Oven as proofing box--humidity?

[BryanMaloney]

I got the hang of using the oven as a proofing box from a temperature standpoint. What advice have you for maintaining humidity? Would a large baking pan filled with water during the process provide proper humidity?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I got the hang of using the oven as a proofing box from a temperature standpoint. What advice have you for maintaining humidity? Would a large baking pan filled with water during the process provide proper humidity?

Place a hygrometer on a small plate on the oven rack you’ll be using. Then, set a pan of steaming water on the oven floor to introduce humidity.

Once the oven reaches the desired temperature and humidity, place your dough inside. You may need to remove the water pan and/or vent the oven to maintain the correct conditions.

In my experience, adding humidity makes it harder to control the oven temperature, since the steam also raises the ambient heat inside the oven.

 

[retired baker]

I got the hang of using the oven as a proofing box from a temperature standpoint. What advice have you for maintaining humidity? Would a large baking pan filled with water during the process provide proper humidity?

Its a lot easier to swap 2 small saucepans of boiling water than one big pan which goes cold very quickly.
touch the dough after 10 minutes, if it sticks to your finger remove the hot water.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Its a lot easier to swap 2 small saucepans of boiling water than one big pan which goes cold very quickly.
touch the dough after 10 minutes, if it sticks to your finger remove the hot water.

The water isn’t added for heat—it’s there to create humidity, which prevents the dough from forming a skin. In a sealed oven, the humidity generated from the initial set up lingers for a significant amount of time because the oven is cold, so there’s no dry heat to evaporate it, even as the water cools.

Humidity can persist even under high heat, which is why you get such strong oven spring when baking in a Dutch oven. That’s also why the lid needs to be removed after 20 to 30 minutes—to allow the steam in the Dutch Oven to evaporate from the dry heat so the crust will develop.

 

[retired baker]

The water isn’t added for heat—it’s there to create humidity, which prevents the dough from forming a skin. In a sealed oven, the humidity generated from the initial set up lingers for a significant amount of time because the oven is cold, so there’s no dry heat to evaporate it, even as the water cools.

Humidity can persist even under high heat, which is why you get such strong oven spring when baking in a Dutch oven. That’s also why the lid needs to be removed after 20 to 30 minutes—to allow the steam in the Dutch Oven to evaporate from the dry heat so the crust will develop.

theres no need for a dutch oven in any oven, that tradition started when people baked in a wood fire to keep ashes off the bread.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

theres no need for a dutch oven in any oven, that tradition started when people baked in a wood fire to keep ashes off the bread.

1. A Dutch oven traps steam, which is essential for achieving optimal oven spring. Steam keeps the crust from drying out and setting too early, allowing the bread to rise to its full potential. That’s why commercial ovens are equipped with steam injectors.

Sure, you can generate steam using lava rocks and ice, or baking sheets filled with boiling water and rolled towels. But why fuss with all that—extra trays, boiling water, and boiling hot water—when you can just slide your bread into a Dutch oven and be done with it?


2. Even wood-burning ovens require steam:

https://www.fornobravo.com/wood-fired-cooking/creating-steam/

3. I bake nearly every day, and I bake bread several times a week. I have years of firsthand experience baking with and without a Dutch oven; using both enamel-coated and bare cast iron; and baking on stone and steel. I’ve baked in everything from standard home ovens to six-figure commercial deck ovens—even in a 500-year-old outdoor wood-burning oven. So I’m confident that using a Dutch oven to trap steam in a home oven consistently produces higher-quality bread.