Baking with Steam

Some of the recipes in this chapter give baking instructions for ovens with steam injectors. Steam creates a moist environment that prevents the dough from forming a crust too soon. After a specified length of time, a damper is opened to let the steam out, and the bread finishes baking. The resulting crust is much thinner and crisper, fragile enough to crack and break. The steam also produces a glossy surface. As explained above, sugar is present in any bread dough. The moisture from the steam mixes with the sugar on the surface of the dough, which then caramelizes and turns golden brown as it bakes. For this reason, breads and rolls that are baked with steam need not—and should not—be brushed with egg wash. It takes some experimenting with a steam oven to determine the proper length of time for the steam period. If too much steam is used, almost no crust will form. If the steam is not left in the oven long enough, you will not achieve the desired effect either. The trick is to use exactly enough steam for the correct length of time in combination with the proper temperature, so that the crust is thick enough to stay crisp and dry after the bread is removed from the oven but is not so thick that it will not crack from the sudden change in temperature.