Baking bread: Steam

Buxwheat · November 2008

I baked a loaf of bread in the oven today (just a trial before using the egg) according to "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day". It says to place a roasting pan in the oven w/ a cup of hot water for steam while baking. How would this translate to baking on the egg? Add a drip pan w/ hot H2O before putting the loaf on the stone, or can I just wet the stone? I thought I remember someone posting about wetting the stone before baking. By the way, the bread from the oven was good, so I will use some of the dough I have left for baking in the egg.

Egg And I · November 2008

Water in the drip pan. Although I've seen references to using a damp rag to wipe a pizza stone to cool it, I'd be concerned about causing the bread to stick to a wet stone.

Since air is flowing through the egg (unlike most ovens) you need a steady supply of steam for the first 10-15 mins (after that it doesn't matter). You want as much as steam as possible when the bread goes on the stone.

egret · November 2008

You could add a pan of water in the egg for this. I wouldn't try wetting the pizza stone to get steam....you won't hurt the stone, but, you'll get almost no steam from doing this. I have a spray bottle I use when doing sourdough and I spray the surface of the bread three times during the first 5 minutes of baking.

fishlessman · November 2008

see the paela pan under the stone, just pour in a half cup to a cup and add the dough
http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=157863&catid=1

Buxwheat · November 2008

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to try another batch in the AM, this time on the egg. If it looks good, I'll post pic.

Baking bread: Steam

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