Without steam in your oven, your rustic hearth breads will never have the appearance, volume and crust you want.
Commercial wood-fired bakeries in Europe commonly have steam injection systems to manage the look of their breads and ensure proper crust development and carmelization. This type of system is out of reach for home bakers, and even for micro-bakeries like Mary G’s. However, that does not mean we can’t get good results with much simpler methods.
When our 4’ x 3’ hearth is fully loaded with breads, the dough itself creates a fair bit of steam as it bakes, but it’s usually still not enough.
Here’s the procedure we follow. It has proven both successful and consistent.
First, all ash and coals are raked out of the oven. When the optimum hearth temperature is very close, we brush the hearth clean, swab it very quickly with a damp (not wet) piece of towel attached to a handle to remove residual ash, and then seal the door. About ten minutes before the breads are loaded, we give the interior a ten second spray from a dedicated garden sprayer with a brass wand, reaching in with the wand to the back of the hearth, then moving forward toward the mouth of the oven. The door is re-seal ed. Depending on the size of your oven, you may not need something as large as a garden sprayer, and a plastic spray bottle might be sufficient. Be sure to wear oven gloves that reach up your forearms when you do this. There should be visible steam in the chamber.
It’s often said that injecting steam into a brick or modular oven will cause bricks to crack or cast refractory pieces to shatter. In point of fact, the water never touches the interior surfaces; it immediately bursts into steam in the superheated air. If there were such risks involved, it’s very unlikely that large European bakeries would use the technique.
Once you have loaded your breads into the oven, add more steam with another ten-second spray. Don’t spray the breads directly. Instead, point the nozzle above them, about halfway between them and the dome. Seal the door as tight as you can. If you have trouble getting a good seal, lean a brick against the door.
Steam keeps the surface of the breads moist for the first crucial few minutes of baking. Moisture allows the heat from the hearth to drive the gasses upwards inside the dough, expanding the loaf to create tremendous volume through ’oven spring.’ Once the steam dissipates, the crust sets, carmelization of the sugars in the grain starts and the formation of a characteristically chewy crust begins. After experimentation, you might find that another quick spray, about five minutes into your baking time, improves the results. Conversely, for hearth breads, you want them to finish baking in a dry environment, so crack the oven door open slightly during the last few minutes or so to finish the crust.
It’s a difficult rule to follow, but all breads should be allowed to cool completely on wire racks before slicing. If you don’t wait, the flavor will not be fully developed.
That's enough on Techniques, let's make some bread, starting with Biga Whole Wheat Toasting Bread.
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 Multi-grain breads made with a wheat sourdough starter do not rise as high as loaves made entirely with hard, unbleached bread flour and a white levain. However, the loaf volume shown in this example would not be nearly as great without the oven spring produced by steam in the baking chamber.
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