The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Baking with steam from cool oven?

March 31, 2011 - 7:38pm
rolls's picture
rolls

Baking with steam from cool oven?

hi all, is this possible to do? I'm making 'my daily bread' at the moment and want to underproof and then bake from a cold oven, but would also like to bake with steam for that lovely shiny crust and bloom. any advice?

:)

thanks heaps

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yy's picture
yy
Mar 31 2011 - 9:06pm

The easiest way is probably to bake your loaf in a dutch oven with the lid on. The dough itself will supply all the moisture you need, and the dutch oven will trap the steam inside.

Chuck's picture
Chuck
Apr 1 2011 - 1:38pm

Besides a "real" Dutch Oven, other things work well too: 

  • an upside down foil turkey roasting pan
  • an upside down metal mixing bowl
  • the lid of an old fashioned "roasting pan"
  • an enamelled casserole dish with a lid
  • a clay cooking pot with a lid
  • and so forth...

(If the "handle" isn't metal, check that it can take the heat. You might need to simply remove it to avoid having a melted blob in your oven.)

(If you use just a "cover", you need something flat and solid underneath -like a baking stone or a sheet pan. A cover over bread on a plain old rack doesn't do a whole lot of good because of all the spaces through the rack..)