I've been baking sourdough in a Staub dutch oven - preheating it to 500 and then dropping the oven temp to 450 when the bread is in. Overall this seems to work well although I've been concerned about preheating an empty pot. Would it make sense to preheat the pot with some water in it? Then dump the water before baking? I'm thinking this would solve the problem of heating an empty pot and might even help create a tiny bit of extra steam with any residual water left in the pot. Would love to know your thoughts. Also, I'm wondering what is the reason that steam is so helpful for creating great crumb and crust? I have my theories about why it would work, but I'd love to hear the *real* reason. Thank you for your blog - it's an incredible resource!

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