Well, I have virtually no bread-baking experience, but got to thinking about this today: What exactly is bread crust? Why does bread have crust? Why are some crusts different consistencies? Could you make bread without crust?
I know the answers are probably obvious, but danged if I know.
The way I cook bread is to hit it with a high temp for about 10? minutes and then lower the temp for the actual baking. The first bit is to create a crust I think.
Bread crust is just a thin layer that is more cooked than the rest of the bread because it was on the outside. Putting bread in at a high temperature to produce a crust will keep the dough from expanding during cooking (simply because it produces a ‘wall’ that the dough can’t push against)resulting in a denser bread. That is fine for some baking, not good for other recipes. A crust will form on the bread without using a higher temperature when you first put the bread in the oven. This will just happen later in the baking process. Try your bread without the high temperature -you might have better results.
To get a decent crust, you have to brush something on it, like butter(Vienna bread) or oil(Italian).
That part conducts heat from the air better than the wet dough, which is evaporating water and cooling the surface.
As to baking without crust, the only way would be in a microwave. I know cakes done that way do not brown on top, since the heat comes from the excited water inside the loaf instead of hot air outside it.
The imperfectly understood Maillard reaction between carbohydrates and amino acids is important in forming a browned bread crust. For more information, see, for example, http://foodsafety.ifas.ufl.edu/nc/nc1169.htm