panned loaves in Dutch oven
I recently stumbled across this Andrew Janjigian article from 2021 about sourdough sandwich loaves. One interesting thing is that he bakes the loaves in a pan in a Dutch oven (with a cold start too). I tried it, first with two of his recipes, then with a lean and a rich sandwich bread. It worked beautifully:
I often have problems with panned loaves splitting on the sides. Not these--they opened up beautifully where I scored them, though that is perhaps not to everyone's taste. The crust of the rich bread was a little crusty instead of soft, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in my book.
There are two practical drawbacks. First, you need a big Dutch oven to fit a loaf pan. Second, you can only bake one loaf at a time this way (though you can "pipeline" the operation if you want). Still, it's become my go-to for sandwich bread, which I previously found somewhat unexciting.
Anyone else try this? Any comments on the cold start here? I haven't had much time to experiment with that vs. the usual preheated Dutch oven. I know there's a lot written about that here, but that's usually for free-form crusty loaves.
Without a DO did you steam the oven for the pan loaves previously?
Good question. I have tried steaming pan loaves but it makes little difference. For that matter, I've never gotten the usual steam methods to work for me for ANY bread. No matter how many skillets or ice cubes or boiling water I use it doesn't work. I suspect it's because my oven is well vented because of convection apparatus. So I use Dutch ovens when I need steam and foil lasagna pans on a stone for longer breads like baguettes.
Is very tasty indeed. I make one in the air fryer, covered with carbon steel and stainless steel vessels, also cold start. As opposed to mass production, my goal is to downsize and streamline. So, making cute, mini loaves one pound at a time is perfect for me. Since I have two air fryers, I can make two one-pounders at a time if I need to.
Yippee
Hi Yippee. What model air fryer do you have? I hadn't thought of baking bread in one.
I wrote a brief blog post on a Cosori bake, but haven't had time to do one on IP Vortex because gardening takes up all my spare time and I don't want to miss the prime planting period in spring.
Yippee
I haven’t tried using a Dutch oven to bake a pan loaf yet. I don’t have a large enough Dutch oven to do that in. In fact, I once baked a pan loaf with steam and didn’t find that it did much to improve upon the bake. I’ve always just bakes these pan loafs in an open unsteamed oven without scoring and never had an issue. Now I do typically do an egg wash so perhaps that might help keep the top crust from forming too early.
Benny
Indeed, with an egg wash there is no need for steaming. But if you get oven spring with a pan loaf, you can get just the same issues as with a hearth loaf, if you have no steam... Well, I guess it won't be as bad, since there is no chance for weird blow-outs on the sides or on the bottom.
The one problem I've had with egg wash is that sometimes it comes out smelling slightly fishy. This has happened on multiple occasions with different brands of eggs, all fresh enough to eat. I even picked this up on a brioche I bought from a bakery once. I really have no idea why. Do I just have a sensitive nose for some sort of chemical?
Hmmmmm I can’t say that I’ve ever smelled any fishy scent from any egg wash I’ve done on any bread and I’ve used a lot of egg washes in my time. You might be super sensitive Christopher.
That smell happens sometimes with eggs that are from hens fed Omega supplements.
I’ve been baking more breads with egg lately and there are a few downsides. Eggs put off a very sulfur stench if baked too long or too hot. So there’s a point when browning the crust more turns the bread into a sulphur sponge. Baking it or at least finishing the bake at a lower temp helps.
I have done tinned loaves in my large Dutch oven for the steam portion of the bake and it works a treat. It’s a little inconvenient though.
I tried both methods but prefer the 2nd one. (Bread was lean whole wheat)
1. Place a loaf pan (4.5x8.75x2.5) into the oval graniteware roaster pot (13 in oval) -the loaf pan just fits inside; the domed graniteware lid allows for oven spring. Cold start is fine for graniteware since it heats up quickly.
2. Place a loaf pan of the identical type over the pan with the dough in it.
This particular graniteware roaster is really "small" and one of the cheapest; multiple loaves can bake at once.
As far as I have experienced the fishy smell is always associated with Canola oil… rape seed. Anything associated with canola oil is unhealthy in the extreme. It always presents with the fishy obnoxious odor. Not sure how your egg/ odor is being created but look for residue from canola oil.
What is the basis for the unhealthy nature of canola oil? It generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA.
It’s very very highly processed which for me is one big negative. It’s awful taste and odor is another. It’s also a GMO product .
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/canola#alternatives
What is your preferred oil? Can you recommend a neutral tasting oil?
I find EV olive oil sometimes has too strong flavor for some uses. Canola oil has a neutral flavor (for me) and non-GMO organic options are available. I believe avocado oil is an environmental no-no (too much water usage). Coconut oil has too much saturated fat and is not recommended by the Mayo Clinic.
I quit using canola oil because I dislike the smell.
We do mostly Chinese stir fry and have for over 50 years. It’s recommended that you use peanut oil due to its tolerance of high heat .
it’s a wonderful oil with no hint of aftertaste it’s not too heavy and it’s perfect on salads for those who don’t care for olive oil . It’s also very healthy and low processing.
I will say that if you purchase very good olive oils , always sample first, the various flavors are wonderful. I buy from the linked company and their oils are exquisite!
https://sunshineinabottle.com/
I tried using a quality EV olive oil in Laurel's Kitchen's Better Butter recipe but the olive oil flavor did not mesh well with the butter. It was a little too "olive-y" for toast with jam.
I'll probably stick with canola oil. It has a more favorably healthy ω-6/ω-3 fatty acid ratio at 2:1. There aren't a lot sources for α-linolenic acid in a mostly vegetarian diet and canola is one of them.
1800 gram SD loaf in gigantic Bayou Classic. My motto: Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.