Bob the Tarheel Baker wrote:--
>Let's start a fight! I agree with Maggie Glezer about not keeping a
>baking stone in the oven all the time. I know it's gonna get dirty and
>stained, but I'm not gonna help it get that way.
I keep my stones in the oven all the time but it's down to sheer idleness
as much as baking principle.
>I use it only for bread (including pita and focaccia) and pizza.
Interesting, I find that many dishes cooked in the oven benefit from an
intial blast of heat. Pastry bases that are not blind baked before filling
really do give much better results with an initial boost. Anything that
you're trying to roast quickly, chicken wings, roasted vegetables, bones
browned for stock-making, also benefit. Not a major point, however.
>I disagree with the practice of pouring water into a pan to create steam.
>I don't believe the home oven can create enough heat to create enough steam.
I agree, I used to do it every time but I missed, on a couple of occasions
and the bread wasn't any the worse so I gave up the "Steam Dance" and my
hands are now almost fully recovered from scalds<g>
>I don't agree with opening the door again to spray with water after the
>loaves have been put into the oven. There may be some steam created, but
>it is minimal, and you lose a lot of heat by opening the door.
I couldn't agree more, spritzing the oven is a total waste of time, effort
and water and can actually result in reduced volume due to heat loss at a
critical stage in the bread's expansion.
>I spray my loaves just before I slide them into the oven and I don't open
>the door again until it's time to check the temperature of the bread with
>my instant thermometer.
Out of curiosity, how "instant" is your thermometer response. Min takes up
to 15 seconds before stabilising which is not a problem but is definitely
not "instant"<g>