Sounds logical, but I think the results dictate. Start with what you have easily available and see what comes out the other end. Surprisingly though, a pan alone doesn’t retain enough heat to really generate good steam for an extended period of time. You really need that mass added in – rebar, chain, balls…something.

Pieces or re-bar might work well. I was thinking a cast iron pan, but with so much metal, a stainless steel steam pan should be fine.

What do you think?

Oops, forgot about your question regarding the chain. Yes, it would probably be a lot easier to obtain and it would probably work. The reason I would prefer the balls, is that you can pack them in much tighter than you could a chain. I am guessing that I could get a lot more sphere-mass than chain-mass into the same space. That will, of course, also affect how much steam you could generate. One solution I would consider is to cut the chain into smaller pieces using a cheap bolt cutter and then you can pack much more into your steam tray.

As always, thank you for your valuable insight and contributions as well. You are really helping a lot of folks over at thefreshloaf do things right! I am familiar with the pressure-cooker-steam-generator idea and I think it’s fantastic. The only reason I have not done it myself is because I didn’t want to make modifications to my pressure cooker and my oven to make it happen. Ultimately, the result is all I care about and it looks like yours are stellar! Congratulations on the Famag, you won’t be sorry. The guys over at forapizza.com may be loaning me a SunMix to review soon, so we’ll see how it compares. But I think in the end, I will find that both are fantastic. Please look out for a new post I will have up really soon on how to modify your Famag bowl lock to avoid the situation where it spontaneously unlocks during mixing. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you will soon 🙂 But the fix is in, stay tuned.

Zuri, what do you think about using chain instead of iron balls. It is certainly cheaper and easier to obtain.

Have you see my steam generator?
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/61210/external-steam-generator

I am back to testing this system again. It pushes huge amounts of high pressure steam, but the question remains, is high pressure steam efficient? I am working to flow low pressure steam in hopes of improving a great setup.

OH! Pulled the trigger today and ordered a Famag IM-5. Sent Darren at Pleasant Hill Grain both of your excellent Famag reviews.

I appreciate the time and effort it takes to post very helpful information that benefit many avid bread bakers throughout the world.

Danny

Hi Dan, thanks for the feedback on the site. It is much appreciated. 🙂

My favorite method remains the dutch oven and loaf pans covered with aluminum foil. Both give me consistent and excellent results. I agree that the vaporized water is really hit-and-miss and I am not using that anymore.

The cast iron balls hold A LOT of heat and work very well. They can be purchased here: https://www.kingmetals.com.
The product is “3/4″ Diameter cast iron balls”. I bought 200 balls at $039/ea, so yes, it’s a bit pricey!

Also where did you source the cast iron balls? Great idea. I think they would be better than lava rocks.

Thanks for sharing such great information. I appreciate your site.

Dan Ayo