Dutch oven for baking bread problems
Hi, I bought soon very cheap Dutch oven (around 31$, it was a promotion in Kaufland ) ,the brand is Spice & Soul, material cast-iron. The producer confirms it can be used in oven in 240 C , so I bought it with intention to bake bread. I read carefully the instructions in the manual - for example I brushed the walls and bottom with oil before putting it in my oven. I turned the oven on 230 C (at first use I wanted to try it with 230 C ,not with the maximum 240 C ) and put the Dutch oven in with the lid on for around 30 minutes. During the heating there were some unpleasant smell. After 30 minutes I opened the oven and took out the Dutch oven in order to put the bread in. When I removed the lid, the inner walls were with brown color(the walls were enameled but now the white enamel was brown), the inner part of the lid was also little-to-medium brown and the bottom was still white. And I noticed that the bottom has still some very small layer of oil on it. I suppose that where the brushed oil had evaporated/wasn't present , these places were brown at most and as on the bottom there was still very thin layer of oil, - that is why the bottom was with its original color(not brown).I put the bread in, it baked (30 minutes with lid on, then 15-20 with lid off), and then I took out the Dutch oven, took out the bread to cool outside and so on. The taste of the bread wasn't better than when I am baking bread directly in pots in my oven, the raise/height of the bread wasn't taller than when I am baking directly in my home oven but this is not essential for my question.
I want to ask - is it normal the walls of cast-iron Dutch oven to become brown, the inner part of the lid also to be brown after just the first baking? Also, there were some outside places where the Dutch oven had changed its original color(red) with some dirty dark color. I tried to wash the Dutch oven as is written in the manual - with hot water and casual washing-up liquid and after a lot rubbing(with non-abrasive washing brush) the brown color at some places became a little lighter, but most of it remained. Do you have such big change in color of your Dutch ovens after just the first baking? Also I proofed the bread with baking paper in order to transfer it easily in the Dutch oven, and the bread was baked with baking paper around it - I start to wonder does this baking paper blocks/disables the type of baking called 'radiation' (that is supposed to come from baking bread in Dutch ovens) and this to be a reason why the taste of the bread wasn't better at all than my casual baking directly in my oven?
When you removed the lid from the preheated DO, did smoke come out? I'm wondering if the oil used had a too-low smoke point.
Parchment paper around the loaf shouldn't affect its baking. A DO can affect the texture & crust of bread by retaining moisture, but I don't believe it will change the taste..
I would not have heated the DO for the first time with the lid on. You want any volatile vapors to be able to escape. You don't say what kind of oil you used, and it could easily have smoked and broken down. At those temperatures oil browning and breakdown would not be unusual.
I would also not have put bread into the DO while it smelled bad.
Not all parchment paper can withstand those temperatures without browning and that may have contributed to the discoloration you see.
You can probably reduce the stains by scrubbing them with baking soda or table salt (or first one then the other) and a little water. But you may to be able to get rid of them completely. But some discoloration is common in a DO that has been used for may stews, etc., so once all the unpleasant smells stop getting emitted it should work fine for baking.
At baking temperatures there will be very little heating by radiation. You will only get significant radiation when the temperature gets high enough to glow visibly; the amount of radiation emitted is strongly dependent on the temperature. Your DO wasn't glowing, I hope!
TomP
If the bottom isn't browning - like the other parts of the bread - move it closer to the heat source. Eventually you'll find the right spot. Enjoy!
I don't think you should have put oil on the dutch oven at all. I believe the brown on the walls is burnt oil. Applying a thin (very thin, barely there) coat of oil before heating makes sense for uncoated cast iron (without enamel), but I dont think it is necessary when there's enamel.
Sometimes boiling clean water in the pot helps to remove burnt residue on the inside.
Can be purchased at any grocery or hardware. It won’t scratch and will have your pot looking new. Comes in a cream form or powder . Can make a wet paste and leave for stubborn stains.
Agree with Fred - though you might also try dish detergent and elbow grease, though it is common to see a brownish stain on the inside of an enameled pot.