All I have for baking is a Farberware Convection Turbo-Oven, a large
(compared to a toaster oven) countertop oven. I usually don't go above
400F when I use it to bake bread and granola. I think it will go a bit over
that, but probably nowhere near 500F. I haven't tried sourdough in it yet,
so I thought I would ask here first.

Would baking at 400F limit or change the quality of a sourdough loaf?
Will it be impossible to get a really good chewy crust, or can I achieve
this by lengthening the baking time or by some other means.

The oven is too small for a standard sized stone, but I'm thinking of trying
a 12"x12" saltillo tile as a replacement plus another 1/2 tile to fill the
space...the inside is 12"x18" . Is having a stone critical?

Last question, how important is it to heat up the oven before I put the
bread in...is that initial blast of heat important to forming a good crust?

On Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:29:03 -0700, "jbclem" >
wrote:

>All I have for baking is a Farberware Convection Turbo-Oven, a large
>(compared to a toaster oven) countertop oven. I usually don't go above
>400F when I use it to bake bread and granola. I think it will go a bit over
>that, but probably nowhere near 500F. I haven't tried sourdough in it yet,
>so I thought I would ask here first.
>
>Would baking at 400F limit or change the quality of a sourdough loaf?
>Will it be impossible to get a really good chewy crust, or can I achieve
>this by lengthening the baking time or by some other means.
>
>The oven is too small for a standard sized stone, but I'm thinking of trying
>a 12"x12" saltillo tile as a replacement plus another 1/2 tile to fill the
>space...the inside is 12"x18" . Is having a stone critical?
>
>Last question, how important is it to heat up the oven before I put the
>bread in...is that initial blast of heat important to forming a good crust?

A cold oven can make the bread drop.
I don't use a stone, but I heat my oven to max for about 20
minutes before putting the bread in. I turn it down after about 15
minutes, once the bread has "set". I don't have a thermometer.
Sprinkling a bit of water around, or putting a flat tin with a
few ounces of hot water on the bottom of the oven, just before putting
the bread in gives you a good crust. <Usenet flame shields up>

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