Baking

As home bakers, we’re at a disadvantage. Professional bakers have heavy-duty ovens that retain heat even if the door is opened frequently and have steam injectors that ensure a humid environment that allows the dough to expand fully as it cooks. You can maintain a more even temperature with a home oven by preheating to 500°F and placing a baking stone on the floor or bottom rack of the oven. Baking stones take a long time to get hot (and, of course, to cool, hence their value in keeping the oven temperature constant), so be sure to put the stone in the oven before you turn it on and preheat for at least 30 minutes. Many bakers bake bread directly on the stone by placing the dough on a peel—a flat wooden tool (half shovel, half paddle) with a long handle—and quickly sliding the dough onto the stone with a quick, confident jerk. Because in home ovens this sometimes causes the bottom of the bread to burn, I suggest sliding the bread onto a sheet pan on the lowest rack of the oven, a couple of inches above the stone. When you put the bread in the oven, turn down the heat to the baking temperature called for in the recipe.