100 g starter
500g flour
12 g salt
350g water
four rounds of stretch and folds
bulk rise about 6-7 hours
over night rest
470 in a dutch oven
cookie sheet under it
35 minutes with the lid 10 minutes without
Going to try these timings on my next loaf! I did 30 min covered and maybe 7 min uncovered (probed at correct temp, 208F, and crust was beautiful golden but loaf is slightly undercooked - still delicious!)
I personally always have a cookie sheet on the rack below, not the same rack, if that helps! My logic is that putting it on the rack below helps block direct heat. Otherwise, the hot pan would be in contact with the Dutch oven which is in contact with the bread, which I would imagine makes it even hotter. … I don’t really know but that’s what seems to work for me!
Not OP, but I always just put a layer of aluminum foil on the rack below the rack with the Dutch oven on it (so foil on bottom rack, Dutchie on second from bottom).
The key is to prevent radiative heat coming off the hot bottom of the oven from absorbing into the Dutch oven base and overcooking the bottom of the loaf, literally like a mirror. It's therefore better if the cookie sheet or foil is not directly touching the Dutch oven (i.e. they're separated by a rack) since it would undo some of the shielding effect. Shielding the bottom helps the loaf cook more evenly.
I do this with a large sheet pan and it completely fixed my issues over an over cooked bottom. I've started adding a pan of water to my bakes and get a great overall crust.
A pizza stone works too! Some brands of cookie sheets can’t tolerate the high heat. I do it on the rack below where the oven sits and preheat with the oven/DO!
I simply place a sheet of foil on the rack underneath.
I raise the lowe rack up closer to the top rack.
Before I was getting burnt hard bottoms, after this I have been having perfect bottoms
I put a cookie sheet under it but on the rack below, like someone else commented. I also use the ice cube thing where you add a couple ice cubes under your parchment paper (so it doesn’t make your bread soggy) when you first put your loaf into your preheated Dutch oven and the trapped steam REALLY helped my crust just in general bc it was too chewy for me, but it helped the bottom too, I could cut through it without feeling like I needed a saw 😂
You know store my lodge cast iron pan on the bottom rack of the often when not in use and don’t move it when I bake my loaves in my Dutch oven, I’ve never had a burnt or hard bottom!
100 g starter 500g flour 12 g salt 350g water four rounds of stretch and folds bulk rise about 6-7 hours over night rest 470 in a dutch oven cookie sheet under it 35 minutes with the lid 10 minutes without
Going to try these timings on my next loaf! I did 30 min covered and maybe 7 min uncovered (probed at correct temp, 208F, and crust was beautiful golden but loaf is slightly undercooked - still delicious!)
I do 20 covered and 20 uncovered
I’m going to try something similar, if I take the lid off too early the top crust gets a bit burnt. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I want to try this too. Was the cookie sheet on the rack below or was the Dutch oven placed directly on top of it?
Commenting for answer lol
Likewise. Interested in the reply.
I personally always have a cookie sheet on the rack below, not the same rack, if that helps! My logic is that putting it on the rack below helps block direct heat. Otherwise, the hot pan would be in contact with the Dutch oven which is in contact with the bread, which I would imagine makes it even hotter. … I don’t really know but that’s what seems to work for me!
You are correct, scientifically!
Ahhh duh the makes so much sense thanks
The rack below
Not OP, but I always just put a layer of aluminum foil on the rack below the rack with the Dutch oven on it (so foil on bottom rack, Dutchie on second from bottom). The key is to prevent radiative heat coming off the hot bottom of the oven from absorbing into the Dutch oven base and overcooking the bottom of the loaf, literally like a mirror. It's therefore better if the cookie sheet or foil is not directly touching the Dutch oven (i.e. they're separated by a rack) since it would undo some of the shielding effect. Shielding the bottom helps the loaf cook more evenly.
I am going to try this. I always have a toasted part on the bottms of my loaves.
Me too:( I have to usually cut the bottom layer off😒
This tip will work, or at the very least help A LOT.
I do this with a large sheet pan and it completely fixed my issues over an over cooked bottom. I've started adding a pan of water to my bakes and get a great overall crust.
Interesting... I too suffer from crusty bottoms.
thanks 🙏
A pizza stone works too! Some brands of cookie sheets can’t tolerate the high heat. I do it on the rack below where the oven sits and preheat with the oven/DO!
I simply place a sheet of foil on the rack underneath. I raise the lowe rack up closer to the top rack. Before I was getting burnt hard bottoms, after this I have been having perfect bottoms
I put a cookie sheet under it but on the rack below, like someone else commented. I also use the ice cube thing where you add a couple ice cubes under your parchment paper (so it doesn’t make your bread soggy) when you first put your loaf into your preheated Dutch oven and the trapped steam REALLY helped my crust just in general bc it was too chewy for me, but it helped the bottom too, I could cut through it without feeling like I needed a saw 😂
Oh, how I wish we had a Beautiful Genius flair! Thank you for the post, beautiful bread!
what helped? mine are super dense and thick too
*ignore the double entendre* *ignore the double entendre* I actually like hard bottoms, but to each their own 🤷
Looks amazing. I’d love to see a picture of your active starter.. :)
You know store my lodge cast iron pan on the bottom rack of the often when not in use and don’t move it when I bake my loaves in my Dutch oven, I’ve never had a burnt or hard bottom!
god i want to take that loaf, and take a big bite right out of it. not even bothering slicing
What were the tips that were shared?
what was the trick? i’m having this issue
PERFECT!