Can we talk about baking bread in a regular oven vs a Dutch oven?

I tried baking sourdough in a regular oven at my buddy's apartment in Austin last weekend because he doesn't own a Dutch oven. I figured how bad could it be right? The loaf came out flat with a crust like shoe leather and the inside was gummy. I've been using a Dutch oven for two years and never had that problem. His oven just couldn't hold steam no matter how many pans of water I put in there. I ended up taking the sad loaf home and feeding it to the birds. Has anyone else tried baking without a Dutch oven and actually gotten good results? I'm curious if there's a trick I'm missing or if I just need to accept the $40 tool as mandatory.

3 comments

3 Comments

pat_stone7d ago

You figured how bad could it be" - yeah, I've been there too and it's always worse than you think. Honestly, without a Dutch oven you're fighting an uphill battle against steam loss. I've tried the pan of water trick, spritzing the oven walls, all of it. Flat crust, dense crumb, every single time. You can get a decent ceramic baker or a combo cooker for like $30 if the $40 Dutch oven is too much. But without some kind of covered vessel, you're never getting that perfect oven spring. Save the birds the trouble and just invest in one.

nguyen.angela7d agoMost Upvoted

Honestly used to think a Dutch oven was just an expensive gimmick. I was stubborn about it for like a year, convinced my steam pan method was good enough. Then I caved and got a combo cooker on sale for $30 and wow I was so wrong. The first loaf I baked in it came out with this perfect golden crust and the crumb actually had those big uneven holes you see in bakery bread. All those times I blamed my starter or my flour were really just me not trapping steam properly. So yeah I get why people push back on spending the money but it really does change everything.

umar497d ago

The ceramic baker is a solid tip. I grabbed one for like $25 at a discount store and it works just as good as my fancy enameled pot. People think they need the expensive stuff but really any heavy covered dish will trap that steam. The key is preheating the vessel with the oven. Get it screaming hot, drop the dough in, lid on. Night and day difference from open baking. Even a cheap lodge combo cooker does the job right.

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