Open Baking Sourdough Bread In Your Home Oven
Wondering how to open bake bread in bulk at home?
Wondering how to bake sourdough bread at home without a Dutch oven? Even better—do you want to learn how to bake multiple loaves at once without needing to cover them?
Open baking is the solution! This guide explores the best techniques to successfully open bake sourdough while ensuring a beautifully risen, crusty loaf.
First, Let’s Chat About Steam
Steam plays a vital role in the process of baking sourdough bread. It enables the dough to expand fully and achieve the desired "oven spring" by maintaining moisture on the outer crust during the initial baking phase. This prevents premature setting, resulting in a better crumb structure and a larger loaf compared to baking without steam.
Essentially, steam provides the necessary time for the dough to rise adequately before the crust forms.
Maximizes oven spring: Steam creates a humid environment that prevents rapid surface drying of the dough, allowing for significant rising before the crust hardens.
Improves crumb structure: Proper steam distribution facilitates even expansion of the dough, resulting in a more open and airy crumb.
Enhances crust appearance: Steam aids in sugar gelatinization on the dough's surface, leading to a shiny, crisp, and well-browned crust.
Improves scoring: The presence of steam enables the scored cuts on the dough to expand and open up effectively during the baking process.
Traditional Methods of Adding Steam
Professional Bread Ovens: Bakery ovens come equipped with steam injection systems that introduce controlled moisture to enhance oven spring and crust development.
Covered Vessels: Dutch ovens, cast iron pots, cloches or the two-pan method, trap steam released from the dough itself, creating a perfect mini-oven environment for better rise and crust formation.
What Is Open Baking?
Open baking refers to baking bread directly on a baking surface without enclosing it in a covered vessel like a Dutch oven, cloche, or lidded loaf pan. This method mimics commercial deck ovens by allowing full exposure to the oven’s heat and steam.
To open bake you will need to ensure there is enough steam in the oven to allow the loaves to rise protected from the intense heat. And you will need to remove the source of steam mid bake to allow the crust to set and develop.
While open baking requires additional steps to create steam and manage heat exposure, it can facilitate the baking process, especially when baking in bulk, as it allows multiple loaves to be baked at once without the need for individual covered vessels.
Remember to like this article if you find it helpful and leave me a comment with questions and ideas on what you want me to write about next
Benefits of Open Baking
Open baking has several advantages that make it a preferred method for many home bakers:
Easier Batch Baking: Unlike using a Dutch oven, multiple loaves can be baked simultaneously, making it ideal for larger baking sessions using your home oven.
Less Equipment Needed: No need for heavy cast iron cookware, or extra loaf pans to be used as lids, making it accessible for more home bakers.
Faster Baking Time: Bread tends to bake quicker, reducing overall bake times.
Potential Downsides of Open Baking
While open baking has many advantages, it also comes with a few challenges that bakers should be aware of:
Requires More Hands-On Monitoring – Unlike a Dutch oven that traps steam naturally, open baking requires extra effort to introduce and maintain steam, remove steam mid bake, adjust temperatures, and rotate the loaves for even baking.
Uneven Baking – Some home ovens have hot spots, which can cause uneven browning or inconsistent results.
Crust Sealing Too Soon – Because of the exposure to the intense heat, the crust may set before the loaf has fully risen, leading to denser bread.
Browning Too Soon – The intense heat exposure can cause loaves to brown before the interior is fully baked, requiring careful monitoring and possible temperature adjustments.
Can Everyone Open Bake?
While open baking is a great technique, it may not be suitable for every home oven setup or baker:
Gas Ovens: Ovens: Their design, made to vent heat and steam out to prevent the buildup of moisture and maintain proper combustion, makes it difficult to retain the steam and high heat required for sourdough baking, resulting in loaves that struggle to achieve proper oven spring or a well-developed crust. Some gas ovens vent moisture more aggressively than others, so open baking can still be attempted.
Uneven Heat Distribution: If your oven has hot spots or inconsistent heating, it may require extra adjustments, such as rotating the loaves midway.
Confidence with Baking Adjustments: Open baking requires monitoring and fine-tuning elements like steam, temperature, and baking surface choices. If you're new to sourdough baking, starting with a Dutch oven may be easier before transitioning to open baking.
Choosing the Right Surface/Container for Open Baking
Any heat-resistant pan, pot, stone, or baking tray can work to hold the loaves, depending on the type of bread, but here are 2 common and recommended:
Loaf Pans: Cost effective and they save you the cost and extra step of proofing baskets (bannetons). Loaf Pans provide structure for artisan breads, sandwich loaves and enriched doughs while ensuring even baking. They help maintain shape, making them great for high-hydration doughs that might spread on a flat surface.
Baking Steel: Retains and radiates intense heat, mimicking the effect of a professional bread oven. Ideal for round/boules or free-form loaves.
Ways to add steam
Main Sources of Steam:
These methods create a steady release of steam to maintain a humid baking environment during the crucial first phase of baking.
Pan with Water: Placing a shallow pan filled with boiling water on the lower rack helps generate consistent steam.
Tray with Towels: Soaking rolled-up kitchen towels in boiling water and placed in a tray on the lower rack releases steam gradually. This is not my recommended method because once the towels dry out, they can become a fire hazard. Since they are exposed to high temperatures for an extended period, there is a risk of them scorching or even catching fire if they are not carefully monitored and continuously rehydrated.
