June 16, 2015 - 3:34pm
Pizza Stone, Baking Stone or Dutch Oven?
I have been thinking a lot of late of getting one of those in order to achieve the crust for my sourdough bread that I longed for. Not sure which would yield the best result though. My bet at this point would be a Dutch oven but I do not have a big budget unfortunately....
Also, I read a blog on TFL sometime last month and he was using a big stainless steel bowl to replicate what a Dutch oven could do. Appreciate some feedback on this.
Many thanks in advance,
FrugalBaker
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You might want to give one of these a try.
Here is the one I made for less than $5.00.
May I suggest getting a couche as well?
This is what I have and I love it:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L3OD2NO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
You don't have to spend too much on a dutch oven. I use a 5 quart Lodge dutch oven.
http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-L8DOL3-Pre-Seasoned-Cast-Iron-Handles/dp/B00063RWYI/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1434500186&sr=1-2&keywords=lodge+...
It's about a sixth of the price of a Le Creuset, you can cook other stuff in it, and it'll last a lifetime.
In terms of baking stones, I went to a flooring store and bought 6 6x6 unglazed quarry tiles. It only cost me about 11 bucks and works great.
Thanks for the link and it really picked my interest. May I know about the size of the handles as my oven is not that big, only at 14x16 inches. Appreciate your soonest reply.
A million thanks,
FrugalBaker
A bit smaller for boules, etc. The quality of Lodge is unsurpassed.
http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-L2SP3-Pre-Seasoned-Cast-Iron-Serving/dp/B00008GKDU/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1434502691&sr=1-1&keywords=lodge+s...
Buy these two things: a large and tall unglazed flower pot and a matching unglazed flower pot holder which, when flipped over, would just contain the maximum width of the large flower pot. (For example, if the flower pot's top is 14", then the flower pot holder's flat inside diameter must be 14".) Seal the hole of the flower pot with the following: a bolt which fits through the hole, washers for both sides of the hole enough to seal the hole, and a nut to tighten the bolt with the washers inside and out of the hole. (Some use a eye-bolt for this purpose so as to have a bit of a handle for the overturned flower pot.) When you bake, the flower pot, with its bottom hole sealed, will be the cover for the flower pot holder once it is turned upside down. Pplace the dough onto the flower pot holder and seal it in with overturned flower pot, it's bottom hole, now on top, sealed to keep in the humidity.
Before I purchased a baking steel which I really like, I baked some loaves on a plain baking sheet and used an inexpensive aluminum roasting pan. The results were pretty good and I think you can find some threads here on TFL that compare various approaches. The pan that I used is this brand: http://eco-foilpans.com/ and they have several different sizes. Just plunk it down over the bread when you put it in the oven and remove it 15 minutes into the bake and voila, that's all there is to it. Pan can be reused many times.
Alan, that's a good and economical option :)
have a lot more thermal mass than aluminum roasting pans so they seem to work almost as good as the aluminum roasting pans. Both are inexpensive options and with a bit of effort you many find that your neighbors might just give them to you, making them a zero cost option. I think the pizza stone and flower pot gives the best results but they are so brittle that I broke them after a while. The aluminum foil works but it doesn't give results similar to the DO, like the flower pot does. Experiment with both, for free, and let us know which worked for you.
Any concern about possible toxic elements in the clay? it may be fine but who knows? It's not rated for food. As the loaf steams, there may be a water transfer between the pot and the loaf.
There was a big discussion when I first posted and such concern was raised. I live in Asia and clay pots are aplenty here. Also, I have been to a few shops here where they specialised in selling potteries, porcelain and earthenware too. Those merchants are considered 'trustworthy' as they are supplying to restaurants and hotels too.
So as for the food grade concern, yes...I did have that in mind but again, we can't be sure for as long as we have been told that it is safe, fingers crossed! My best bet would still a DO.