Quick Shine On Me

I wanted to jot down a quick thought on a baking product. If you are like me, you have attempted to bake bread with seeds or grains on top of the bread. (See the photo below for an example) The question is, “how do you get these flavor and style additions to stay on top of the bread?”

I tried a product recently called Quick Shine. Quick Shine is a spray containing water, oil and milk solids among other things. You spray the Quick Shine on the bread and sprinkle the loaf with seeds, grains or nuts.

Let me start by saying that when Quick Shine is sprayed on a bread, any grains, nuts or seeds sprinkled on top will stay there during and after baking.

However, there are some downsides to the product. First, when sprayed on a bread, excess spray sticks to anything around the bread (i.e. counter top, sink, toaster, knife block). Second, when using Quick Shine on free standing breads (European style crusty loaves such as boules, bâtards, baguettes and so on), the spray interferes with the ability to slide the bread off the peel into the oven. After setting the bread on the peel covered, as usual with flour/corn meal, I sprayed the loaves with Quick Shine. The spray caused the flour to gum up and prevented easy removal from the board into the oven. So I got smart: I put parchment paper on the peel instead of flour/corn meal. After spraying Quick Shine on the loaves, by the time I topped the loaves with the seeds, the parchment was moistened to the point where, once again, the loaves would not slide off the peel. This last attempt caused me to drop a loaf into the crease of the oven door.

This transfer issue becomes moot, when using Quick Shine on breads that bake in a pan. However, the stray spray mess remains. To alleviate the transfer issue, you could put the free standing loaves on a baking sheet or jelly roll pan and slide the breads into the oven. The problem is you don’t get the best browning or oven spring using this method.

One final grievance – the nozzle needs to be inspected and/or cleaned before and after use to prevent a build up and blockage of the spray element.

Given that I don’t make free standing breads with seeds, nuts or grains that often, I am going to go back to using the tried and true method using an egg white and water emulsion. This simple wash is spread on using a brush with no mess and will allow for easy transfer of the bread into the oven. Any seeds, nuts and grains sprinkled on top will stick during and after baking as effectively as it would with Quick Shine.

Some say seeds adhere well using water only; I find water alone isn’t enough to hold grains and nuts on breads during and definitely not after the bread is baked. The high oven temperature necessary to bake free standing breads prevents a solid adhesion using only water.

Another option is whole eggs or yolks and milk. I don’t like whole eggs and milk as an adhesive wash because it causes unwanted flavor and color changes.

In summary,Quick Shine works very well but does best with breads baked in or on pans, with some frustrating negatives. The best option is an egg white and water emulsion.

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