August 22, 2010 - 10:35am
Steaming Bread via Aluminum Multi Roaster Steamer
After seeing the prices and almost non-availability of the Baparoma Steam Baking Master French Bread Pan, I wondered if a large, vintage roaster/steamer I have would do the same trick!
I've tried to upload a picture of the roaster I have. I found the roaster picture on Ebay where one is currently on auction.
Any ideas on using this as an alternative to the Baparoma bread pan?
Does anyone else get sidetracked by this forum as much as I do? I guess there are worse addictions out there!
Regards,Lyn
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I use an enamaled roaster/broiler pan, without the broiling tray, on the bottom shelf. I have a pizza stone on the next shelf that I use for baking my bread. Shortly before putting the dough into the oven I place the enamaled pan containing boiling water on the bottom shelf. I add my bread dough and spray the loaves with water using a mister. I add the spray of water at two minute intervals during the first four minutes. I remove the pan of water after fifteen minutes. It works for me.
Ford
Dear Ford:
Thank you so much for your information.
When I make French Bread I spray the bread every two minutes for the first roughly 15 minutes and then let it bake. It comes out lovely and crisp.
I was wondering if the roaster itself could act as a steam oven very much on the same principle as the Baparoma Pan/Oven that another member is trying so desperatly to find. I may just have to find the time to experiment with it. It will have to wait until the beginning of September when things get back to "normal" around my house.
Once again thanks for your kind knowledge.
Regards,............Lyn
Lyn,
I think I know what you are asking. I think your set up will work if you provide a flat pan to hold the dough. I would use a small sheet pan turned upside down so it won't hold water from the condensing steam. Put about 1/2 Cup of hot water in the bottom to generate steam. After 10-15 minutes, remove the cover and continue to bake for color. The only trouble I see with this is the fact the pan with the holes is so deep. The bread might not brown well. If there is an easy way to remove the sheet pan with bread and place it on the shelf after removing the steam pan, you might get better results.
The situation Ford described above is very effective and much easier IMO.
Eric
Dear Eric:
Thank you so much for your reply. I agree with you, that Ford's way is easier. I just want to see what the outcome would be with this method. As for browning, the high-sided pan you see in the picture comes off to be able to give the bread the ability to brown nicely. I shall try it at my earliest convenience.
I would also like to try baking bread in my clay roaster some time. Just nice to try new ways. My favorite way is free form on tiles in my oven.
Once again thank you for your knowledge. It's appreciated.
Regards,.................Lyn
Another steaming method to consider is just "covering" your bread. Often an inverted (i.e. upside down) aluminum or foil roasting or turkey or lasagne pan is used for this. Here's a picture (you have to scroll down a couple screens) of what it looks like in the oven. And here's one of many discussions of covering for steam.
Sometimes covering is used when baking directly on a stone. Other times a fairly shallow "bottom pan" is also used to contain the loaves and to distribute the heat a bit.
A way to get fancy is to mist the inside of the cover before you put it in the oven. (No spray bottle nor misting nor drips inside the oven itself; covering is for example much better for ovens with electronic controls.)
I leave it to you if you're interested to use the "search" function to investigate the intersection of making baguettes with humidifying/steaming by covering with a pan.
The advantages? It's generally easy, and it usually works quite well. The principal disadvantage? It may only use 1/4 of your equipment and ignore all the rest.
(Covering has also been done with bowls, pyrex, and even flower pots. But most of those options seem a lot more risky to me because of the possibility of either steam burns or shattering/exploding containers.)
Dear ckollars:
Thanks for your input on this topic. This information, too, is very interesting. I will research the past steaming entries and eventually come up with some very interesting ways to try steaming bread.
Once again many thanks for taking the time to help me out. It's appreciated.
Regards......................Lyn