I’ve done a lot of sourdough breads in a dutch oven inside an old gas stove during the pandemic, and I was excited about the APO to make the steam portion more controllable.
the first bread in the APO was a brick-ish disaster, I had followed the same principles in an Anova bread recipy: start with 250C/100% for 20min, the 220C/0% for another 20-ish min.
IMO, the 250C/100% contains so much heat energy that the bread instantly crusts up and turns dark, with zero chance for oven spring.
I tried a new approach with the APO, treating bread like a steam bun:
start with 100C/100% for 20min, or until you see a very strong oven spring in your dough. then turn the APO to 220-250C/0% for 30-50min, depending on how thick you want your crust (depends on your dough/flour/water content)
the result is a perfect crump with a lovely crust.
I hope the anova team adjusts the basic bread recipy.
Interesting I had similar experience using dutch oven but in my first bake I pretended it was a dutch oven bake and used my usual of 230 all the way with 100% steam for 20 and then 25 mins no steam. All same temp and it is also as you say results wise. May try yours though to see if I do better :).
I had the same sad experience with mine for the first 3 bakes. Been baking bread for 30 years with and without the Dutch oven. That’s why I bought the APO, but in my opinion the problem is the hight speed fan with the high heat sets the crust too quickly and it does allow the dough to rise in the oven. Got to try something different.
Update: the “steam bun” method is/was a total failure: it creates a rubbery blob that has troubles to rise. I maybe got lucky the first time, but all subsequent attempts were a bust.
I started to change the process (going back) to baking at 210C/100%, and this gives the dough a much better chance to rise and crisp up. I’d say everything from 200-220C is probably fine, depending on your dough. darkening and crisping it up can be done towards the end, it is easy to crank the heat to 240C/0% for the last 10min or so to get a nice dark crust.
update 2: my sourdough is unhappy. i had to go back to dried backup flakes from 1 year ago, and they are not the bubbly kind of sourdough, not sure why, but it is what it is. i can to accept that it is perfectly fine to add 8gr of dry yeast for 900gr of flour to achieve bread that tastes great, and is not a brick.
I get the concept and it makes sense. But doesn’t the humidity makes all the flour dust stick to the dough and it sort of becomes invisible? I like the rustic dusty look…
(I know at higher temp it does not effect the dust look)
There are so many different ways to do this. I think you need to experiment. I love the APO for my sour dough. I use a baking steel and heat the oven to 250c before I start. then put the loaf in at 220c/100% for 20 minutes, then finish at 190c/0% for 15 minutes. Sourdough pros might not like this but this gives me a thin crust that is initially crisp but softens as the loaf cools - the resulting bread is just the way I like it.
I have a cast iron pan on the bottom tray and a cast iron rack in the middle. When I load the bread I put about 1/2 cup of boiling water in the cast iron pan which creates a lot of steam. I’m preheating at 250 and generally drop to 215. Then brown later.
The “oven off” method discussed a lot in the FB forums. Tried this yesterday with very good success. I created an app recipe but owing to the continuing limitations of the app can’t share it
preheat oven at 250° - 20 mins timer after heat reached
preheat oven at 250° 100% - 10 mins - start immediately
load bread and continue next stage
250° 100% - 1 min - starts manually (i.e. when you load the bread)
25° 0% - bottom heat - fan off - 20 mins - starts immediately
220° 0% - rear - 20 mins - starts immediately - Note keep an eye on it here this is your browning step and it may take 10 minutes or less
A lot of sour dough bakers are very successfully using method 2 and with the app it’s super easy. My bread yesterday looks really good with excellent crumb. Was a bit lower hydration than I normally use (as was testing a new recipe). This was 75% hydration, generally a more open crumb with my usual hydration which is around 83% from memory.
FWIW the spring on both was identical, I just think the “oven off” method (#2) is easier to program and I also end up with a crust that stays crispier than method #1. If I leave the bread in the oven to cool method #1 has very good crust though but again - a pain - particularly if doing a few loaves in a row.
So far the simplest (and most energy conserving) bread baking method is putting the finished shaped and risen dough on a rack (with a silicone matte), score it to you liking, drop it into the cold Anova oven, set the temp to 220C (430F) (fan circ) and 100% humidity and walk away. remove the bread from the oven once it has reached the color you like (about 40-ish min later, depending on your dough). done.
a bit higher temp and a bit longer baking will result is a delicious dark thick crust (think german farmer’s bread)
Nice idea Joergen.
I will try it for my next time of baking.
The only question I don’t like 100% is when I need to bake for more than once. I mean bake after bake. In that case I need to open the APO and let the temperatura go down until room temperature , don’t I ?
But I repeat, thank you for sharing this new option.
The only question I don’t like 100% is when I need to bake for more than once. I mean bake after bake. In that case I need to open the APO and let the temperatura go down until room temperature , don’t I ?
I have not tried multiple bakes, one after the other since i usually just bake one loaf.
my suggestions would be turning off the oven and letting it cool down with door open for 5 min while you prep the next loaf. there isn’t that much thermal mass in the oven to keep it warm for hours
I get the concept and it makes sense. But doesn’t the humidity makes all the flour dust stick to the dough and it sort of becomes invisible? I like the rustic dusty look…
Steambun method was a bust, no good, didn’t work reliably, and had weird results. cold start (see above) is much better
