How Long To Bake Sourdough Bread In Dutch Oven?

Sourdough bread is a chewy bread with a tangy taste that many love. Baking sourdough bread in a Dutch oven can make the bread even tastier! If you are considering baking sourdough bread in a Dutch oven, you may be wondering how long you need to bake the bread.

You should bake sourdough bread for about 25 minutes at 43o degrees Fahrenheit with the lid on the Dutch oven. After baking for 25 minutes with the lid on, remove the lid from the Dutch oven and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes at the same temperature. 

Though you know how long to bake sourdough bread, you may need other information before baking. For example, do you have to preheat your Dutch oven before baking? How do you keep sourdough bread from sticking to the Dutch oven and burning on the bottom? We elaborate on this and more in this post, so please keep reading!

Delicious Sourdough bread on the table, How Long To Bake Sourdough Bread In Dutch Oven?

Do You Have to Preheat Your Dutch Oven for Sourdough Bread?

Yes, you have to preheat your Dutch oven for sourdough bread. The amount of time and the temperature at which you should preheat your Dutch oven varies.

A red cuisinart Dutch oven on the table

Some recipes state that you should let your Dutch oven preheat for about 30 minutes at 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Others state that you should let your Dutch oven preheat for about 1 hour at 45o degrees Fahrenheit. If you preheat your oven at a lower temperature, you will need to preheat it for a longer amount of time.

Do You Preheat a Dutch Oven with the Lid on or Off?

You should preheat a Dutch oven with its lid on. Dutch ovens are efficient at baking sourdough bread because they trap steam in while the bread bakes, giving it its notoriously crispy crust. Therefore, preheating with the lid on ensures that more steam is trapped inside the Dutch oven.

How Big Should a Dutch Oven be for Sourdough Bread?

If you're using a Dutch oven for baking sourdough bread, the Dutch oven should have a capacity ranging from 4 to 7 quarts. This capacity range will ensure that the bread has enough space to rise, especially during the oven spring, when the bread rises to about a third of its size after being placed in the oven.

How Do You Stop Sourdough Bread from Sticking to a Dutch Oven?

Whole wheat Sourdough inside a jar

To stop sourdough bread from sticking to your Dutch oven, you should ensure that there is a barrier between the bread and the Dutch oven. There are a few different items that you can use to create a barrier. Some of these items include parchment paper, oil, flour, and semolina, a type of flour made of durum wheat.

It's important to note that some items are better than others at creating the barrier. For example, lining the Dutch oven with parchment paper will give you the best results. This is because it completely prevents the bread from making contact with the Dutch oven.

In contrast, lining the Dutch oven with regular flour is the least effective way to keep the bread from sticking. This is because regular flour burns easily, so the barrier that it forms between the bread and the oven will disappear quickly. Therefore, you should only use regular flour to create a barrier if you don't have any of the other items.

In addition to creating a barrier, you can also buy a relatively large Dutch oven to ensure that the bread does not stick to the sides. Purchasing a larger Dutch oven gives your sourdough bread more space to rise. More space lessens the bread's ability to stick to the Dutch oven.

Click here to find a 7.3-quart Dutch oven on Amazon.

How Do You Prevent Sourdough Bread from Burning on the Bottom?

Starter Sourdough bread on the table

There are several methods for preventing sourdough bread from burning on the bottom. Six of these methods are discussed below.

Placing a Baking Sheet Between the Dutch Oven and Oven Rack

Putting a baking sheet between your Dutch oven and oven rack is one of the easiest ways to stop your sourdough bread from burning. The baking sheet decreases the amount of heat transferred from the oven to the Dutch oven. The decrease in heat prevents the bread from getting burned.

Placing Aluminum Foil Under the Sourdough Bread

Placing aluminum foil under the sourdough bread is another easy way to prevent the bread from burning. This method works like the baking sheet method because it decreases the amount of heat that the oven transfers to the Dutch oven.

However, if you use this method, you must place parchment paper between the bread and the foil to ensure that the bread does not stick to the foil.

Placing Ice Cubes in the Base of the Dutch Oven

Placing ice cubes in the base of your Dutch oven not only prevents your bread from burning; it also creates additional steam! This additional steam is a major benefit because, as mentioned, sourdough bread needs steam to form a crispy crust.

However, you should know that this method can result in thermal shock. This is due to your cast iron pan going from an extremely hot temperature to a significantly cooler temperature. If your pan experiences thermal shock, it may warp, chip, or crack, so be careful with this method!

Finishing Your Sourdough Bread Directly on the Oven Rack

A woman mixing together ingredients for a Sourdough bread

The bottom of sourdough bread burns because the bases of Dutch ovens are extremely hot. Therefore, decreasing the amount of time that the bread spends on the base of the Dutch oven will help prevent it from burning.

Bake the sourdough bread in the Dutch oven for 20 to 30 minutes to successfully carry out this method. Then, take the bread out of the Dutch oven and place it on the oven rack for the remainder of the baking time.

Creating a Barrier with Parchment Paper

We've mentioned that creating a barrier with parchment paper can prevent the sourdough bread from sticking to the sides of the Dutch oven.

In addition to this, creating a barrier with the parchment paper also lessens the chances of your bread burning. Like all the other methods on this list, the parchment paper decreases the amount of heat that the bottom of the bread receives.

So, this method is perfect if you're trying to prevent your bread from burning and sticking to your Dutch oven.

Moving Up the Rack the Dutch Oven is on

This may seem like the easiest method on this list, as it simply requires you to move your oven rack up. However, this method is a little more complicated than it looks if your Dutch oven is especially large. So, if you have a large Dutch oven, you may find the other methods on this list more manageable.

In Closing

If baked properly, sourdough is a delicious bread with a tangy flavor and crispy crust. Be sure to bake sourdough for about 25 minutes at 45o degrees Fahrenheit with the lid on the Dutch oven and again with the lid off the Dutch oven for about 20 to 25 minutes at the same temperature.

Remember that you should always preheat your Dutch oven with the lid on and that your Dutch oven should have a capacity of 4 to 7 quarts. If you want to prevent the bottom of your sourdough from burning, consider the six methods that we mentioned.

Before you go, check out some of our other articles:

Can You Bake Bread In A Glass Loaf Pan? Does it Take Longer?

Types, Sizes, and Brands of Dutch Ovens You Should Know

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