My oven has a steam function, I can heat and steam the oven on high before putting the loaf in.
Do I still need a dutch oven?
I’m simultaneously skeptical and jealous that a home oven might have a real steam bake function like the pros.
What make and model is it?
Steaming function is quite common in European mid to high end ovens.
Siemens IQ700
It’s advertised as a baking function.
Probably not. The dutch oven is used to trap steam to allow the loaf to rise in the first part of the bake. You could probably just use a baking sheet in combination with the steam function. Let us know how the steam works out!
You’ll have to try it out and experiment, theoretically you wouldn’t need a dutch oven though. Dutch oven is a modern foolproof home baking hack to achieve the effect of a specialized baker or standard commercial oven. I don’t personally use a dutch oven at home because I have a ceramic bread baker that achieves the same effect, there’s no one-way to do it, it’s just that most people have a dutch oven and they all hold moisture in the same way.
The idea is you don’t want the crust forming before the bread has risen to it’s full size, and the amazing thing with a steam injected oven is you can see what’s happening inside, so you can see when your bread has risen then cut the steam. If I had a steam oven at home I’d be doing choux pastry and baguettes first though lol. You could just test a bun sized dough and see if it works well enough before committing to the full loaf this way.
Would you recommend cooking on a stone or baking sheet if I go this route?
I used to place my loaves on parchment to brush the excess flour off and score, then I’d lift it from the parchment to drop on the baking surface. The stone might be best if it was already at oven temp but either that or a baking sheet would quickly rise to temp when you’re baking at 500 degrees and above. So I’m not sure it would make a major difference. The texture of the bottom crust might be different.
