Baking Sourdough Bread

Place a baking sheet in the oven and heat the oven at 250 degrees for approx. 40 min.

A baking steel can easily imitate the effect of an oven from a large bakery. The steel has such a high heat capacity that the bread has enough shock heat to be able to jump and expand optimally inside the oven. Before the bread is placed on the baking steel, it is advantageous to supplement with steam inside the ovens in the form of a heat-resistant saucepan, steel bowl or the like. with boiling water in the bottom of the oven. Steam is important, because otherwise the surface dries out, and then we end up with a flat bread and a tough crust.

Cut the bread at a 45 degree angle before getting it on the baking sheet.

After 20 minutes with steam in the oven, remove the saucepan / steel bowl and you can see the result and effect of baking with steam: The bread is raised, the cuts have grown into large, crispy craters, but the color is still a little bake-off-brown. The bread only gets its dark caramelized color after a quarter of an hour more in the oven without steaming.

Bake the bread further 20-25 at 200 degrees until it is a little dark on top, and otherwise has a nice golden color. The core temperature must be at least 95 degrees before it is completely baked.

Cool the bread on a rack for approx. 1 hour