Here is an email I sent to support. Wondering if I am the only one…
I recently received my oven which I purchased about a month back. We bought this oven for making breads and the steam function is very important. It doesn’t seem to be working right. A lot of steam comes out the front from the orifice below the water tank. But doesn’t seem to be making it into the oven at a consistent and controlled manner. The breads we are making are behaving as though there is no steam environment. We have cooked a few loaves at 100% steam function but the crust still is overdone before the bread is cooked through.
Further troubleshooting I have done is running the oven without anything in it. Steam function to 100% and various other levels. When I open the oven door no steam escapes even though steam is coming out of the front at an excess.
Other issues include a flickering light inside when the unit is demanding heat.
There will be no appearance of steam in the oven over maybe 212F due to physics. If you have steam coming out the front of the oven on the lower right this is normal. This is steam or water in it’s gaseous state escaping the oven due to pressure (from steam generation) and condensing back into visible steam and water as it cools.
So if you have a 350F oven and 100% Steam (humidity) the inside will not appear to be like a hottub next to a glacier in Iceland.
The light flicker is a feature we all have at the moment. They are working on it.
Perhaps you can share what type of bread you are cooking and the time/temp etc you are using with the oven so we might help you with adjusting the time etc to get the crust the way you prefer.
I understand that steam is invisible at higher than 212F. But periodically when I open the over a cloud of steam escapes. You can see this as the vapor drops in temperature and condenses in the air. Other times I open the oven I get nothing. This coupled with the crisping of crust at 100% steam leads me to believe it’s not performing consistently.
It’s sour dough boule type cooks we are trying. Have tried them on a stone and on a frogmat as well. Tomorrow we will try in cast iron. The problem we are having is that crust becomes overcooked before the loaf is cooked internally. Which is also an indication of not enough steam present as I understand it.
On a side note on a couple if occasions I have witnessed water coming out of the rear right corner and pooling in the center bottom burner. This has happened when I go from 0 steam to 100% steam setting. I still feel it’s not working right at all.
What temp are you using for the bread? I use the highest temp and rear burner.
Steam over 212F is applied only when needed. There very well could be times when you have more steam rush out, but you may still have 100% humidity in the oven.
I have been doing 100% steam for the first 20 minutes and then no steam for sour dough.
Also, overdone crust is probably subjective unless it is black and charred. I personally want a good crust. You might want SF sourdough with a light blond crust. Can you describe or show a picture?
I’m using the oven for first time, not bread but for a roast. Been on 18+ hours now, it got really steamy at first but nothing at all since. Cooking sous vide method, 135deg F, 100% humidity, the water level has not dropped at all, even after 18 hours. Any suggestions to get the steam working? Thanks!
