A question for those who have steam home oven
An acquaintance of mine is a bread baker and she recently installed an oven with steam in her home.
She said prior to switching to that oven, her bread rarely if ever molded. We're in Colorado, where it's very dry.
Now that she's using a steam oven, she said her bread is molding rather quickly.
I asked her how long she was using steam and she said for the entire baking cycle. I suggest that might be water logging the loaf, which is leaving it open to mold.
I've not used a steam oven, but do bake in a dutch oven. When doing that, I take the cover off the dutch oven after 20 minutes, so any residual steam escapes.
I recommended she stop using steam for the entire baking cycle. She says she bakes to 199 degree F. I suggest she should be able to get to 201 degrees. (Remember, we're at 5,000 feet +, and the boiling point of water decreases by about 2 degrees F for every 1,000' of altitude).
Based on the dutch-oven experience, I suggested stopping steam after 20 minutes.
For those with a steam oven, when do you turn off the steam?
Thanks in advance.