Don't Do This At Home
I was talking with Redbeard about steam and bread, and he reassured me that steam is good for bread. Helps you get that thin crispy crust. So I decided that the batard I am experimenting with today deserved the steam treatment. There's lots of interesting ways to get steam into your oven at the right time, but one of the more sensible ways is given in this post. It's quite sensible, that is, until you go and try to use a pyrex pan instead of an old metal baking pan or cookie sheet. Man, I should have known better. I once exploded a light bulb with a squirt gun on accident. That was less spectacular than this was.
Posted in food | 6 comments | atom
44 minutes later:
elg, elg, elg. Even I knew that and I burned my smoker down because I forgot to soak the wood chips. That's sad.
That said, pictures?
about 1 hour later:
Oh, and I've had good luck using ice cubes instead of water. It's quicker to get them in the pan so you can do that and spritz the side of the oven.
about 1 hour later:
Picture added. This is not what went through my mind the moment it exploded: "What happened?!!" No, what went through my mind was "Ah, I'm an idiot."
I'm not sure about the ice cubes - I think the point is to have lots of steam for the first 5 or 10 minutes and then not much at all for the rest of the time. Ice cubes would put off steam for longer I think. In any case, it's easy to pour in water quickly, IMHO.
about 2 hours later:
I thought that was me that shot the lightbulb? I was at least present -- I've got the scar to prove it. Hot glass chips on your arm leave a pretty good sear. :)
And I want pictures to.
about 12 hours later:
You hoser, you told me it was plexiglas. I wouldn't think Pyrex would do such a thing, but then, I usually use a mini metal loaf pan or something. I don't think it would occur to me to use Pyrex unless I had nothing else available.
1 day later:
Youch! That's gotta hurt (your ego). :D