Techniques › Baking and pastry
Baking bread with steam
Intermediate Baking and pastry
Baking bread with steam is keeping the oven moist for the first part of the bake so the loaf can expand fully and bake up crisp and shiny.
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How do you do it?
- Easiest: bake in a preheated Dutch oven at 450 to 475°F with the lid on for 20 minutes, then uncovered 15 to 25 minutes until deep brown.
- Or preheat a metal pan on the bottom rack and pour in about 1 cup of boiling water as the bread goes in. Wear oven mitts and stand back.
- Remove the water pan or lid after about 20 minutes so the crust can dry and crisp.
- Don't spray water on the oven glass or light; cold water can crack them.
Why does it work?
Steam condenses on the cool dough, keeping the surface soft and stretchy so the loaf can keep expanding as gas heats up (oven spring). That surface moisture also gelatinizes starch on the crust, which dries into a glossy, crackly shell. Once the moisture goes, the surface dries, browns through the Maillard reaction and crisps.
What are the common mistakes?
- Leaving steam in the whole bake — a pale, soft, leathery crust.
- Using a glass dish for the water — it can shatter from the temperature shock.
- Pouring water into a pan that isn't preheated — barely any steam.
Still stuck? Watch someone do it on YouTube.
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