How steam works

Baking from the baker’s perspective sometimes looks like one simple process - put the bread in the oven, and the bread bakes. For the bread, it is an entirely different matter, with two distinct stages of baking.

During the first stage of baking, which lasts around twenty minutes, the bread hits the oven, and it continues to rise with very rapid yeast activity until the yeast dies off when the dough reaches around 60ºC (140ºF) During this oven spring stage it’s good to have plenty of moisture in the oven, as this allows the dough to continue expanding before the crust is set.

You can create some steam by working with high hydration doughs and putting lots of bread in the oven at once. The best amount of steam comes from baking with a dutch oven or clouche-type setup (or a cookie sheet over the top of your pan loaves), or by putting water or ice cubes in the oven. The most crucial time for steam is the first fifteen minutes of baking.

Baking with a dutch oven or clouche

A cast iron dutch oven is the easiest way to create a steamy oven at home. If you cook, then you probably already have one of these in the right size. Around 5 litres (5 quarts) is a good size, but you can use larger ones too. I use enamelled cast iron, as these are most common in my country, but other bakers use plain cast iron for this. Make sure to get one with an oven-safe handle. The dutch oven and lid are both preheated in the oven, the loaf added, and the lid put on the pot. Having a closed container around the loaf helps to trap moisture, which helps the dough to expand as much as possible.

A clouche-type setup essentially works the same way as a dutch oven: preheat both parts of the cloche in the oven, add your bread, and put the lid on the base. You can get specialist bakers cloches (also called bakers ovens), which consist of stone or cast iron base with a domed cover, or you can create your own, with a pizza stone and either a large, deep metal hotel pan found in catering supply shops, or a stockpot. The pan doesn’t have to be as big as the stone, but it’s important that it is not larger, or it will let dry air in. The benefit of this approach over the dutch oven approach is that you have more options: if your stone and pan are big enough, you can bake two loaves at once, and you can also be a bit more gentle when transferring your loaves.

To bake with steam in this way, first bake with the lid or cloche on, to trap steam for the first 15 to 20 minutes, then remove the lid for the final part of baking.

Hot frypans with ice or water

Another option for creating steam is by using an oven-safe frypan with ice cubes or water. Preheat the oven with this pan in a rack lower than the rack you’ll be baking on, and as soon as you’ve added your bread, add your ice or water to the pan. Some bakers preheat random bits of metal in the pan, so that there is more hot surface area. Your pan will be very hot, and the steam it generates is very hot also, so work quickly and carefully when using this method. Also be extremely careful not to splash any cold water onto the glass of your oven door.

A starter like this can survive many months in the fridge, but keep in mind that like any starter, the longer it is stored, the more feedings it will need before it is ready to rise bread to its potential.

Pre-steaming

Pre-steaming is another approach, and is what I prefer to use for baguettes, but you will need to be very careful not to get scalded when loading bread in. This approach will work best if you are quickly loading a single tray or pan into the oven and don’t need the door to be open for long. To pre-steam, put a pan of boiling water in the oven for 10 minutes before you are ready to bake. When the oven is filled with steam, quickly and carefully load your bread in and shut the door.

When do you most need steam?

You may find that when baking at temperatures above 225ºC (437ºF) that steam is more crucial than it is when you are baking at lower temperatures. If you find the various ways of adding steam to be too awkward to manage, experiment with baking your bread at different temperatures, and you may find that by baking your bread at a lower temperature will mean that you need less (or no) steam. As low as 177ºC (350ºF) is fine, any lower than this will mean less oven spring and caramelisation.



Oven spring is not everything, so if adding steam is too much of a hassle to you, don’t bother with it: you’ll still get great tasting bread, it just won’t be quite as airy as it could have been.

May your oven be steamy and your loaves rise high. Floury regards,
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Kate

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P.S. I’ll be doing a sourdough workshop at the Tasmanian North West Eco Fest this Sunday. If you’re in the area, feel free to come and say hi and I’ll give you some sourdough starter.

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P.P.S. If you'd like to access an archive of all previous Floury Friday emails, simply visit http://katedownham.kit.com.

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