Crumb

Crumb is the inside of the bread after the Baking the loaf: a Gluten network that held gas, starch that gelatinized in the heat, and the holes that Fermentation and oven spring left behind. It is not the Crust. King Arthur Baking ties an open crumb to a loaf that could expand while the crust stayed flexible — steam as one of the conditions, not the only one ¹.

Calvel judges crumb as eating quality and as evidence of mixing: over-oxidized dough reads as too white and less aromatic ². King Arthur's autolyse trials found workability easier to see than a dramatic crumb-color change in home baguettes; they still treat less mixing as the point of the rest ³.

What to notice #

Cut only after Cooling. A smear is unset gel or underfermented dough, not "moist." Even, small cells are typical of a moderate Hydration sandwich loaf; larger, irregular holes need a dough strong and extensible enough to hold them — Dough development — and a spring that was not locked by a dry skin.

Erratic crumb in King Arthur's no-autolyse baguette was the control: slightly smaller loaf, less even interior ³. Very hot dough in their temperature trial baked with a drier crumb and a bitter, acidic flavor ⁴. Dense crumb after a full bake is usually fermentation or strength, not a missing secret steam trick.

Open crumb is a style, not a moral. Pan bread is allowed to be even.