October 2, 2020 - 9:07pm
How long should I cook my breads for in a Dutch oven and how do I prevent the outside from burning?
I think that I am undercooking my bread, but I have no idea how long I should be baking them for. I feel like after about 10 minutes after taking the lid of the dutch oven off, my breads start getting too dark. So how can I cook for longer but not burn my breads? I cook at 450F for the most part. Thanks!
Share
It depends on the size of your loaf and other factors. How long do you keep it covered in the DO? Do you have convection on? Or the grill/broiler?
I tend to bake ~900g loafs, for around 20-25 min covered at 260C and around the same time uncovered at 240C.
For 750g loaf I preheat oven to 500F, then convection-bake for 15 -20 min at 450F with lid on.
Then I reduce temp to 420F and bake with lid off about 15-20 min more, until color is right.
Then I remove loaf from DO, measure that bread temp is about 210F. If not, back in oven (not the DO) until temp is OK. (Might need to protect top of bread with foil).
Checking bread temperature helps the most, but you can do one or more of the following for at least preventing burn on the bottom:
1. Cover dutch oven with parchment paper before putting dough in
2. When you remove the lid, also place dutch oven on top of another baking sheet
3. If you use flour to dust the bottom of your bread, it could be the extra flour causing the burn. I've read rice flour doesn't burn like AP or BO.
And I agree with other posters, lower the temp a little after putting the bread in or right after. I've cooked bread that read 210 a few minutes after removing the lid (I use the thermo works dot to just tell me when the bread is 210), and I've cooked some that takes 30+ minutes to reach it, and sometimes I just pull it out a little earlier cause that top starts to burn.
Best of luck!