Two Pan Method

To trap the steam that comes from the loaf itself. Bread needs steam to rise.

I do not and that's one of the great things about the Two Pan Method. You don't need to juggle introducing or removing boiling water from the oven. The top pans trap the steam that comes from the dough's own hydration, similar to what happens inside of a Dutch oven.

I do, and this way I avoid the extra step and resources of using bannetons. After final shaping my loaves, I place them seam down inside the greased or lined loaf pans, and I cold proof or counter proof.

For classic, plain sourdough bread, I put 900 grams inside each loaf pan. I have found that adding less or more will cause issues. For loaves with inclussions, I start out with dough that is 900 grams plus the inclusions, so they might be 1050 or more. The reason I do this is because the inclusions typically weight the dough down and interfere, to different degrees, with the fermentation process, resulting in the same kind of rise I would get from a classic, plain loaf that is 900 grams.

You can. After final shaping your loaf, place it seam up inside the lined banneton, and cold proof or counter proof. When it's time to bake, carefully turn the loaf on a loaf pan liner, score and place it inside a loaf pan.

Practice. Lots of practice. I like using silicon oven gloves that give me a good grip of the pans, and I also like taking my time to load them calmly. If I hurry or stress out, they typically fall down. Some bakers use stainless steel clips to secure the pans, but I can't imagine using them when baking 24 loaves at a time in my home's double wall oven. Adding and removing 48 clips sounds like extra steps that I prefer to avoid.

Yes. I like to preheat the oven to 500F even though I typically bake sourdough at 450F because I am expecting a drop in temperature while loading that many pans in the oven. I try to be quick. After loading, I close the oven door, turn off the oven and turn it back on to 500F. This kickstarts the oven's preheating mode which is design to help it get up to the temperature I want quicker than if I let it go back to temperature on it's own.

Yes. By now, the oven should be back to 500F for several minutes and the loaves should be mostly baked. I try to be quick so the temperature doesn't drop drastically, and after removing all the lids, I close the oven door, turn off the oven and turn it back on to 450F. This kickstarts the oven's preheating mode which is design to help it get up to the temperature I want quicker than if I let it go back to temperature on it's own.

There are a few things you can try if you are experiencing the tops of your loaves over browning. You can try keeping the top pan on for as long as possible, or adding foil paper during the last few minutes of the bake. You can also try baking less loaves at once, so that you only bake using the middle rack.

There are a few things you can try if you are experiencing the bottoms of your loaves over browning. You can try adding a baking sheet to the bottom of your oven to shield them from the heating elements, or you can try loading the loaf pans on a baking sheet as an extra layer of protection that will also help you load them faster. You can also try baking less loaves at once, so that you only bake using the middle rack.

I do not, but every oven is different, so you might have to experiment with time, temperature and rotation.

I do not like discussing my oven brand because I believe you can do this method in any oven of any brand, you just need to adjust your settings and experiment with multiple batches until you find a setting that works for you.

This is an issue people typically encounter when they bake at a lower temperature. If you preheat and bake at 450F and the temperature drops significantly during loading, or during lid removal, then the temperature you are left with won't be enough. Try baking at a higher temperature like 500F.

Yes, but the ones I recommend are great because they are stainless steel and not coated with toxic non-stick materials that might leak into the bread and baking environment. They also have a very sleek profile that allows me to fit more loaf pans in my oven at once.

The loaf pans have to be well greased before adding the dough, making sure you don't miss any spots. Use oil spray and spray them well, then use a napkin to go all around it to remove any excess and ensure all places were reached. Alternatively you could use the parchment paper liners I recommend.

This shouldn't happen with good quality parchment paper. Please try using the one I recommend, but keep in mind I do not make them. 99% of the time they are allright, but once in a while there is a batch I experience some sticking with, especially if I forget to place the baking sheet at the bottom of my oven and the bottoms of my loaves become a bit toasty.
There are a couple of other things that could be causing this and I have personally experienced.
Number one is that you might be using wax paper or a brand of paper that is more wax than parchment, like the one in the picture below.
Another issue that could be causing this is your sourdough starter being acidic. The loaves seam to turn out ok, but if the dough was sticky to work with and teared easily during stretch and folds and shaping, then you might be experiencing an acidic starter that results in sticky dough that sticks to loaf pans and parchment paper.

Make sure to remove the loaves from the pans and the parchment paper immediately after baking, and place them on a cooling rack. This is because the bread continues releasing steam while it cools down and if it's trapped inside the loaf pan, it will make the bottoms soggy.

There are two main reasons for this. You might have put too much dough in the loaf pan or you might have waited a little too long during that second rise (cold or counter proofing). If the loaves look puffy before scoring and go above the edges of the loaf pans, you are likely to experience that boxy result.
If you suspect this will happen (because you put more dough in the pan tha what it's recommended or because you proofed a little longer than recommended) then you might want to remove the top pan a little earlier to achieve a full artisanal rise and look.

Achieving an ear is not important to me. You can make the perfect loaf without it having a pronounced ear, but if having one is important to you, here are a few things you might want to try:
- Proof using a banneton for better structure
- Use a little less dough than I recommend, so that it doesn't fully fill the pan. You don't want it to rise all the way up to the top pan, because the heat from that pan will cause the crust to start forming following the shape of the pan.
- Make sure to score at an angle parallel to the table