Recently there have been techniques mentioned for achieving steam while baking.
Marcella puts the skillet ABOVE a pre-heated stone and obtains a beautiful
golden crust.
Brian uses ice cubes in his iron oven.
I tried the Marcella steam method this weekend with great success - the
baguette was golden brown and the crust was not as tough as my normal method.
I will use this method more in the future.
My oven does not have the mass to do the ice cube method.

Last weekend I took photos of the method I NORMALLY use with skillet BELOW the
stone. This has worked well for achieving bigger holes in slack doughs because
the super heated steam is more effective than putting a bowl of water in the
oven.

The picture of importance is the sixth thumbnail - there is a LOT of steam
generated. This loaf turned out more like a flying crust with a moustache, but
you get the idea - more holes than usual. Dough was 20 ounces at 74%
hydration. Ate it before taking a finish weight.

http://mysite.verizon.net/res7gfb9/B...WithHoles.html


Ed Bechtel