An oven cranked up to the max, especially during the summer season can make
life uncomfortable in the home, and add to air-conditioning expense.
Pre-heating an oven increases the kitchen's heat load. Some baking formulas
even suggest "to the max for a full hour."
Here's a timely mid-summer reminder: bread baking can be accomplished
equally well by using a cold-start oven!
Plus it is far, far safer than the oft-advised steam-generating methods of
pouring boiling water into a hot pan, tossing ice cubes, opening the door
and spritzing water inside, etc. Even the act of loading the bread is safe,
simple and casual because you're not dealing with scorching-hot surfaces,
nor a blast of steam that fogs glasses when opening the door.
Yes, even the cantankerous French baguette, the taste-exotic l'Ancienne
loaf, to the simple Popover - the cold-start method works very, very well.
Frankly, I use it year-round for everything!
Leave the baking stone in the closet. If steam is desired, simply wet the
oven's floor prior to starting (plus it works better than all of the above
mentioned methods).
Extend your baking time by about 20% will get you close. The first effort,
bake until the bread looks the same color as with your pre-heat method...
and note the time difference. Keep the setpoint temperature the same.
Another tip for heat reduction (and energy conservation year-round): turn
the oven "off" (or reset to a low temp) for the last say, 5 minutes. That
applies to non-bread items in the oven, also. (Some of the new high-tech
ovens have this feature pre-programmed in their baking cycles).
Again, the cold-start oven for bread baking works very, very well...
despite what you read in virtually all publications, or hear advocated by
baking gurus. The pre-heat method is, well... a lot of hot air.
- Ed Okie