April 21, 2020 - 8:52am
Reducing temp from 500 deg to 350 in gas oven
I'm trying to bake sourdough in a closure and you are to start a 500 for 15 mins - then 350 for 20 mins.
Naturally the oven is not going to fall to 350 very quickly. I've opened the door but it only drops to 400 - I shut the door and set a 30 min timer... Guess I just keep looking at it???
I could also stick an instant read thermometer in and look for 190 internal?
Just wondering about the thermal delay to that 'lower' temp.
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Dropping to 350 seems like overkill. I generally bake in a Dutch oven for 25-30 min at 450-500º. Then I drop it to around 425º for the rest of the bake.
I don't think taking an internal temp is necessary – if you're getting a nice dark bake on your loaves, (I bake at least 45 min generally, sometimes as long as an hour+) they will be cooked.
I've been looking at the myriad of dutch ovens available. I don't plan to use it other than for "steaming" my sourdough... Is the cast iron necessary and/or helpful? For the weight/mass it seems like a good idea to keep even heat...
What size are you using?
When a cookbook author says something like "Bake at 500F for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350F for 45 minutes", I assume that they've taken into account the fact that the oven internal temp is not going to magically drop to 350F. I would just turn down the dial and not worry about the delay.
Yes, after the 20 minutes poke your bread with a thermometer and see what the internal temp is. I look for 190-195F for enriched breads, 200-205F for lean sourdoughs.
That does make sense, I bake in a similar way all the time.
Basically the technique is to just turn the knob to the desired temperature at the 15 minute mark and leave it alone, it will drop down at its own rate.
Everyone's oven, and altitude is different so you have to experiment to adapt the recipe for your conditions.
Definitely check the temperature of the center of the loaf to see if its done, it should be between 200º F and 211º F (if it reaches 212º F then it's already burned) when its done.
The higher the altitude the harder it is to reach those temperatures, I bake the same exact recipe at sea level and it takes me 45 minutes but at 5,600 feet of elevation it takes me 70 minutes.
You just have to experiment to reach your results and make sure to document all your experiments meticulously, that information is very useful.