Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 07:34:46 GMT -------------- BEGIN bread-bakers.v105.n017 -------------- 001 - Tarheel_Boy@webtv.net ( - The Great Steam Debate 002 - "Allen Cohn" Subject: RE: The Great Steam Debate Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2005 12:29:58 -0700 Now we're up to 4 cents after I add my two...I'm quite happy with my approach, which is very similar to Roxanne's without the stones. I just have a cast iron pan that I heat up in the oven along with the pizza stone (the pan is dedicated for just this purpose because it gets more and more rusty with each use). I boil a cup of water and toss it in the pan immediately after inserting the bread. It seems to work fine for me and saves me the trouble of moving a hot pan from the stovetop to the oven. Allen PS: If I had a convection oven, I would turn it to that mode during the last ten minutes to dry out the crust... --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n017.3 --------------- From: "Fallingleaf" Subject: Re: Digest bread-bakers.v105.n016 - The Great Steam Debate Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2005 18:23:27 -0400 .. I have an electric Whirlpool under-the-counter oven with an exposed heating element, steam vents in the door, a glass window in the door, and a light-bulb in the back corner of the oven. My baking stone is on the top shelf, and a cast-iron skillet filled with rocks is placed on the bottom shelf before I preheat my oven to 500 F. Right before I'm ready to put my bread into the oven, I make sure my teakettle is filled with about 1 - 2 cups boiling water. Right after I slide my loaves into the oven I slightly pull the bottom shelf forward (about 2 inches) and then pour the boiling water directly onto the stones in the skillet. I then close the oven door & lower the temp. to 425 F. When I next open the oven door in 15 minutes to shuffle my breads around (the right side of the oven is hotter than the left) the water has all evaporated. Rainy --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n017.4 --------------- From: David A Barrett Subject: Re: Gas Convection Oven Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 15:48:59 -0400 Kathy, My gas convection oven is a Maytag, and is identical in all functional respects to one of the Jenn-Air models. I believe that they're actually made by the same company. I'm not sure that the model number will help anyone, since they aren't generally visible on appliances or in the stores. I can describe it, which might help. The two key features are that there are 5 burners on the top and the size of the oven. The largest runs 16,000 BTU, which is huge for a non-commerical model, and the fifth one is a small burner right in the centre. As to the oven size, they have sacrificed almost all of the drawer space at the bottom to make an oven which is big enough to have three shelves in it. It is also somewhat larger in cross section than my older oven. I have a commercial style jellyroll pan which wouldn't fit into my old oven but does fit into this one. Honestly though, Maytag or Jenn-Aire with 5 burners and convection should narrow it down to the exact model. I thought my old electric convection was good, but this one is way, way better. There isn't any need that I've seen so far to turn things when the convection is turned on. I guess they've got the air swirling around more evenly, and avoided having a hot blast going straight onto the food. The fan also turns off when the door is opened, which is really good if you are trying to make steam. The fan is also much quieter than my last oven. This is a beautiful oven, and I've had nothing but good results with it to date. To be honest, I haven't tried baking bread in convection mode, but I'm curious now how bread with/without convection/steam will compare. I'm also curious, now I think about it, about Yorkshire pudding in this convection oven. In my old one, the top hardened too fast with the convection on. The result was that the puddings didn't get a chance to rise as much as they should. I can't conceive of why you'd need to vent a convection oven outside, gas or not. There was nothing special, other than the usual gas stuff to install this one. There are appliances that use gas on top, electric in the oven, but I can't see why you'd bother. I'm mostly ambivalent to whether or not the oven is gas or electric. I will say that the only difference I've really noticed is that the broiler is ready instantly, where my electric took several minutes for the elements to heat up. You might get more even heat on the broil once the roof of the oven has had a chance to heat up and start radiating on its own, but I haven't found this to be necessary. Dave Barrett --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n017.5 --------------- From: Gonzo White Subject: Response to Roxanne - Fiori di Sicilia Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 12:16:06 -0500 Roxanne: Says.." Fiori di Sicilia is the extract of a flower. King Arthur flour describes it as "having hints" of citrus and vanilla--which it does, but there are also abut 10,000 or so other flavor compounds in it. Gonzo says... I purchased a bottle from King Arthur (roughly 6 weeks ago). Reading the lable it lists the contents as "Citrus fruit oils, glycerol, vanillan". Doesn't say anything about natural. This is a legal requirment and they have to correctly list what is in the product. No flower extract. I was not thrilled with this King Arthur product. Prefer to just use Orange and Lemon peel. I am a loyal customer but just not for this product. They raved about it in their catalog and I found it very so so. Bit disappointed. Gonzo in Mexico --------------- MESSAGE bread-bakers.v105.n017.6 --------------- From: Iris Goldman Subject: a prover (proofing cabinet) Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:30:26 +0100 (BST) hello to you from liverpool, first, few monthes ago, i send you a question about a baking-stone. so,i would like to thank all the bakers that answered me and send me very important information! i am looking for a prover (profing cabinet) since i am baking at home, i need a small prover, no biger then than oven. the information at the internet is about big provers for big bakeries. Can you, please, send me information, if there is for sale a "small prover", one that i can use at home? thank you iris goldman irischef@yahoo.co.uk --------------- END bread-bakers.v105.n017 --------------- Copyright (c) 1996-2005 Regina Dwork and Jeffrey Dwork All Rights Reserved