9 hours ago, paulraphael said:Yes, the point of the steam is not to make the bread wet. It's to create a humid environment in the oven that slows the formation of the crust, so the bread can rise more before being constrained. That's it. You want high humidity for maximum oven spring, then low humidity to dry out the surface and promote browning.
I don't think there's a more effective method that Jim Lahey's Dutch oven idea (if you don't have a real steam injection oven).
All these schemes of splashing water into the bottom of a regular oven are pretty limited. Ovens have vents, and that humidity never builds very high and it can't stick around long. But I think it's better than nothing.
To answer the ancient original post, you can indeed break your oven window. It's easy. I've done it! Used to use a bike water bottle to squirt water into a roasting pan or skillet in the oven bottom. It just took one splash to break the glass.
I use a Dutch oven now. The downside is that it's a pain in the ass to handle the dough, especially if it's a really wet dough. And it's much harder to do loaves back-to-back.
To give another opinion I dug out Modernist Bread. The discussion of the effects of steam is on pages 3-294ff. They tested the theory It's to create a humid environment in the oven that slows the formation of the crust, so the bread can rise more before being constrained by applying various amounts of steam "to French lean doughs and found almost no difference in the final volume."
The Modernist Bread theory is that "steam condenses onto the surface of the crust, instantaneously raising the temperature and gelatinizing the starch." This causes the formation of a thin, impermeable pellicle that traps moisture in the dough and prevents a thick crust from forming.
Your mileage may vary.
