December 18, 2017 - 6:29pm
5 Qt. Cast Iron Dutch Oven - Dough
I usually make two loaves of bread using 724 grams of flour. Would that be too much to make one loaf it the 5 qt. Dutch Oven? Also I do not want to preheat the Dutch oven, so would add extra baking time?
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There is no way to know the dimensions of your loaves so while a single loaf with that much flour would easily fit, two of them might run into each other if the 724 grams was split between them but if each is 724 then I would guess that they are going to touch and squeeze together.
Not preheating the cast iron is throwing away half of the reason for using it and it will definitely change your baking time because you have to heat the dutch over first then it will start to heat its contents.
I have heat success with my preheated dutch oven and wold not ever consider trying to bake with it from a cold start.
I quite often make small batards in my oval 5 qt DO that have 500-600 gm of flour. They have a fairly small cross-section. Dough type and shaping are important so the dough doesn't spread outward too much. With more dough, these should be of less concern, but basically. I suspect you have to try to see if the loaf you get fits what you want.
I've baked a few loaves using the cold DO method. I add ~5 minutes, but YMMV in your oven.