Long back in history, bakers learned that adding moisture to the oven cavity improved the result of their bread baking. Commercial and Artisan bakers now use steam on a regular basis.
For those who aren’t lucky enough to own a steam oven, to achieve the best results, they had to add water to their ovens in ways such as putting a tray of water in the oven, throwing ice cubes onto a hot pan in the oven, spraying water around the oven interior when they added the bread, or baking the bread inside a covered Dutch oven .All these ways have inherent risks of burning you and even actually damaging the oven interior and can be limiting in the type of loaf to be baked.
For those of us who are Steam oven owners, successful bread baking becomes so much easier.
It's always good, though, to know why moisture makes such a difference to bread baking.
The answer is a mixture of Chemistry and Physics
One of the main benefits of having a humid oven interior when baking bread occurs in the first few minutes after you add the bread to the hot oven.
In this time, the dough rapidly rises (this action is known as the oven spring) as the air bubbles inside the dough expands with the heat. The moist interior of the oven slows down the formation of the crust and allows for a greater rise at that initial point. If the crust forms too early it will inhibit that initial rise, or the crust will split and spoil the look of your finished loaf. Then as the crust starts to develop the starches start to absorb moisture, then they liquify into a gel like substance that turns into that bubbly looking crisp shell that makes your bread look so appealing.
The crust being slower to develop is also thinner and this means that when you remove your bread from the oven, escaping moisture passes more easily through the crust and your loaf maintains its crispness rather than resulting in a soft dense loaf,
It's important to note that when baking bread, the addition of steam to the oven is most beneficial in those initial minutes when the yeast is still alive, and the dough is actively expanding and while the crust is beginning to form. It is not needed nearer the end of the cooking process, especially if you are looking for a bread without that crispy crust.
TIPS FOR USING STEAM WHEN BAKING BREAD
- Add steam during the preheat process, or leave the oven building steam for a few minutes once preheated before adding your loaf
- If your oven has the option of bursts of steam add one when you add the bread to the oven
- Turn the steam off for the last 10 minutes of the cooking process
- Use steam to prove your dough for its initial rise. If your oven doesn’t automatically add steam in its proving function, and you have the ability, choose hot air at 40C or below with a low level of humidity for proving your dough. Many ovens have an automatic proving function which adds steam. Do not cover your dough if using steam to prove.
- Don’t use steam for a prove after shaping. You want the dough to retain its structure and tension in the dough surface which will keep the loaf from spreading outwards rather than upwards, and if there is too much humidity this can cause the loaf to spread rather than rise. Instead cover lightly with a cloth and leave in a warm place.
- If you are looking for a very soft crusted bread then limit steam to one burst only at the beginning of the cook, or use none at all, along with a lower cooking temperature.
At Kitchen Things, we offer a huge variety of Steam Oven options.
Each oven has its own benefits and features, many of which will make bread baking easier.
The Neff Steam Combi and Vario Steam ovens feature dough proving functions with your choice of humidity levels, and a dedicated bread baking function with added steam available in 3 levels of humidity
Asko Steam Combi ovens offer both continuous humidity and bursts of steam on demand, making them perfect for bread baking and allow up to 3 stages of cooking in one cooking session allowing you to start with a more humid oven and turn steam off later in the cook without having to return to the oven.
The Miele Steam Combi ovens offer the ability to add steam continuously or on demand in increments of 5% up to 100% humidity, and some offer up to 5 stages of cooking allowing you to set up a pre programmed presets which is perfect setting up a cooking session starting with a very humid oven and reducing the humidity during the cook.
The new Galileo Range of ovens from Smeg offer a baking stone function, tailor made for cooking on a stone which is preheated, allowing for the best possible result.
If you are ready to make the move to better bread baking visit Kitchen Things to see Steam Ovens in action
