Ah well, I might as well throw in my 2 cents!
I got a tip once from one of the bakers at King Arthur Flour. I guess in
their test kitchen, they use charcoal briquettes lined into a hotel pan and
the whole thing is heated up with the oven and the baking stone. When the
bread goes in the oven, they throw a a glass of water over the briquettes
and the steam just billows.
Well, I did try this and it works wonderfully, but I found that the
briquettes left a smell in my oven (and my kitchen) that I wasn't overly
fond of, so I substituted the briquettes with river stones (you can usually
find these at water landscaping places). Since I don't have a stainless
steel hotel pan to put them in, I use my huge cast iron skillet. Skillet
and stones go on the bottom of my oven (I have one those ovens with a
hidden bottom coil--so I've got a flat surface that sits directly over the
heat source. My oven is also one of the newer Even Bake systems); I put the
baking stone on the middle shelf and heat up the oven for 40 minutes at 500
F. When the oven's ready, I slide in the bread, throw 2 cups of water on
the stones and shut the door. I let the bread bake for 6 minutes and then
turn down the heat to whatever it's supposed to be at.
I've gotten some of the best looking breads with this method. If anyone has
ever gone through a sweat lodge ceremony, you will know what I'm talking
about with the steam that is created.
Roxanne Rieske (Rokzane)
rokzane@comcast.net