Dutch Oven Bread
Check out this bread, all made by hand and cooked in a dutch oven. These are wonderful loaves that result in a crunchy crust. and deep flavour. This is not a quick bread and requires some time to make.
The bonus is this recipe only uses four ingredients. This is enough for one dutch oven loaf of bread.
This recipe was originally sourced from “Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast” by Ken Forkish. A wonderful book on the art of bread baking. This book also received a Jame’s Beard award.
If you want a full walkthrough of this recipe with images, Click here
- Total Time: 8 hours
- Yield: 1 Loaf 1x
Ingredients
500 G Bread Flour
360 G Water, 32’c
2 G Yeast
10 G Salt
Instructions
- Place the flour and water into a mixing bowl or container. Give a slight mix until just incorporated. I use my hand for this, but you can also use a handle of a wooden spoon.
- Let that sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. This step hydrates the flour.
- Once it has sat, sprinkle over the yeast and give a brief mix. Once the yeast is incorporated sprinkle over the salt and give another brief mix.
- Once incorporated start mixing the dough, it is best to use your hand. Imagine you have a pincher, and pinch the dough together. This is a messy job and I always have a little bowl of water next to me to wet my hands as I go. Once you have given it a good mix, should take approximately 5 minutes, then let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Now you want to complete a series of folds. Do this by grabbing the dough, stretching it up then folding it in on itself. Repeat this all around the dough.
- Now let the dough rest again for 30 minutes, then complete another series of folds. At this stage, the dough should start tightening up. Once you have completed this stage, you should be left with what resembles a semi-smooth ball of dough, it will still be a bit shaggy. Let the dough sit now for 4 -5 hours.
- After time has passed. Take the dough out, divide and pre-shape. Then put it into a banneton basket for proofing, or if not using then put it into an oiled mixing bowl to proof. While proofing pre-heat a dutch oven in your oven set at 245’c. (See note 1). After it has been proofed for around 20 – 30 minutes, turn your dough out onto a piece of parchment paper. Use a square that is large enough to fit your dough and a little extra. So you can pick it up by the sides.
- Score the top of your loaf with a paring knife or baker’s lame, then rest for 10 minutes. After the time has passed, be very careful and remove your pre-heated dutch oven. Remove the lid and place your loaf in, using the parchment paper to lift it up. Be careful at this stage. Once the dough is in, replace the lid and put the dutch oven back into the oven.
- Let it cook for 30 minutes, then be careful again to remove it from the oven and take the lid off. Now bake it without the lid for an additional 20 minutes or until dark brown in colour and hollow when tapped at the bottom.
- Once cooked place it onto a cooling rack and let it cool for a minimum of 15 minutes, but the best result I had was leaving it for 40 minutes. I know it’s hard but well worth it.
Notes
Note 1
For this recipe, we use a conventional oven, if using convection (Fan forced) lower the temp to 225’c
- Prep Time: 430
- Cook Time: 50
- Category: Bread
- Method: Bulk Fermented
Keywords: bread, home baking, artisan bread