Pan with Lava Rocks: Preheating a stainless steel pan or cast iron pan filled with porous lava rocks and adding boiling water just before baking creates an intense burst of steam that lasts longer. This is my recommended method because lava rocks retain heat exceptionally well and release steam more gradually and consistently.
Additional Sources of Steam:
Spritzing the Loaves: Lightly misting the dough with water right before placing it in the oven keeps the surface moist so it can expand.
Spraying the Oven: A few quick sprays of water on the oven walls right after loading the loaves helps create instant steam.
Ice Cubes (Rapid Steam Release): Tossing about a cup of ice cubes into a preheated pan or on the bottom of the oven produces an immediate burst of steam to aid that initial oven spring.
Using a combination of main and additional steam sources can help improve oven spring, crust development, and overall bake quality when open baking.
Important Considerations When Open Baking in a Home Oven
1. Oven Rack, Steam and Loaves Placement
Proper positioning is essential for ensuring even baking, maximizing the effects of steam, and avoiding unwanted sogginess. The goal is to place the loaves close enough to the steam source for maximum benefit without exposing them to excess moisture that could result in a gummy crust.
Steam Source Placement: The main steam source, such as a pan with lava rocks and boiling water, should be placed on the bottom of the oven to allow rising steam to envelop the loaves without oversaturating them.
Loaf Positioning: Arrange up to 4 loaves on the middle rack, or if attempting to open bake 6 to 8 at once, on two racks—one near the top and one in the middle. This setup ensures each loaf benefits from the heat and steam while trying to avoid direct exposure to hotspots.
Avoiding Hot Spots: Home ovens can have uneven heat distribution, often resulting in some areas baking faster than others. Rotating the loaves midway through baking ensures even crust color and consistent oven spring.
Preventing Sogginess: While steam is crucial in the early stages, too much prolonged exposure can lead to a dense or gummy crust. This is why removing the steam source midway through baking is essential to achieve proper caramelization and a crisp exterior.
2. Heat and Timing
Controlling temperature and timing is key to achieving optimal oven spring, crust formation, and even baking across multiple loaves. Here is my recommended method:
Preheating:
Turn the oven on to 500°F with the baking steels in place—one on the middle rack and one on the top rack. If baking in loaf pans, do not use baking steels.
Place a pan filled with porous lava rocks on the bottom of the oven to act as the main steam source. They should preheat with the oven.
Wait until the oven reaches 500°F. Once it does, let it preheat for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, boil water in a tea kettle.
Loading & Initial Bake with Steam:
Score and mist the loaves with water using a spray bottle
Load the loaves—four on the top rack, four on the middle rack.
Add boiling water to the pan with lava rocks to generate steam.
You can also spray the walls of the oven with water using a sprayer and add a cup of ice cubes if you deem it necessary.
Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 435°F.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes with steam.
After 15 minutes, if you are worried about over browning (especially when baking so many at once and getting so close to the heating elements) you can put foil over those in the top rack. It shouldn’t be an issue if you reduce the temperature, as I stated above, but I forgot to do that here, so they were browning too fast.
Steam Removal & Loaf Rotation:
Carefully remove the pan with lava rocks and boiling water from the oven.
Or like in the picture above, I just covered them. This is a smart move so I am not moving boiling water around.
Rotate the loaves to ensure even baking:
Take the loaves on the top rack out momentarily.
Move the middle rack loaves up to the top rack, switching positions so that those in the back now face the front.
Place the previously removed top rack loaves onto the middle rack, also switching their front-to-back positioning.
Final Bake & Browning:
Increase the oven temperature to 450°F. This is because venting the steam will make the oven temperature drop, so you want to bring it back up.
Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the loaves turn golden brown and reach an internal temperature of 205°F.
If the loaves are browning too quickly, loosely cover them with foil to prevent over-darkening while allowing them to finish baking properly.
Once baked, remove the loaves from the oven and place them on a cooling rack to allow air circulation and prevent the bottom crust from becoming soggy.
List of Recommended Supplies
Parchment Paper – for baking steels or for the loaf pans
Wooden Peels (1 or 2) – Essential for smoothly loading dough onto baking steels without disturbing the shape. I recommend you get 2 if you are baking in 2 baking steels.
Pizza Peel – Helps rotate and remove loaves from oven.
USA Pan 9x13 (light weight, durable)
Aluminum Foil
Mastering the art of open baking bread at home is a skill that takes time and careful attention to details like steam, heat, and positioning to achieve the best results.
Throughout this guide, we’ve explored why steam is crucial, the benefits and challenges of open baking, the best baking surfaces, different steam sources, oven rack positioning, and heat and timing adjustments—all of which contribute to successful bakes.
But here’s the most important takeaway: every home oven is different. What works perfectly in one setup might need adjustments in another. Test different methods, experiment with steam sources, adjust your timing, and pay close attention to how your bread reacts in your oven. Over time, you’ll develop a method that consistently produces beautifully risen, well-caramelized loaves with the perfect crust and crumb.
And like all things in baking, practice is key. The more you bake, the more you’ll refine your technique, understand your oven, and gain confidence in open baking. Keep testing, keep tweaking, and most importantly—enjoy the process!
If you love my content, please consider sharing it with friends and family. Every share helps spread this movement — and as a thank you, you’ll unlock even more exclusive recipes and behind-the-scenes content.