When I went to the San Francisco Baking Institute's website
http://www.sfbi.com/ to check out their bannetons (good prices!), I also
took a look at their page for home bakers to see what they recommended
for getting steam in a home oven. The method they favor is to mist the
oven walls with water. But they included the following caveat:
"Note: Use care when applying these methods in your home oven. If you
are using an electric oven, be careful not to spray the heating
elements. When spraying the oven surfaces they may buckle. We have not
experienced any permanent damage, but the methods we are recommending
here are not recommended by the manufacturers of home-ovens, so please
use your own judgment."
I have seen oven misting recommended many, many times, but have never
seen this type of warning. Has anyone ever experienced buckling oven
walls when misting?