Steam ovens

[HTFB]

These seem to be a thing. Maybe they're for getting the creases out of geese. Or the greases out of ceese. Anyway, they are an option. Would you?

[Feanor]

I looked at steam ovens for baguette-baking, which requires baking in steam for the first 12 mins or so, then without steam for a further 12 to 15 mins.
I decided not to bother:

- The steam oven I looked at in a friend's house has the water bottle on the side of the oven, and this seriously reduces the available width in the oven cavity. Way too small for even the mini-baguettes I'm making, which are already constrained in length by a regular 600mm wide normal domestic oven.

- I can recreate the steam very easily using a roasting tray in the bottom rung of the oven. Once the oven is hot and about 5 mins before I want to steam bake, I pour a full kettle of boiling water into the tray, which goes up with a great woosh. Slide tray back into oven and let it bubble away for 5 mins. The steam is not really visible through the oven door, but it makes itself known when you open it! Stand well back.  Place the baguettes in, and then use a plant sprayer thing to squirt a couple of squirts of mist into the oven cavity, then close the door.  Job done.  To stop steaming, open the door, and carefully remove the hot water tray then just close the door again.  Be aware of Free Surface Effect when wandering around with a tray of boiling water...

[HTFB]

What you want against the free surface effect is something like a tray of ice-cubes. Only exactly opposite.

Thanks for the observation about cavity size. The problem with doing this online is that obvious details are easy to miss.

[chrisbainbridge]

when we did our dream home which we no longer live in I opted for a steam oven on the grounds of healthy cooking, fun and a few other ideas I can no longer remember.  I would not have another one.  Difficult to work out how to program, steam was never there when I wanted it (either it ran dry or I forgot something). 
Complete waste of time in my view unless your major food source is Chinese steamed buns!