re: For those with pizza steels...

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Has anyone used diastatic malt powder or amylase in your doughs? I've bought some but haven't used them yet. Also, what methods of producing steam have you tried/recommend?

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RE: diastatic malt, I've used the powdered stuff a few times when specific recipes/formulae called for it. But it is easy to overdo & will give an unpleasant texture.

RE: steaming--I'm a covered-vessel fan, for those Tartine/rustic sourdough high-hydration loaves. A lidded dutch oven, cloche, etc saves me the trouble of trying to generate steam inside my large vented gas oven. I usually want steam only for rustic country bread or baguettes...my "usual" baking of (part whole wheat) challah, milk-enriched sandwich loaves, or focaccia/ciabatta all work just fine without messing with steam.

I've tried practically everything--a soaked towel on a rimmed sheet pan (bad idea--my towel actually started smoldering mid-bake), ice cubes tossed into a preheated cast iron skillet (okay, but didn't generate a whole bunch of steam), boiling water added to preheated CI skillet (works great, but dangerous as hell in a low oven beneath a stovetop) and a great way to get a steam-burn facial), hand sprayer (too hard to get enough water into the oven), and pump-style garden sprayer (best method, but a PITA to keep & store a separate pump sprayer just for this purpose).

Steel transfers heat very quickly into whatever is being cooked on it, so it's great for pizza or anything with a relatively short cook time when significant bottom browning is desired. It's less desirable for a longer cook, as bottoms may overbrown before the interiors are fully cooked. But try it and see, esp if you like a dark final product (aka a "bold" or euro bake).