The steam machine


The steam machine
Fogging is an essential element in a bread oven. It's not easy to see, but it's the presence of fog that makes breads golden brown.

To get steam on a regular basis, you can put a ramekin full of water in the bottom of the oven, or spray the inside with a sprayer, but this solution requires you to open the oven door regularly, which isn't great for the temperature and isn't very practical.

The best solution is to have a "steam machine", i.e. something capable of continuously delivering steam into the oven without having to open the door.
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Last modified on: September 2nd 2024

How does it work?

The trick is to salvage an old steam iron, keeping only the "steam" part - the iron is useless.
I found mine second-hand on e-bay, 10 years ago, and paid €8 for it, so it wasn't a big investment.

Une ancienne centrale vapeur convertie en machine à buée

In this photo, you can see the power station in question, its power supply wire, and the pipe through which the steam (initially intended for the iron) comes out.
The principle is very simple: you fill the unit with water, plug it in, it heats the water, which escapes as steam. This steam is injected into the furnace, forming the necessary steam.

How does it work?

To achieve this result, a little tinkering is required.

Machine à buée, détails des commandes

In "A" on this picture, the water tank and in "C" the steam flow control knob, no change on this side.

The rest, however, needs to be adapted a little. Normally, the steam generator only delivers steam when you press a button on the iron, but in this case we want a continuous flow. To do this, I've replaced the iron button with a simple switch mounted on the unit, at "B".

Once this is done, you need to connect a hose to the steam outlet at "D", and end it with a small piece of metal tubing that will withstand the heat from inside the oven, like this:

Machine à buée, sortie de vapeur métallique

Use

Machine à buée en production
Thus equipped, the steam machine is ready to operate. Here's the principle I use:

Machine à buée en action

With this procedure, I get very good results:

Machine à buée, le résultat

In conclusion

Steam in the oven is essential for good bread, and a steam machine like this will solve all your problems. Note: if you have a kitchen oven, consider this method instead.

A few points to watch out for

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