Why is my crust so pale?

Reader Emily writes:

My crumb is gorgeous but my crust looks anemic. Hours in the oven, the bottom is barely brown. What am I missing?

Three usual suspects, in order of likelihood:

1. Steam in the wrong half of the bake.
Steam should be there for the first 15–20 minutes — that's what gets you spring and a glossy crust. After that, you want a bone-dry oven so the crust can color. If your dutch oven lid stays on the whole bake, the crust never sets. Lid off at the 20-minute mark.

2. Underbaked, not underbrowned.
Cracking a loaf at 35 minutes when it needs 45 — easy to do because the spring is impressive and you think it must be done. Internal temp should be 205–210°F for a country loaf. If you don't have a thermometer, knock the bottom — it should sound hollow, not a thud.

3. Long cold retard, low sugar.
If you've cold-retarded the dough 36+ hours, the yeast has chewed through most of the available sugars. Less sugar = less browning. The fix is to drop your retard time to 12–18 hours, or accept the pale crust as a feature.

Send a photo on the next bake if it's still happening. We'll figure it out.

— Sarah