March 16, 2017 - 10:41am
Salt Ba(s)e for Dutch Oven Baking
I usually sprinkle potenta in the bottom of the pot when I'm baking in a dutch oven, but the other day I was out. What about Kosher salt, I wondered: similar size and shape. I was also tempted by a concern my dough was a bit under salted, as I discovered after the final mix.
Result was excellent. Bread didn't stick and the bottom of the loaf had a nice salty crunch. Will do this again and you should try it too!
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I made a variation of Hamelman's Deli Rye from the latest edition of Bread: 230 g rye starter @ 100%; 250 g whole rye flour (some real nice stuff I picked up at the Maine Grains conference last summer); 750 g APF; 660 g water; 2 T salt (which I'll increase to 2 1/2 or 3 T next time), 2 T caraway seeds, 1 T dry yeast. Perfect for St. Paddy's corned beef sandwiches.
try parchment paper. I cut out rounds that fit perfectly in the bottom. The dough doesn't stick, they are reusable and the bonus is that they keep your Dutch ovens clean.
I just upend the dough, onto parchment, on a peel and slide it on the bottom of the combo cooker and put the top on letting the parchment stick out. It doesn't seem to mind. After a few bakes the exposed part sort of falls off leaving the circle for even more bakes:-)
No wonder Lucy has to keep you on a tight leash!
I cut mine into circles because otherwise, the edges of the loaf get deformed and I happen to like round loaves without dents in them. ;-)