Shoutout to the lady at the bakery who taught me about oven spring

Was at a small bakery in Austin last month picking up a loaf. I mentioned my sourdough always came out flat and dense. She stopped what she was doing and said 'your steam is escaping.' She showed me how to throw ice cubes in a pan at the bottom of the oven right when I put the bread in. Tried it on my next bake and the difference was night and day. Anyone else have a random stranger save their bake like that?

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emery_taylor3mo ago

Nah, I tried the ice cube trick and my crust ended up too hard, not worth the hassle.

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sean_walker453mo ago

Funny you say that, I tried the same trick and got a rock-hard crust too. What actually worked for me was putting a pan of water on the bottom rack while the pizza baked, kept the dough soft and chewy.

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