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vmbrasseur/bread_in_a_dutch_oven.md

Created November 19, 2017 06:27
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Bread in a dutch oven
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bread_in_a_dutch_oven.md

This method is from the Tartine Bread Book, which is a lovely piece of work. I use this method all the time with their dough but the logic and science behind it should work well for any good dough. I haven't tried it for a machine dough but I don't see why it wouldn't work. It forms a nice round loaf with a good proper crust.

The logic/science of it is that the dutch oven forms a hot, moist environment at a crucial time of crust formation. This allows the crust to expand while heating up enough to cook through more than it would in a bread machine or loaf pan.

Equipment:

  • 4-5.5 quart cast iron covered dutch oven. The top is very important and must also be oven-safe.
  • Dough, before its final rise; Method below assumes as much dough as you'd get out of your bread machine.
  • A kitchen towel for the dough bowl
  • Flour for the towel (a 50-50 flour of rice and white wheat flour is particularly good)
  • A very sharp razor blade (double-sided is lovely here, but easier to cut yourself on)
  • Oven mitts and/or kitchen towels; things are gonna get hot

Method:

  • For the final rise of the dough, form it into a nice round. Place it into a bowl lined with a floured towel and let it rise until at least half again as large.
  • Place a 4-5.5 quart covered dutch oven in the stove and crank up the heat to 500F. Make sure the top is on the dutch oven and let the lot heat for about 20-30 minutes.
  • Get your oven mitts/towels together and have your razor blade and dough-in-bowl at the ready. You'll have to move relatively (but not recklessly) quickly in the next step.
  • Don your mitts. Pull the dutch oven out of the, uh, oven. Remove the top from the dutch oven. Keep a mitt or towel onto the handle of the top when you set it aside because you really don't want to grab that with your bare hand in a few minutes here. Carefully turn your dough into the dutch oven. Using the razor, cut a few stripes or a quick pattern into the top of the dough. Immediately put the top back onto the dutch oven then the entire lot back into the oven.
  • Immediately reduce oven temp to 450F.
  • Bake for 20 minutes.
  • Remove top from the dutch oven (it'll be steamy; keep your face back) and continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes.
  • Turn onto a cooling rack. Devour whenever you're ready.
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