Baking with STEAM Can TRANSFORM YOUR BREAD!
Really? Something as simple as STEAM will transform bread? Yes. It’s the key to how artisan bakeries achieve that lovely golden, crisp, crackly, shiny crust. It’s also their trick for achieving a great rise in the oven. Yes, steam in bread baking is the key!
Some folks are lucky enough to have a steam bake feature built in to their oven. But if you don’t, there are tried-and-true ways to create a steam bake. (One note: Before we get started, please remember to suit yourself up with good oven mitts whenever you're working with steam!)
Here’s what I learned from the fabulous bread-making site for King Arthur’s Flour (www.kingarthurbaking.com). First, they explain that most artisan bread recipes bake at about 450 degrees. This will be the temperature you want for the methods described below.
METHOD 1: Pre-heat baking stone, placed on middle shelf of oven; preheat a cast iron frying pan placed on the bottom of your oven; pour 1 cup water into pan. Once everything is pre-heated, place parchment paper on baking stone and loaf atop the parchment paper. Bake per recipe directions.
METHOD 2: Similar to Method 1. Load your loaf onto a preheated stone and then place a large metal bowl over the loaf, with the front of the bowl overhanging the stone and leaving a gap that lines up with a preheated cast iron frying pan below.
Pour about 1/2 cup boiling water into the frying pan and shut the door. Remove the bowl 15 minutes later and allow the bread to finish baking in a dry oven. A butter knife comes in handy to lift the hot bowl, which will be hard to grab with oven mitts.
Important to understand: If steam is so great, why finish in a dry oven? Because, while steam is vital during the oven-spring period so that the surface of the loaf remains moist and expands easily, once the yeast has died and the loaf is set, moisture is no longer a friend to your bread. Too much moisture throughout the bake can lead to a thick, rubbery crust.
Finally, let’s talk about why artisan breads have a love score or scored design on their tops. Those cuts in your bread aren't just decorative! Scoring (or slashing) the loaf provides a strategic vent to release fermentation gases during baking. Good scoring, along with proper steaming, allows your loaf to open up fully. Without scoring your loaf is likely to burst open at weak spots and end up oddly shaped and constricted.
And you’ll notice in the photo above, that the baker is using a little tool to score his loaf. Long loaves only require one long "ear" or "lip" cut down the center. Notice how the blade is angled, and only one corner of the blade touches the loaf. This tool is known as a lame, and can be found in any kitchen specialty shop.
The bottom line to all this information is that for an artisan loaf of bread, you want a crisp and crackly, chewy crust with a tender open crumb that’s full of holes. The key is steam—it really does transform a loaf of bread!
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Some folks are lucky enough to have a steam bake feature built in to their oven. But if you don’t, there are tried-and-true ways to create a steam bake. (One note: Before we get started, please remember to suit yourself up with good oven mitts whenever you're working with steam!)
Here’s what I learned from the fabulous bread-making site for King Arthur’s Flour (www.kingarthurbaking.com). First, they explain that most artisan bread recipes bake at about 450 degrees. This will be the temperature you want for the methods described below.
METHOD 1: Pre-heat baking stone, placed on middle shelf of oven; preheat a cast iron frying pan placed on the bottom of your oven; pour 1 cup water into pan. Once everything is pre-heated, place parchment paper on baking stone and loaf atop the parchment paper. Bake per recipe directions.
METHOD 2: Similar to Method 1. Load your loaf onto a preheated stone and then place a large metal bowl over the loaf, with the front of the bowl overhanging the stone and leaving a gap that lines up with a preheated cast iron frying pan below.
Pour about 1/2 cup boiling water into the frying pan and shut the door. Remove the bowl 15 minutes later and allow the bread to finish baking in a dry oven. A butter knife comes in handy to lift the hot bowl, which will be hard to grab with oven mitts.
Important to understand: If steam is so great, why finish in a dry oven? Because, while steam is vital during the oven-spring period so that the surface of the loaf remains moist and expands easily, once the yeast has died and the loaf is set, moisture is no longer a friend to your bread. Too much moisture throughout the bake can lead to a thick, rubbery crust.
Finally, let’s talk about why artisan breads have a love score or scored design on their tops. Those cuts in your bread aren't just decorative! Scoring (or slashing) the loaf provides a strategic vent to release fermentation gases during baking. Good scoring, along with proper steaming, allows your loaf to open up fully. Without scoring your loaf is likely to burst open at weak spots and end up oddly shaped and constricted.
And you’ll notice in the photo above, that the baker is using a little tool to score his loaf. Long loaves only require one long "ear" or "lip" cut down the center. Notice how the blade is angled, and only one corner of the blade touches the loaf. This tool is known as a lame, and can be found in any kitchen specialty shop.
The bottom line to all this information is that for an artisan loaf of bread, you want a crisp and crackly, chewy crust with a tender open crumb that’s full of holes. The key is steam—it really does transform a loaf of bread!
Alice Osborne
DVO Newsletter Contributor since 2006
Email the author! alice@dvo.com
Sources:
- www.youtube.com
- www.kingarthurbaking.com
