Oven spring - tips and techniques

Many experienced bread bakers already understand and use these techniques. Gleaned from various books or information posted online, here are the tips I've found useful for getting 'oven spring', that satisfying and attractive burst to your loaves which also helps result in an open and airy crumb.

Structure: it is important to create a strong structure within the dough and this can be achieved by stretching and folding the dough at intervals during the resting/first prove stage.

Shaping: it is important to create what might be described as a taut 'outer skin' containing the structured dough. This is achieved by folding the dough in on itself in various ways before the final prove.

Slashing or scoring: this creates a weakness for the expanding dough to open when it meets the heat of the oven. An angled slash seems to be more effective and allows the expanding loaf to continue to expose raw dough to the outside for longer than one at a right angle to the skin.

Steam: steam in the oven during the early stages of the bake helps to delay the skin/crust from setting, or hardening so much that the loaf cannot expand any further.