You might want to try the "boiling water in pre-heated cast-iron frying pan" method rather than the "spraying the sides" method next time - I think it creates a lot more water vapour. I find that all the water boils out and is vented by the 30 minute mark so the crisping cycle can start.

Yesterday I was making Rose Levy's rye bread, which calls for 15 minutes at 475 deg.F and 40 minutes at 400 deg.F. I preheated at 525, then set to 475 for the first 15 minutes. However, at that point I was called out of the house, so I set the timer on the oven to cook for 20 more minutes at 400 and then just shut down. I came back a few hours later to find the oven and loaf cool (stone was still a bit warm) and the crust the thickest and crispest I have ever made. Too crisp for my family in fact, but luckily this was my sandwich bread.

So, the "let cool along with oven" method might be worth trying too. Seems that it sucked the excess moisture that is usually found on the counterop under the cooling rack right out of the loaf.

sPh

Thanks for the input! When putting in a pan of water, what is the difference between using cast iron or another metal? I used my husband's cast iron pan once for this purpose around the time I first started baking bread, and he practically hit the ceiling, saying that it removes the patina of oil that older cast iron pans collect over time through use. If it's important that it be cast iron, then I'll simply buy my own pan.

I'll also try letting the bread cool in the oven with a shorter baking time.

Please bear w me, i'm new to this site and w make posting mistakes. i posted this someplace else but i don't see it here where it s/b.

advice; paint bread w water before baking. then thro water in 3 X w/in 5 mins. then leave it.

did you bake on tiles? line your oven with normal ceramic tiles, pre heat them with the oven,spray them before you put you bread then again a few seconds afterwards.....as soon as bread browns open oven to let steam out that should help

I bake on a baking stone, and do vent the steam once the bread just begins to brown. 

Last weekend, I baked a loaf using stone ground, higher protein flour (Hodgson's Mill, versus unbleached King Arthur bread flour).  I also put boiling water in a pan when I put the loaf in, later vented the steam, and then let the bread cool in the oven for a while.  This loaf had terrific crust! 

 I am like Jim, I don't steam anything,  and another thing I don't do is heat my oven on 450/500 for an hour, wow that must if you bake a lot of bread really jack up your hydro bill.

 I bake by electric, Kitchenaid Superba, it take 13 minutes to go from 0 to 410 f.

                                 qahtan 

I've been experimenting with baguettes, which better have a crispy crust or I'll through it out.  The recipe I have calls for adding 12 ice cubes in a pan, under the stone.  Get the oven as high as it will go, mine is 500 degress, and turn the bread once end for end.  Works perfectly for me.

I am a newbie at this but I have good luck with a crisp crust and light airy crumb. I have been experimenting to get a deeper brown crust which also increases the crispiness of the crust. I use two hearthstones side by side with a baking area of 15" * 24", and usually bake two loaves at a time. I am using gas and preheat the stones while the loaves proof, usually about an hour to 525 degrees. I slide the loaves onto the stones and spray the interior of the oven with water. I repeat the spray twice at about 3 minute intervals. I leave the heat at 525 for the first 10 to 15 minutes watching the crust change to a deep caramel color, I also have found this technique creates incredible oven spring. After the first 15 minutes I reduce to 425 for the remaining 15 to 20 minutes

Joe

Nope - just water, flour and salt.  Perhaps my problem IS my recipe, or my technique, or both.  Most often, I tend to start with about two cups of ripe starter (usually from about 2 cups of King Arthur unbleached bread flour).  Then I'll add another 2-3 cups of the same flour, perhaps with another 1/2 cup - 1 cup of wheat or coarse rye.  I'll put in a little less than 1 tbs kosher salt, and then about a cup of water.  Then I'll mix the dough and add a little water bit by bit until I have dough that's just on the sticky side of tacky.  I mix until the dough is springy and I can see light through a piece of dough if I stretch it between my fingers.  Then I let it ferment in a lightly oiled bowl until it's nearly, but not quite, doubled in size.  The time varies depending on the time of the year and the heat of my kitchen. Then I'll shape the dough and let it proof, usually in a banneton.  The proofing usually lasts between 1 and 2 hours, again depending on the temperature of the kitchen.  During that time, or part of it, I'll heat the oven and my baking stone.

More detailed discussion of the controversy:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/03/pyrex_panic.html

sPh

 SD Susan

sPH, that is a most informative article, glad I read it.  Thank you.

I first saw this done by Alton Brown on Food Network.  Go to Home Depot or Lowe's, especially now as they are getting things in for spring planting.  You use a large washer and nut/bolt to close the hole.  Makes a small sturdy handle too... 

Rena in Delaware

If you want crispy crust, it is not necessary to place any water in a dish. You can use a squirt bottle to heavily spray your loaves for 20-30 seconds every five minutes for the first twenty minutes you are baking. This means that you will spray them 4 times, then allow them to finish baking. The more you spray them, the shinier and crispier the crust will be.