Tartine beginner: how big a Dutch oven?

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ChrisK on 12 Oct 2011 at 13:44

I was given a copy of "Tartine Bread" and am excited to try it out. I've attempted to bake bread a few times before (years ago) and always met with some kind of disaster/disappointment - the bread usually tasted good, but something was wrong with the form. The description and photos give me hope of actually turning out loaves that other people will enjoy!

But since I'm going to have to buy equipment, I'm trying to figure out which to buy. How much dough (by volume, since I'm in the US and we do things by volume) does the basic recipe produce with 1000g of flour? Is a 6qt container enough for turning the dough? Is the 3qt combo cooker the right one to choose?

Thanks,

chris

Only fools make bread by volume! :P (yes, I'm American too, so is Chad, Tartine Bakery is in San Francisco) The Basic Country Loaf makes 2020g of dough, 450g is approximately 1 lb which translates into two 2-pound loafs (this is a common bread weight typical of a loaf tin). For rough estimates it is handy to know that 1ml of water = 1g of water and 1qt is very close to 1000ml. So for a quick (very rough) visual approximation you can think of the 2000g of dough as 2000ml which means it would potentially fill a 2qt container, you need to have room for the dough to double in size while it rises, so at least 4qt, and a little air-space is nice so you don't end up with your dough sticking to your lid. 6qt is perfect. A 6qt container should be plenty large enough to proof your dough in, and yes the 3qt combo-cooker is the perfect size for baking these (I just bought one on Amazon for $30 to teach my grandfather this loaf).