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.

Baking bread in a Dutch oven produces results that rival bread made in fancy, steam-injected bread ovens. It's something of a miracle of science that such a simple and common device could be so effective, especially with so little effort required.

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.

Ready to bake

Apply a gentle coating of vegetable oil-based non-stick spray and sprinkle in some semolina flour or cornmeal. (Be careful during this step — the pot may smoke slightly when prepared.) Slide your hand under the towel or piece of parchment paper and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side down.

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.

If the bottom of your Dutch oven isn't enamel-coated, it's best to use the parchment paper. Mine is enamel-coated, but I find it easier to keep the round shape of the dough if I just place it in the Dutch oven with the parchment paper. Whatever works fer ya!

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.

All that to say, if you don't have a Dutch oven yet, a 5.5-quart Dutch oven will set you up for decades of baking. Not too big and not too small, it's the perfect size for baking a large, shareable loaf of bread.

Essentially, you'll only be able to bake one loaf at a time with a Dutch Oven, unless you have multiple Dutch Ovens and the oven space to accomodate them. If you are baking with a bread pan like a Challenger, you can fit two smaller loaves in, but it does get a bit tight.

Why is my bread dense: Usually bread will be too dense when there is too much flour. Keep in mind this dough will be pretty sticky, do not add more flour than specified. Other factors that come into play are humidity and age of flour. Little yeast, long rise, sticky dough are keys to a good, light loaf.

Why do you spray water on bread before baking? ›

Wetting the dough causes the surface to steam. Covering it traps the moisture. This partnership stops the bread from drying out on the surface in the hot air of the oven and forming a premature crust. Your bread rises more and produces a richer colour, becoming glossy on the surface.

It doesn't matter if you use an enamel-coated cast-iron Dutch oven or a traditional black cast-iron Dutch oven. As long as you have a lid to cover it, the bread comes out perfectly every time.

Place your dough on a piece of parchment paper inside the Dutch oven to help keep it from sticking. But if you use a raw cast iron Dutch oven, you should oil it after baking to maintain the appearance of the cooking surface.

If you can, aim to bake your bread at 230°C (450°F). If you're baking regularly, you might consider upgrading to a Rofco oven.

Pop the loaves into a 375º oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The loaves should be golden brown. If you want to be sure they're baked through, use your thermometer to check the internal temperature of the bread. You're looking for about 185º.

Most loaves and rolls will indeed be done when they register 190°F at their center. But some breads — baguettes, for instance — need to reach a higher internal temperature to be fully baked.

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.