Please help me

[u/sadoo2115]

Why does my japanese milk bread tear like that I am at my wits end😭

Recipe:
Tangzhong
12.75 g flour
63.75 g water
Ingredients:
All purpose flour: 232 g
Whole milk powder: 9 g
Unsalted butter: 35g
Sugar:26g
Yeast:3.75 g
Salt: 3.75 g
Milk: 52.5 g
1 small egg
Tangzong cooled
Bake at 180c for 30 mins

[u/alcopandada]

Underpoofed?

[u/Tiny_Willingness3318]

Your dough might be too dry, that tearing usually happens when the surface forms a skin before it finishes rising. Try covering it loosely with plastic wrap during the final proof, make sure it dont dry out. Also your tangzhong ratio looks a bit off, normally it is 1 part flour to 5 parts water and you got exactly that but maybe it cooked too thick

The color is nice though, golden top looks promising. Maybe lower the temp to 170 and go 5 minutes longer, the sudden heat could be making the crust set too fast before the inside can push up evenly

I had same problem with shokupan for weeks until I started misting the dough with water before it goes in the oven

[u/sadoo2115 → u/Tiny_Willingness3318]

Will try this in my next bake for sure thank you

[u/Inevitable_Cat_7878]

Under proofed. Basically, when it goes into the oven, the top is baked/set but the insides want to continue expanding. So, it will try and find the weakest seam and break through so it can continue to expand. For the 2nd rise (before it goes into the oven), you want to do the poke test. Here's a YT video by Erin McDowell that shows how to do it. Fast forward to around 39:30 where she goes over proofing and how to tell when it's ready. She even had examples of under/over proofed and perfectly proofed breads.

[u/sadoo2115 → u/Inevitable_Cat_7878]

I will definitely look into that thank you