Steam

Oven sprayer and assorted other gadgets

To get a good crust on your breads made in an earth oven, you need steam. A fully loaded oven with breads might create enough steam all by themselves, but the easiest way to make steam is with a sprayer. The little $1.00-$2.00 hand sprayers won't do it. You'll have to invest at least $12.00 for one that will put out the volume required. These are the ones you have to pump up and are sold in garden supply stores. I sent to Amazon for mine. Only a fool would use a sprayer that once held herbicides and/or pesticides, so I won't tell you not to use one of these.

Excellent crust color and texture

I just learned that anyone can download a free version of The Bread Ovens of Quebec. If you don't have a hard copy and can't find one, then I highly recommend the electronic version.