Recipe: Crusty White Bread or Rolls (bread machine)

Crusty White Bread or Rolls (bread machine)
rec.food.baking/Gmde (2001)

For crusty bread use no milk or milk powder in your dough because milk softens the crust. The crustiest bread I have gotten from my bread machine was with this recipe:

2/3 cup water
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. yeast

Bake on regular cycle and remove as soon as it is finished baking.

If you want to oven bake, a good method to enhance your crust is to remove the dough from the machine right after the kneading completes. Place the dough in a covered bowl and refrigerate overnight. When I am going to let the dough sit in the refrigerator overnight I use more liquid in the recipe, 3/4 cup, because the flour continues to absorb the liquid. It may seem too wet at first but by the next day it will be easier to handle. The next day, or the day after, take the dough out and shape it. Let it rise and bake in the oven at a high temperature. I think baking it for an extended period at a lower temperature will not make the crust as crisp as a high temperature will. When I bake soft hamburger buns I bake at 350. When I bake the above recipe for crispy crust rolls I bake at 400-425F.