The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Can I pour water in steam clean pan . . . DURING baking?

nancyd's picture
nancyd

Can I pour water in steam clean pan . . . DURING baking?

I'm replacing my 30" slide-in electric range.  Noticed a lot of new models offer steam clean feature, with a solid pan in the bottom of the oven that holds enough water for the steam clean cycle.  I am wondering if hot water could be poured in the bottom of this type of oven when artisan loaves are loaded into PREHEATED 450F oven to promote oven spring. Anyone try it yet? 

Vishnut's picture
Vishnut

Hi nancyd, I assume that that would work just fine if the solid pan in the bottom is of a heavy material that allows it to retain a lot of heat, even when water is added. If I were you, I'd test it out by preheating to 450 then chucking room temperature water into the pan to see if it creates steam and keeps boiling it off, if that doesn't work, maybe experiment with boiling water? Hope this helps. Happy Baking!

HeidiCooksSupper's picture
HeidiCooksSupper

... but we moved so I can't go confirm that it works for you.  I imagine it might be too fast and my worry would be that the shock of the different temperature might warp the floor of the oven.  

I did love it, though.  It was much easier to wipe spills from the bottom of the oven and to run the low-temp/low-energy consumption cleaning cycle more often.  Steam clean "kind of" works.  It does a good job of softening spills on the bottom of the oven so they can be easily wiped out.  It only "sort of" works for getting grease build up off the walls and doesn't work at all for cleaning the window on the door.  The more slippery surface they use on the inside of the oven means you don't need a strong cleaner to get the rest cleaned and you are forbidden to use oven cleaner.  Our cleaner turned us onto Awesome liquid cleaner from the dollar store that does a great job, especially of getting the oven door window clean.

rlocker's picture
rlocker

Hi, I just got a new GE gas range that offers a steam clean feature and I'm wondering if you tried this... Thanks.