On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1022

hot.Whentheseheatsourcesswitchonduring
baking, the effective temperature temporarily
rises well above the target baking
temperature, and the bread can be scorched.
Becausetheyareventedtoallowtheescapeof
combustiongases(carbondioxideandwater),
gasovensdon’tretaintheloaves’steamwell
during the important early stage. Electric
ovensdoabetterjob.Someoftheadvantages
of the traditional stored-heat oven can be
obtained from the use of ceramic baking
stones or wraparound ceramic oven inserts,
which are preheated to the oven’s maximum
temperature and provide more intensive and
evenheatduringbaking.
Steam Steam does several useful things
during the first few minutes of baking. It
greatlyincreasestherateofheattransferfrom
oven to dough. Without steam, the dough
surfacereaches195ºF/90ºCin4minutes;with
steam,in1minute.Steamthuscausesarapid


expansion of the gas cells. As the steam
condenses onto the dough surface, it forms a
film of water that temporarily prevents the
loafsurfacefromdryingoutintoacrust,thus
keeping it flexible and elastic so that it
doesn’t hinder the initial rapid expansion of
theloaf,the“ovenspring.”Theoverallresult
is a larger, lighter loaf. In addition, the hot

water film gelates starch at the loaf surface
intoathin,transparentcoatingthatlaterdries
intoanattractivelyglossycrust.
Professionalbakersofteninjectsteam
underlowpressureintotheovenforthefirst
severalminutesofbaking.Inhomeovens,
sprayingwaterorthrowingicecubesintothe
hotchambercanproduceenoughsteamto
improvetheovenspringandcrustgloss.
EarlyBaking:OvenSpring When the bread
first enters the oven, heat moves into the
bottom of the dough from the oven floor or
pan, and into the top from the oven ceiling