Dutch Ovens

>>7794467
Home bakers like dutch ovens because they trap steam which gives the crust those tiny blisters and a glossy appearance. But there are other ways of achieving the effect.

Take a look at this. He uses a sheet pan and ice cubes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E29v5rx97bo

When I got into baking, my goal was to make a loaf of bread with the absolute bare minimum equipment. Your hands, a bowl with some kind of cover, and an oven is really all you need.

The flour, water, yeast, and equipment that we all readily have access to today is something professional bakers would have killed to have hundreds of years ago. Keep that in mind when you have a few failures.

>>7794591

Yep, this 100%.

Though if you cook often a dutch oven is a super useful tool. It's awesome for making stews, braises, pot roast, etc. So it has a lot of uses other than just baking bread.

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>>7794591
One thing I really wish I would have mentioned...

For god's sake, don't pull your bread out of the oven when it's golden brown. I see people online taking their loaves out of the oven when they're the color of yeast rolls. That's great if you want something soft and fluffy, but if you're going for that rustic loaf of bread that makes a hollow sound when you tap on it, you need to get a dark mahogany color. This is the kind of bread you take with you on the beginning of a long journey.

>>7794614
>burnt bread

No thanks. All my sourdough bread is covered in tin foil so it has a very soft crust. If I want crunchy bread, I put a slice in the toaster.

Thick hard crusts are difficult to eat and can break teeth.

is a 2.5qt dutch oven large enough to make a decent sized loaf?

>>7794628
k

>>7794646
If you're willing to improvise and/or divide the dough. The famous Jim Lahey recipe* is probably too big to fit, but I could be mistaken. I think it would work in two batches, though.

*http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

Watch this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR_NRABQpCw

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>>7794670

Is that a woman or a man pretending to be a woman?

>>7794681
dunno, but s/he can't knead for shit

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>>7794670

>German pumpernickel takes 18 hours to bake

Holy SHIT.

>>7794670
Monty Python pls go

I've never had bread like the OP picures but doesn't the loose flour on top of the loaf taste bad?

>>7794776

Only if you lick it. Once you slice it and take a bite the ratio of flour to bread is so small you can't taste it.

>>7794789
Is it possible to just wipe most of it off after it's baked?

I was thinking of using that recipe just recently posted for no knead bread, for my first foray into bread making. I have a large dutch oven but currently no corn meal or wheat bran so I just figured plain flour would be okay.

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I have been baking my own bread for 2 years now. I was just curious about sourdough, and now I can't imagine buying expensive stale bread when my own tastes so much better.

I just recently got a real dutch oven for baking at camp. Works well. Takes a lot more heat than without in the oven. I get a better crust on my pizza stone when I'm at home, and that only cost 1/5th of the dutch oven. You can also use a clay dish, but they can shatter from the sudden heat change. Won't ruin the bread though.

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Eurofag here. Never heard of a Dutch oven. And it's not necessary.

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>>7796164
It's a cast iron pot. Petromax makes good ones.

>>7794467
A dutch oven is a compromise for making bread.

All you need is a hot surface, something with more heat capacity than an oven tray.