soft buns make the best crispy buns

For so many of those early years, the outsized obsession was on contrast between and crust and crumb. Substantial crust was always more of a challenge working with wet doughs. And even when you can achieve something thick and formidable, it goes soft and chewy pretty quickly as the moisture from the interior crumb is moving slowly outward softening the crust as it exits. Bourdon, my first mentor who really shaped the way I see most of these parts of baking to this day, taught me to use high hydration and long fermentation. With wet doughs, judging the final proofing time is based on different indicators than with stiffer, dry ones; the signs you are looking for to tell you when it’s ready to bake are not the same. I recall something like a precarious water balloon while holding a steady line at the same time.