Baking with a Dutch Oven

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If you’ve taken my in-person sourdough baking workshop then you would have witnessed my process for steaming my oven while baking on a baking stone. What if you’re only baking one loaf? The simplest way is to use a dutch oven.

To use, preheat the oven with the dutch oven (including lid) in the oven to 450 deg. F. Once the oven reaches the correct temperature, remove your prepared dough from the banneton basket and place on parchment paper. Score your dough with a lame or serrated knife.

Take care to reduce heat loss and prevent unwanted burns when opening the oven and removing your dutch oven lid. Place the scored dough WITH PARCHMENT PAPER into the dutch oven and cover with the lid. Close the oven door, reduce the temperature to 425 deg F and bake for 15 minutes with the lid on.

After 15 minutes, remove the lid, reduce temperature further to 400 deg F, and continue to bake for an additional 20 - 25 minutes until desired golden crust is achieved. Err on the side of baking longer at a lower heat to prevent the bottom from burning.

Once baked, remove from the oven and let the bread cool on a cooling rack.