Instructions: Another way to add steam to the oven when baking bread is to bake something else simultaneously that generates steam.

Examples are to roast butternut squash or pumpkin, or bake a panful of apples stuffed with raisins and other good things. Unpeeled potatoes that have been sliced into lengthwise eighths can be tossed with extra virgin olive oil, seasoned with dried oregano and sea salt, and roasted until crispy and golden. All of these can go in the oven at temperatures from 350 to 400 or so, so they are relatively accomodating, yet lend their moisture well, and you end up with another dish to serve along with your fresh bread.

When I do this, there is so much steam billowing from the vent of my convection oven that it would be quite easy to get a steam burn if you held your hand atop the vent! [Frank.Yuhasz@pentairpump.com]

I bake alomst every day, and I have discovered that baking a tray of bread at the same time as (and above) a tray of oven-chips (french-fries to the American-English) has the same effect as fiddling about with ice-cubes. The non-stick tray I use for the bread doesnt cover either the length or the width of the oven (it sits on a wire rack that does), so the steam from the frozen potato has room to slip past the edges and steam-bake the bread. I put both trays in the oven at the same time, with the bread done in about 12-15 minutes and the chips five minutes later.
*And* I can serve hot, fresh bread with the food. ["C. B." (meddwl@hotmail.com)]

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