![]() Lava rocks are a primo choice because they get extremely hot, don’t break down easily, and have tons of jagged sides and crevices for an incredible increase in surface area. The first is a cast-iron pan filled with lava rocks 1. Let’s go over a few more additions to our home-baking arsenal: Lava rocks We first need to have the right set of tools for the job. Since most of us bakers out there do not have one of these fancy ovens, we have to make do-read on to learn how baking with steam in your home oven can be a straightforward process. These look very promising but are on the expensive side. Some other alternatives can’t inject steam at a button press, but they are sealed to trap steam and have a method for generating steam. You might be able to fit two loaves, but I could also fit two Dutch ovens in my current home oven no advantage there. ![]() Now there are home ovens that are “steam ovens,” but the ones I’ve looked at are incredibly small. Press a button, and a wave of steam sprays over the decks of newly loaded dough (however, there are always challenges, no matter what oven you use). Professional baking ovens have steam on tap. An alternative is to bake directly on stones and generate sufficient steam in your home oven by some other clever means. However, there comes a time when you might want to bake two (or more) loaves at a time, or perhaps your loaves are scaled more substantial than your Dutch oven can comfortably hold. ![]() So how can we get enough steam in the oven to keep those loaves rising? There are indeed methods abound, and each person has a different approach, but arguably the most popular choice at the moment, and the one I started with, is baking bread in a Dutch oven ( see my guide on how to bake bread in a Dutch oven if you're not familiar). If your dough dries and bakes too quickly on the exterior, it can harden off before it rises to its full potential (and you may not see a satisfying gringe, either). Steam in the oven and subsequently on the surface of your loaves helps keep that skin pliable and stretchy during baking. While many of these challenges present themselves early in the two-day process (fermentation, flour selection, mixing, shaping, and so on), there is that crucial component at the end of this ordered procession: baking with steam in your home oven.įor your bread to rise to its potential, that outer, taut skin on your loaf needs to be able to expand and stretch before hardening off. The small mark on my left forearm begs the question daily: Maurizio, was it worth it? But before we talk about my new baking badge of honor, let’s concentrate on overcoming the challenges of baking good bread at home.
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