Richard and all,
This is a repeat of what I said a few months ago, so I'll make it shorter....
I heat the oven to maximum for about 1/2 hour prior to baking. This also
gets the baking stone good and hot. I put a large, empty jelly roll pan in
the bottom. The dough goes in, and immediately after that goes almost 2
cups of hot water into the jelly roll pan. Then I turn the oven down to 450F.
Points I've noticed:
1. The oven never gets back up to 450F. So much steam pours out the top
(the convection hole) that it takes away heat as fast as the oven can
produce it in the 450F degree range.
2. The water is gone after 10 minutes. This is ideal.
3. I lose about 50F degrees each time I open the oven. Therefore, I only
open the oven to put the dough and water in. Once. At the beginning.
4. So much steam is produced, I can't imagine how spritzing could possibly
add anything to it. Probably, more steam would roll out the door than
would be added by the spritzing.
5. Bread comes out perfect, lots of oven spring, and a good crispy crust.
6. Wear oven mitts when you add the water. Having your knuckles cooked by
the explosion of steam that comes off the 500 degree jelly roll pan when
the water hits it is somewhat less than fun.
7. This is the simplest method. No fussing around spritzing, no ice cubes,
no opening the door, no watching the bread.
thanx,
dave.
*8-o