17 Cozy Bread Recipes You Can Make in a Dutch Oven (2024)

FAQs

What temperature do you bake bread in a Dutch oven? ›

Preheat your home oven to 450°F (230°C) with a Dutch oven inside for 30 to 45 minutes. Line a pizza peel, inverted baking sheet, or cutting board with parchment paper. Turn out your proofed bread dough onto the parchment paper (trim the paper to fit, if necessary) Score your dough.

You just need a lid to cover it and the proper heat-conducting cast-iron material, and your bread will come out perfectly every time. Size & Shape: Look for a 6- to 7-quart, round Dutch oven. Anything much bigger will cause the bread to spread out and go flat.

You do not have to use parchment paper, but I like using it. Don't stop baking if the bread does not come out perfect the first time… like I said it could be many different things to affect it. If you going to make a larger bread, add 6 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon Salt and enough liquid to make it wet enough.

Any tips for preventing a thick, hard crust on the bottom of my bread done in a Dutch oven? Make sure you are using a heavy gauge Dutch oven and that it isn't too close to the bottom heat element in your oven. If you are still getting a thick, hard crust, you can put a pillow of foil down, like this.

A preheated dutch oven will create steam

In bread baking, hot steam reacts with the dough to quickly expand it, leaving behind those signature air holes inside the bread. It also produces a shiny, crisp crust on the exterior. In short, steam makes bread look and taste gorgeous.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake bread for about 30-33 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Give the top of a loaf a gentle tap; it should sound hollow. Invert the baked loaves onto a wire cooling rack.

If you are looking to bake loaves with great oven spring, I would recommend the smaller Dutch oven. If you are looking for loaves with a slightly more open crumb, then the larger Dutch oven might be a bit better. However, you can't go wrong with either of them!

What size Dutch oven is best for bread? Again, your best bet is anywhere between 5 and 7 quarts.

The high heat inside the Dutch oven brings the water inside the dough to evaporate. Because you have the lid on top, the steam is trapped inside and creates a hot and steamy environment. This helps your bread to stay moist and flexible so it can rise and expand easily.

Score the dough and then put on your oven-safe gloves. Remove the deep end of the preheated Dutch oven from your oven and place it on a heatproof rack on your counter. Grab the parchment handles and lift your dough up and into the hot pot. Place the pot back into the oven and cover with the lid to bake.

Do you preheat a Dutch oven with the lid on or off? ›

The most common method is: Preheat Dutch oven in the oven with the lid off at 500F/260C. Many bakers will continue preheating for 10-20 minutes after the oven reaches target temperature to ensure the Dutch oven is at its hottest. Lower the loaf into the Dutch oven using a sling made of parchment or silicone.

Some bread is baked in a covered pan to trap heat and steam to maximize oven spring and produce a crusty loaf. Bread is usually uncovered during the last part of baking to allow it to brown. It depends. If you steam the oven well, covering is not necessary.

Whether you're cooking with a large Dutch oven or a smaller one, you can make life easier with parchment paper. A classic use of parchment paper while cooking with a Dutch oven is when baking bread.

The added sweetness and protein helps bread dough rise—particularly enriched dough like brioche. It lends a more tender crumb, and actually helps these breads last longer. High-heat milk powder might be a little trickier to find, but it's certainly worth the search for its impact on baking breads.

While a nice hot oven can produce a beautiful loaf with a crisp, golden crust, too hot of an oven will cause the crust to finish cooking long before the center of the bread. This will result in undercooked dough with a sticky, chewy texture rather than a fully risen crumb.

It's a great idea to check what temperature your domestic oven actually reaches, you might be surprised. An oven thermometer is a useful tool for example Amazon. If you have the option, turn off the fan, it will work better without and add steam (see below). If you can, aim to bake your bread at 230°C (450°F).

Bake the bread at 425°F for 15 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 375°F and bake for 17 to 20 minutes more for smaller loaves, or 25 to 30 minutes more for a single large loaf.

To successfully bake bread you need a moist environment during the first part of the bake. A Dutch Oven helps us achieve that by not allowing the water that is being evaportaed from the loaf to leave the pot. Hence – creating a very moist environment.