May 29, 2020 - 1:05pm
Product for preventing burnt bottoms?
I came across this product and was wondering if I could put a few on the bottom of my DO and place the dough on top (with parchment) to prevent burning the bottom.
Curious what are your thoughts and whether this would work. I'm loosing the burnt bottom battle :(
Have already tried putting a baking steel in the bottom rack with no success. Also tried the cookie sheet trick.
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I never had the burnt bottom problem in my electric oven. But when I moved and had to deal with a really old gas oven, it became a real issue.
I solved it by only baking in the Dutch oven for the first part of the bake (the enclosed steam part). After around 25 minutes, I remove the loaf from the DO and finish the bake on a thin crappy baking stone. This works for me.
Oh, and to answer your more direct question – I would not use that product in the first part of baking. (I would honestly still be a little hesitant to use it after the first 25 minutes, but it's more likely to work then)
ugh I really dislike my gas oven for baking. If it breaks I can look into replacing it with a dual fuel one.
I'm not sure how I feel about taking the loaf out and transferring it mid-bake. Sounds like a recipe for a serious burn...
Gotta agree with you on the oven – I reaaaaaally would prefer to have my old electric one. I could actually keep steam in that oven!
I've never burned myself doing this process, but I understand why you'd be wary. I always use (and reuse) parchment for this purpose, fwiw
What are your thoughts about this loaf bottom, burnt or not?
I’d have to taste it. I think it could be fine. I’ve had bottoms that were more uniformly dark that didn’t taste burnt.
Past taste, the real test would be to cut it open and see how thick it is. A thick bottom crust can be hard to avoid in a gas oven with a DO :/
I use a thick pizza stone that is on an oven rack immediately below the rack my DO sits on. It works like a charm. Have the DO rack be in the middle of the oven. No more burnt bottoms. Good luck..
I have it 2 racks below...
and my stone is about 3/4 of an inch.. and DO is on the middle rack of hte oven.. good luck.. Also I preheat at 500 and drop the oven to 450 when i put the bread in ..
Doesn't the stone radiate too much heat when it's that close to your DO though?
Think of it as a heat shield.. like using an umbrella to block out the heat of the sun.. it's till hot but not as intense..