Crusty No Knead Dutch Oven Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What size Dutch oven for crusty bread? ›

You just need a lid to cover it and the proper heat-conducting cast-iron material, and your bread will come out perfectly every time. Size & Shape: Look for a 6- to 7-quart, round Dutch oven. Anything much bigger will cause the bread to spread out and go flat.

LET BREAD COOL IN OVEN

That last step will add more crispiness to the surface because as bread cools the moisture released from the inside will dry immediately due to the warm air in the oven. If you let the bread cool in room temperature, that moisture will set on the surface turning the bread "less crusty".

Simply put, it has to do with the starch in flour. As bread bakes, its outer layer (crust) eventually reaches 180°F. At that point, the starches on the surface burst, become gel-like, and then harden in the oven's heat to a crackly consistency. Steam hitting the bread's surface facilitates this process.

The steam inside the pot helps to ensure that you don't have a tough crust. Place a cookie sheet on the rack below your Dutch Oven to ensure that you don't get a burned bread base. This also contributes to a tough, chewy crust.

Cover with the lid and bake for 20 minutes, covered. After 20 minutes, remove the lid from the oven and continue baking per the recipe (typically 25 to 35 minutes)

As long as you have a lid to cover it, the bread comes out perfectly every time. I found that using a 4- to 6-quart Dutch oven yields the perfect round shape. Fight the urge to grease your Dutch oven. Because of the high temperature, the fat will burn off almost immediately, giving your bread a charred taste.

1. Crusty bread can be stored uncovered at room temperature for the first day. By the end of the day, it's best to wrap it in foil (not plastic) or in a paper bag and kept at room temperature for a second day. After the second day, it's really best to freeze it.

My way of restoring the crust is to put it back in the oven but you don't want to dry out the cut side. Once the loaf is cut I press some foil on the cut side and place the loaf cut side down directly on the oven rack (the oven should be preheated to 325°F).

Spraying water when putting the the dough in the oven helps keep the crust soft to allow maximum oven spring. Without the steam, the crust will harden, which results not as good of a rise.

Why does my bread have no crust? ›

It sounds obvious, but bread generally needs to be baked at a high temperature. A golden-brown, glossy crust is achieved when sugars and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) in the dough react together at high temperatures in the oven. For a simple dough of flour, water, salt and yeast, bake at 220 – 225C.

Simply put, you have to control the temperature of the bread. Allowing ample time for your bread dough to rise and the yeast to form will create the holes in the bread that give it a lighter texture. Letting your dough get puffy and grow before it goes into the oven is critical.

Uneven heat in your oven can be the culprit – if you loaf is nicely golden on the outside but gummy or moist in the inside, it's baking too quickly on the outside. Trying reducing the temperature you're baking at and bake for a bit longer.

Why is my bread dense: Usually bread will be too dense when there is too much flour. Keep in mind this dough will be pretty sticky, do not add more flour than specified. Other factors that come into play are humidity and age of flour. Little yeast, long rise, sticky dough are keys to a good, light loaf.

Any tips for preventing a thick, hard crust on the bottom of my bread done in a Dutch oven? Make sure you are using a heavy gauge Dutch oven and that it isn't too close to the bottom heat element in your oven. If you are still getting a thick, hard crust, you can put a pillow of foil down, like this.

Dutch oven bread recipes often call for a 5.5-quart pot, which makes these Dutch ovens more desirable for baking, which inspires more recipes — and the delicious cycle continues.

If you are baking 500g flour-weight batards (950g dough weight) a 7-quart/7-liter Dutch oven is a good size. A 5-quart/5-liter round Dutch oven is really the smallest you would want to use for 500g flour-weight (950g dough weight) baking.

Cast Iron Pans. Cast iron is one of the best materials for bread baking because it holds heat very well. There are a few different cast iron options that I enjoy using.

Bread will conform to the shape of the pot it is baked in, especially with wet doughs like the 'no knead' variety. So with an Oval Dutch Oven, your bread will bake in a more traditional loaf shape versus a rounded boule shape that results from a Round Dutch Oven.