What's the best oven for bread?

[DoreenBrown]

I have a gas oven and recently read that they are not good for baking bread -- too much (all?!) moisture escapes through the large vent. Rather than buy a whole new stove, what's my next best bet? How about convection ovens? (don't know much about them). I've also heard about baking in a Dutch oven....

 

[bourbon]

Dutch oven bread is awesome. And it's cheaper than buying a new oven

 

[mexican mama]

Brick Oven/ Wood-fired overn

We used to own a bakery and it did well for 40+ years...we used brick oven for baking our breads, its the traditional way of baking using fire wood. For me it's the best way to bake breads if you have this kind of oven.

 

[Selkie]

Gas, electric and wood fire ovens all have flues, so I'm not sure what their point is, but in any case, there are two methods to give bread a nice crust.

One is to put about an inch of water into a baking dish and place it on the lowest rack beneath the bread. This will give you the right humidity level.

The second method is to use a spritz/spray bottle with only water, and spray the walls of the oven twice. The first time give three or four sprays after the bread has been in the oven for about ten minutes. Spray a second time about ten minutes after that. These bursts of stream will give the bread a nice crunchy crust, unlike the pitiful soft crust of store-bought bread.

I use a pizza stone in my gas oven on which I bake my artisan bread and french baguettes. I would certainly like a stone hearth wood burning oven if I could afford the $7,000 it would take to have one built!

 

[apple*tart]

I'm surprised to hear that - I thought the opposite was true, that gas introduced moisture into the oven that electric ovens do not. That said, when I bake ABin5 bread I will sometimes cook it in a le creuset french/dutch oven with the lid on for the first half of baking. Or, I follow the directions in the book, which call for preheating a broiler pan on one oven shelf and a pizza stone on another, then adding 1 cup warm water to the broiler pan right after putting the dough on the pizza stone. Gives a nice crispy crust.

 

[DoreenBrown]

I tried the various water methods but they won't work in a gas oven. The vent is so large that the moisture escapes immediately.

 

[DoreenBrown]

bourbon --

Someone said to me that a large cast iron pot (with a lid) works as well as a Dutch oven. I have one. Any opinion?

 

[shalinee]

Thanks for all the wonderful tips. I am not too good in making bread. Have only made a few times and use an electric oven.

 

[Selkie]

I tried the various water methods but they won't work in a gas oven. The vent is so large that the moisture escapes immediately.

What effect is it that you're looking for when baking bread, that you don't seem to be getting?

ALL ovens drive off moisture when they heat food. In most cases that's the purpose. That's why you get crusts on breads and meats. Household ovens aren't meant to be "steamers" unless you add a vessel of water, or cook within an enclosed pan, pot or dish.

Now, if you're having problems with baking bread, that could be an issue unrelated to the fact you're using a gas oven. I successfully use a gas oven with a large flue to bake bread. An example of a technique problem is sometimes as simple as remembering to slash the top of the loaf before baking. What seems to be the problem?

 

[apple*tart]

My bread turns out pretty decently in my gas oven as well. Now I'm curious, though, based on DougBrown's post, to see if bread baked in my dutch oven has a crisper crust than bread baked on a pizza stone. Maybe I'll have to do a side-by-side comparison. It might also be interesting to add extra water to the oven and see if that makes a difference.

 

[DoreenBrown]

What effect is it that you're looking for when baking bread, that you don't seem to be getting?

ALL ovens drive off moisture when they heat food. In most cases that's the purpose. That's why you get crusts on breads and meats. Household ovens aren't meant to be "steamers" unless you add a vessel of water, or cook within an enclosed pan, pot or dish.

Now, if you're having problems with baking bread, that could be an issue unrelated to the fact you're using a gas oven. I successfully use a gas oven with a large flue to bake bread. An example of a technique problem is sometimes as simple as remembering to slash the top of the loaf before baking. What seems to be the problem?

My bread is too dry. I add as much water as I can when making it (even to an extreme). I've also tried more oil or butter. It's okay the first day but by the second day it's 'over the hill.' I don't think I'm being too fussy; breads that friends make are fine (they don't seem to have any answers for me). I've been told it's because it's a gas oven. Made sense to me...

 

[Selkie]

Even the best of home made bread is only good for a couple of days. It's not like store bread and doesn't keep for very long unless frozen. That's why, for the past 3,000+ years, people have shopped at their bakery on a daily basis, and day-old bread was sold for a few pennies on the dollar.

But in any case, try substituting milk for about half of the water your recipe calls for. It will give you a softer "crumb" (interior texture) that you are probably looking for even the following day.

Oh, and when I store my bread, it seems to do best when kept in a paper bag. Plastic just makes the crust soggy and mold develops more quickly.