The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

crust, steam, temperature and timing

_vk's picture
_vk

crust, steam, temperature and timing

Hi all. 

I've being baking in a gas oven using an iron skillet and wet towels in  a tray as steaming devices. 

I'm new to this (but addicted already:). So far I thought I've being getting good results, well they were good. But...

Last batch I tried to mimic a DO by covering the baking tray (carbon steel ceramic coated) with foil. Left it covered for 15 min than more 30 min uncovered at +- 240 Cº all the way.

What a big difference! As soon as I took out the foil I could already say that my dough never looked like that. And the final result was much more pleasant. Darker, better shining crust, even better oven spring. I just found that my previous steam contraption was a flaw...  But, although the improvement, this loafs crust end up a little bit to hard, specially the bottom.

So, my question is:

To control the "hardness"of the crust what should I tweak? The time it stays covered? The overall temperature, or just overall time I baked the loafs?

 

thanks

 

vicente

suave's picture
suave

In my opinion covering is the only way to go when baking in a gas oven - other steaming methods are simply not efficient, since all the steam you are creating is immediately vented out.

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Try using the iron skillet (which you don't need anymore for steam) as the baking tray. Preheat it, put the loaf on it then cover with a steel bowl, a foil pan, an oven-proof pot or whatever. That might give you a better bottom crust. Also put the whole contraption as far away from the bottom oven element as you can (and still have room to cover and uncover the loaf).

The overall crust depends partly on what flour you are using. Strong bread flour will give you a tougher crust than AP flour will.

_vk's picture
_vk

"In my opinion covering is the only way to go when baking in a gas oven"

I just realised that... It took me a while. I thought my steaming was working fine... Actually I  don't know if that was my fault, but in  all my readings I found that this point is not clear enough. 

 

"Try using the iron skillet"

This skillet has a kind of grill bottom, with some stripes above the bottom, do you think it would work anyway?

I just ordered a combo cooker :)

Thank you both for your thoughts!!

 

vk

 

 

 

bigcrusty's picture
bigcrusty

VK,

I have an electric oven but have also used my son's gas oven when I was out in Seattle and in Galveston this year.  I have gotten down to ½ - ⅔ cup of water now but used a full cup in the gas ovens.  I use a steel roasting pan on the first shelf of my oven about 3-4 inches above the element.  I put boiling water on the pan after I've loaded the bread.  It steams immediately I've found my electric oven vented as well up to 15 minutes with a cup of water but my wife didn't like the crust (too tough)

I bake my artisan breads on a stone in the open in the oven.  

Regards,

 

Big Crusty

_vk's picture
_vk

I don't know, perhaps is my oven. I can make a lot of steam, but, as I learned, not enough to get the same result as covering in first minutes.

 

AlamedaSteve's picture
AlamedaSteve

IMO, there is simply no way, absent steam injection, that pots full of ice or water will provide as much steam as a simple stainless steel mixing bowl inverted over the loaf, on a stone.

One only has to imagine how much water leaves the loaf in the process of cooking to understand the full impact of catching all that water within a small enclosure to create the best possible crust in a home oven.

And, it is so much easier than pots and roasters, etc.

But to address OP's question about hard crust, you have it exactly.  Just cut back on the time the loaf spends under the bowl.

Please, don't be offended anyone, but it is just a basic principle.

 

Steve

_vk's picture
_vk

I got the same feeling as you do.

Thanks for the answer to my original question

 :)

 

Another point is that my oven is much faster without all the other pans and skillets inside it...

 

Cheers

 

 

 

suave's picture
suave

In a gas oven, yes.  In an electric oven that can hold steam, water in a skillet beats the pants off bowls, and pots, and such.  And that's before we start discussing how efficiently we use stone surface.