Just stumbled on the concept of steaming - so much more to learn!

And if your oven has a window cover the glass with a towel.  I know I'm not the only one who's heard that advice and thought, "They don't mean me!  I'll just be careful!"  And then - CRACK.  It wasn't especially expensive to replace, just a pain in the neck.

Steaming keeps the crust from getting hard sooner, which means the loaves can expand as they bake. No "oven spring"? no steam is a likely culprit. Also, this softer thicker crust will be perceived by humans as significantly "crunchier"(!?) Steam is important for artisanal-style bread baking (maybe because of the higher temperatures?), but not for "conventional" bread baking. Steam is especially important in the first ten minutes of baking, but not much after that.

Professional bakers typically have a steaming capability built right into their ovens. But home bakers have to do some sort of trick. Older thicker un-fancy ovens are best for supporting tricks.

Use a spray/mist bottle, not one that shoots a stream. And use one that's only touched water; don't use an old Windex bottle (unless you're sure it's absolutely clean). And if it drips or sometimes fails to instantly break up into a mist, get a different one; you're risking cracking something.

At first just the simple spray bottle without even pulling out the oven racks sounds easiest  ...but that way you will wind up cracking either the lightbulb or the oven window or your baking stone sooner or later. Mist the loaves once before you put them in the oven. Then if you need to mist them a second time, pull the oven rack out a bit (but not over the window).

Another possible technique is a few ice cubes tossed on the floor of the oven at the same time you put the bread in. But if your oven metal seems real thin or if you try the ice cubes and hear "ominous thumping noises" don't do that again. Julia Child suggests getting a non-exploding(sealed?) brick or stone quite hot, then dumping it into a pan of water in the oven.

Especially be careful of fancy new ovens with electronic controls. The steam can rise into the control circuitry and condense and cause the whole oven to shut down  ...permanently. (You can find more than a few sob stories here:-) If that's what you have to work with, only try tricks that get the bread moist but without creating free-floating steam througout the whole oven.

A small thick metal container (mini cast iron baking dish? spoon rest?) on the bottom of the oven may work very well. Either fill it with water, or arrange a pan with a very small hole to drip into it. I use two pans: one with a very small drip hole and the other with no hole at all; I pour one mugful of almost-boiling water (cheers to the microwave) into each. The very small hole (which is difficult to test because water has a much much higher surface tension at reasonable temperatures than it does when almost boiling) drips into a thick metal spoonrest sitting on the bottom of my oven.

Listen to your oven - if you hear thumping or banging, try a different trick for making steam next time.

Happy Baking!