Bread – Sourdough Breadmaking: Adding Water to Dutch Oven to create more steam

breaddutch-ovensourdoughsteaming

Is there any benefit to adding some boiling water to a preheated dutch oven (under some parchment paper) just before putting the lid back on?

EDIT:

Well I did it. It seems to improve oven spring. Took Some pics.

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And here is the crumb enter image description here

Best Answer

What you are doing essentially allows the bread to rise a little more before the crust toughens. It will leave you with a lighter, fluffier loaf with smaller air pockets and a softer crust. I have never poured water into the dutch oven before, but I often just wet the loaf right before putting it in. You can do that with a spray bottle or basting brush.

I'm not sure how exactly your method will differ in results though, as it will do 2 things: rapidly lower the temperature of the dutch oven (transferring the heat to the water) and start cooking the top of the loaf faster.