Steam Baker - calling all innovators

 Does the cone shape provide a certain benefit.  I find the small hole in the top kind of curious.  I will monitor this thread closely.

Thanks,

Tom

... will reveal similar enquires or results, though I do not believe a tagine has an internal water trough.

Of course, I've used a pan with hot water and spritzing for steam.  Problem is opening the oven door for repeated spritzing drops the temperature.  I've also used an inverted aluminum baking pan (disposable type) that fits and seals when on the baking stone.  Lately, I've found some success by using the lid of my Emile Henry Baguette Baker inverted over the loaves.  I saturate it with water (the inside is not glazed) prior to baking.  By measuring it dry and then wet, I found that it retains about 2 grams of water.

Then again, I probably should go back to using the baguette baker as it was designed.  But I'm always thinking of a better way to get steam.  I like the system injection system that Dan describes, but can't figure out how to install it in my built-in oven.  Inquiring minds want to know.

 for a buck on dollar Thursdays and put a raised trivet in the bottom with 1/8 cup of water.  Heat transfers faster and better and it costs a whole dollar. rather than $140.  Baking a $1 loaf of SD shouldn't cost more than a buck.  Bread is supposed to be the cheapest most nutritional thing you can make to eat ....not the most expensive.  No mixers, stones or other things required.  All you need is an oven which is bad enough.  All of my baking stuff came from Goodwill including the baskets, stones, dutch ovens, clay bakers. pans, etc and I didn't pay more than buck for any of them - the baskets were 50 cents each. I have even bought several, nearly new ,electronic bread makers there for a buck each too.

Inverted steam table pans make good steam cloches. The idea is to enclose the bread in a restricted space so that the dough becomes "self steaming" while it bakes. Cast Iron and clay pottery achieve the same purpose. Spritz the inside of the cloche prior to covering the bread. Also spray the pan with PAM and wipe it down with a paper towel to prevent the bread from sticking. I used to scrub the pans out after every bake - I don't do that any longer as their sole purpose is to steam cloche loaves now.

You can also use aluminum turkey roasting pans and in a pinch suitably formed aluminum foil. Just remember to spray the inside surface to avoid sticking and spritz with water prior to cloching. 

I posted about baking with a turkey roasting bag some years ago at 400 dF just to experiment with the idea of self steaming by cloche - it worked but was a bit clumsy getting the half baked loaf out of the bag without mishap.

Wild-Yeast

 A covered Dutch oven or other bread baker seems to work fine with the moisture that is in the bread dough itself. Not sure why you would want more water in there, actually. And I'm not that impressed with the spring on the finished loaves in that video. I get better results from my loaves baked in cast iron pots.

I baked two baguettes in my Emile Henry Baguette Baker today.  I left the middle bay open and poured about 1/4 cup of very hot water in it, then covered it with an inverted aluminum turkey pan.  Worked well.  I probably should have used the EHBB lid, but the loaves were a bit too big after proofing and the lid interfered with them.  I didn't want to have the loaves sticking to it.

I have been searching for a homestyle Bread baking steam pan ever since I baked the most wonderful thin crusted baguettes in a long and narrow steam baking master Baparoma. there are three parts to the pan, a lower pan with reservoir to hold a little bit of water, a perforated upper pan for the dough, and a cover. The steaming is perfect.

 http://www.megaheart.com/pdf/baparoma.pdf

I wanted to replicate this steaming for baking boules. The challenge is to elevate the shaped dough above water in a covered container. I have a  6 quart granite ware pot and tried using both a fan-shaped steaming basket and a flat steaming insert. The first was not stable, and the latter "worked" if one disregarded the funny round indentations on the bottom of the boule. In contrast, the perforations on the Baparoma are tiny, so The bottom of the bagette looks good.

I do not see any need to add steam when I bake boules in a heavy cast-iron Dutch oven preheated to 475°. The hydration is quite high in those recipes, and in fact, I remove the lid after about 15 minutes to reduce the steaming.

 the glazed terracotta spring oven looks interesting, but I do not know if it would be large enough for 500 g of flour.

 The search continues.

the granite ware I am using is from the 40's or earlier. It is steel covered with the enamel. So it does retain heat very well while being lightweight. I haven't tried aluminum so can't comment. I don't see the loaves being all that brown when I first take off the cover. But after the next 20 min without cover at 475 they are as dark as I could want. 

As to two ice cubes we are talking the " orange slice" shape but even regular square ones are only a couple TBs at most of water. My slice ones are tsps of water. Two of them are steam at 500 in seconds. No water at all in the pan or on the paper. You can see the crumb in the pics I posted. 

Everyone's mileage will vary that is for sure !  It is why it's so interesting to get so many views. Always something new to try. Give it a whirl. It takes so little steam to have an effect. Not the great amounts of pans of water that many are trying.....at least in my experience. Good Luck !  c