October 12, 2018 - 1:33pm
Yet another DO question, mine is bigger than your's
Got a good price on a Lagostina cast iron dutch oven. Thing is , it is 8 quarts. Pretty darn big judging by all other comments.
BUT... if you can put a boule directly on a stone, surely sitting in the bottom of a large dutch oven would be the same.
Obviously it will offer no structural support, but as long as the dough is not too wet I see no reason why it should not work. I'm thinking it is like baking on a stone but with contained steam from the loaf so the entire crust should come out good. Sounds to me like it should work.
Any comments , thoughts ?
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Try it and see. Don't forget to post about it.
I used my 8 qt dutch until I got some smaller ones, and it was fine. You aren't looking for the DO to provide structural support, rather you are using it to trap steam in the vessel during the first part of the bake to allow for maximum bloom before the crust sets.
....actually, as I think about it, a larger dutch means more room to deliver your dough to the DO with less opportunity to burn yourself on the hot sides! :) If I didn't want to cook 2 loaves at a time (my oven fits my 2 4-qt DO's at the same time), I'd just use my 8 qt.
Give it a go, and let me know if I'm wrong! :)
Rich
since 8 qt is so large and heavy, I am going to try the first couple of times with a cold DO.
Many threads here seem to suggest little or no difference between a pre-warmed or not DO . I know there is a difference between burning yourself or not !
I am even thinking of putting the lid on the rack and putting the pot on top inverted. That way when I open it up I should get a good effect.
What really amazes me, is that I started baking bread recently because the local shop never had the cheese loaf I liked. Now I am involved to the point my family refers too as obsessed. However they continue eating the results as they complain whilst asking where's the butter ? the good stuff , Irish imported. I'm in Toronto
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