salt that has iodine included. Many types of table salt include iodine, so if you are using table salt, you may end up with gray bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Types of salt to include in your bread baking instead of table salt include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For bread baking, I typically stay away from table salt that has iodine<\/strong> in it because I find that it leaves a bitter taste. Using other types of salt keeps my bread from turning gray and also does not have that bitter aftertaste that iodized table salt often brings to the bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another way that poor ingredients can affect your bread and turn it gray is the presence of old flour.<\/strong> The types of flour that you purchase in the store are often sitting on the shelves for months at a time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, we often leave flour in our pantry for months. Old flour can result in a dough that is gray in color. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ideally, you should keep flour in the pantry for no longer than eight months!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n *Side Note:<\/strong> I recently wrote an article that breaks down Can You Use Bread Flour To Bake Cookies.<\/a><\/strong> This article talks about what you should expect when Baking Cookies With Bread Flour.<\/strong> You can check out this article here! <\/p>\n\n\n\n How Can You Detect Mold in Gray Bread?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The best time to search for mold in your breadmaking process is when it is still in dough form. Thoroughly examine the dough when you are forming your bread so that you do not miss any signs of mold. Not only will moldy dough have a gray color, but it may also have fuzz on it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eating bread that has been baked from moldy dough can be very dangerous, so always be on the lookout<\/strong> – especially if you are working with doughs that require several days worth of proofing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How Will Too Much Moisture Cause Bread to Turn Gray?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both the mixing of the dough and the improper cooling of finished bread can result in too much moisture, which can cause your bread to turn gray. Perhaps you added too much water and not enough flour and ended up with an overly wet dough. That can cause your bread to turn gray, and it will become grayer as you continue to store it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you do not allow the bread to cool before you wrap it, the wrapping will trap steam.<\/strong> This steam will create too much moisture, and your bread will become grayer every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *By the way,<\/strong> I always wanted to be able to store my bread dough the right way but I never found a good container<\/strong> that could fit a large amount of dough. However, I recently came across an 8 Quart Commercial Grade Clear Storage Square Polycarbonate Containers.<\/a><\/strong> This container was perfect for storing my bread dough.<\/strong> You can check out this Storage Container on Amazon!<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your dough has turned gray after being in the fridge, it is because too much air reached the dough.<\/strong> To prevent your dough from turning gray, make sure as little air gets into the container as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Placing the dough into smaller containers may work, <\/strong>and you can prevent the dough from being exposed to air by wrapping plastic wrap tightly around the top of the dough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To make sure as little air hits my dough as possible, I often combine sealing methods. I place the plastic wrap around the dough and also place the dough into a sealable container. <\/strong>With this method, my dough does not change colors and becomes an unpleasant shade of gray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Side Note:<\/strong> You might also want to know How To Tell When Your Banana Bread Is Done.<\/a> <\/strong>I recently wrote an article that talks about The Right Way of Fixing Undercooked Banana Bread.<\/strong> You can check out this article here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a whole, to make sure that bread dough will last, you want to store it in a container that does not allow excess moisture or air to reach the dough. Tightly wrap the dough with plastic wrap and put it in a container that has room for the dough to rise.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n How long can dough last before turning gray in color:<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhy Is My Bread Gray?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You Didn’t Properly Store the Bread Dough<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You Used Poor Ingredients<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Your Bread Dough Has Mold On It<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Your Bread Dough Has Too Much Moisture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why Did My Dough Turn Gray in the Fridge?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How To Store Dough So That It Lasts?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n