badgerman wrote:
> You guys are just great, thanks for your feedback so far.
>
> I am doing the steam pan, a la Bread Baker's Apprentice. But even
> there I wonder if I'm doing it right. Yesterday I made some reasonably
> good bread (firm starter plus 16 oz white to 4 rye, plus lotsa seeds)
> but noticed again that my steam pan still had water in it after some
> 15 or 20 minutes. Shouldn't the water all boil away quickly? Shouldn't
> the steam be heavy at first and then go away?


When I used to bake bread in a bakery we used professional steam
injection type ovens. I never steamed bread for more than 25 seconds.
After the steamer went off the exhaust fan would kick on and pull the
steam out of the oven. I can't remember the exact scientific
explanation but steaming bread really only has an effect on it when
it's first put in the oven and it's still doughy. I believe it has
something to do with lowering the surface temperature of the dough.
Once the crust has formed additional steam has no effect. In fact, it
would probably make the bread too soft. Have you tried putting a pan
of water inside the oven or spraying the inside of the oven with water
and getting the inside of the oven all steamy before putting the bread
in? I would try that and maybe give it another good spray right when
you put the bread in the oven. After a few minutes though I would open
the oven door and remove the pan of water and let the steam escape.