Hi Lenore, ice cubes won't give you quite the same burst of steam at the beginning of the bake, so you might want to experiment with the boiling water and see if this makes a difference. If your loaves are quite dense this can also inhibit oven spring. It may be helpful to add a little more water to the recipe, to give you a slightly wetter dough. Another possibility is that your loaves have been allowed to rise too long in the shaped form before baking. In this case, putting them in the oven a little earlier may yield a better oven spring. Barb

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