Baking Sourdough Bread Without a Dutch Oven: How to Get Perfect Results Every Time
If you've been wanting to start baking your own sourdough but don't have a dutch oven, don't worry! These tips will help you create perfect results while open baking your loaves.
Ingredients
- Favorite sourdough recipe
Instructions
- Prepare sourdough as directed in your favorite sourdough recipe.
- When ready to bake, place one oven rack on the oven floor, and place a cast-iron skillet on that rack. Add 4 cups of water to the skillet.
- Then place a second oven rack in the lower third of your oven, usually you'll need to place it in the second from bottom slot in order to clear the skillet. Place your baking stone or baking steel on the rack.
- Preheat the oven to recommended temperature in the recipe, usually, that's 450f, with the baking stone in the oven for at least 45 minutes.
- Once the oven is fully preheated, turn your proofed dough out of the banneton onto a sheet of parchment paper. Score the sourdough to allow for expansion.
- Quickly, but carefully, open the oven and using a pizza peel or the parchment paper as a sling, place the sourdough onto the heated baking stone and bake uncovered with the water-filled skillet for as 30 minutes, then carefully remove the skillet, and continue baking until the crust has reached your desired color, usually another 10-15 minutes.
- Remove cooked sourdough loaf from the oven and cool on a wire mesh cooling rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Notes
When To Use Open Oven Baking Methods?
- Use this method when you want to bake more than one loaf at a time!
- Use this method when you want to bake different shapes and sizes of loaves as they will not be hindered by the volume of the dutch oven.
safety tips
Any time we are playing with high heat and water or steam, we need to be very careful. Here are some ways to reduce the likelihood of injury or damage to your oven and bakeware.- Always, always wear good quality high heat oven mitts. I personally prefer the ones with the silicone grip on the outside when I'm working with liquids because they are waterproof, while my fabric ones are not.
- Exercise caution when using water in the oven burns aside, water can damage bakeware and your oven.
- Use a pizza peel if you have one, it can make transferring the sourdough loaves to the oven quick and easy, reducing the likelihood of burns and keeps more steam in the oven.
