How To Bake Perfect Sourdough Bread in a Dutch Oven
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This post will show you how to bake great sourdough bread in a Dutch Oven, including all the tips and tricks to yield that deliciously crisp crust, chewy texture and soft, fluffy inside that you crave!
This sourdough bread recipe has been written specifically for baking in a Dutch Oven (you can use a cast iron or enamel Dutch Oven). For best results I recommend using bread flour, however you can use all purpose flour if you wish. You do not need a baking stone or baking sheet for this recipe.
If you love using your Dutch Oven, you might also enjoy making this small batch sourdough bread and rustic sourdough loaves that also utilise a Dutch Oven for the perfect loaf of sourdough bread.
I recommend these resources for making the best Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread:
Making a Sourdough Starter
Best Dutch Oven for Sourdough Bread
Banneton Size Guide
Best Equipment for Making Sourdough Bread
What Is A Dutch Oven And Why Does It Make Perfect Sourdough Bread?
A Dutch Oven is a heavy cooking pot, generally a cast iron pot (can be raw or enamel). It has a tight-fitting lid and loop handles on the sides to make moving it around easier.
A Dutch oven helps you to make perfect sourdough bread because it traps steam inside the pot which stops the crust on your sourdough forming too soon. This enables your dough to expand and spring up first, giving you a lovely soft and fluffy interior and a crispy, chewy crust.
It can also help to give you a better color on your sourdough crust, and lots of lovely sourdough blisters.
Using a Dutch Oven to bake sourdough bread also increases your chance of nailing your sourdough ear.
Which Dutch Oven is Best For Baking Sourdough Bread?
The answer to this question really depends on the shape and size of your loaf. I've written a fully illustrated guide to the Best Dutch Oven for Sourdough Bread, which goes through options for round and oval loaves.
A good multipurpose Dutch Oven, which I use in my own kitchen, is the Lodge Double Dutch Oven. It can fit a standard round boule with 500g of flour, as well as a short batard (as long as the banneton basket you use isn't more than 10" in length).
What Temperature Do You Cook Sourdough In A Dutch Oven?
You need to preheat the Dutch Oven to 230C or 450F. Depending on your oven, you will need to preheat for up to one hour to ensure the oven is at temperature and the Dutch Oven is searing hot. Sourdough bread should be cooked in a Dutch Oven for 45 minutes at 230C or 450F (with the lid off for the last 10 to 15 minutes). You can lower the temperature for the last 10 to 15 minutes of the bake.
I preheat my Dutch Oven empty at high temperatures and have no issues with this. I do not use expensive Dutch Ovens for my sourdough baking though, so if you have an expensive Dutch Oven, it might be worth checking the manufacturer's recommendations.
How To Bake Sourdough Bread In A Dutch Oven
This easy Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread Recipe will give you the most amazing bread - you'll get artisan sourdough bread with a crispy crust, just the right amount of chewiness and a light and airy interior with an open crumb.
Sounds amazing, right? So let's get to it! Here's how to bake sourdough bread in a Dutch Oven.
Autolyse - Premixing The Dough
Weigh out your sourdough starter and water into a large mixing bowl.
Glass is always good as you can see what's happening underneath your dough. This recipe is based on you having an active starter that you have fed a few hours before starting your bake.
Mix the water and starter together briefly (I like to use a jar spatula or dough whisk for this purpose).
Then add your flour and salt and mix whole lot together to form a shaggy dough. A dough scraper can be handy for this step to keep the side of the bowl clean.
The dough will be fairly shaggy and only just brought together (see photo).
Cover your bowl with an elastic food cover or a damp kitchen towel and let it sit for around 1 hour. It's ok if it's a little bit longer, it's not going to matter too much.
This process is called the "autolyse" and allows your flour to soak in all the water and become hydrated.
Forming Up The Dough
After the dough has been through autolyse you need to bring it together into a ball. Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself, into the centre, until a smooth ball is formed.
You shouldn't need more than about 20-30 stretches to form the ball.
You'll notice that the dough is fully hydrated after soaking all the water up. It will be fairly sticky but as you bring it into a ball, it will become smoother and shinier.
Once the dough has formed into a ball, pop the cover back on and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Stretch & Fold - Creating Structure
Over the next few hours you need to create some structure for your dough by "stretching and folding".
Aim to do around 4-6 sets of stretches and folds.
For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times. Leave around 15 minutes in between each set. Again you do not have to be exact with time, but you need to do at least 4 sets over 2 hours.
You can find a video of stretching and folding here.
Bulk Ferment or Bulk Rise
Once you've finished your stretch and folds, place the cover back over your dough and let it rest and ferment (a plastic cover is a better option for this stage). You might also like to explore using a Cambro Container for helping you to judge bulk fermentation better.
You want your dough to double. You can find my best tips on knowing when bulk fermentation has finished here.
Shaping The Dough
Once your dough has finished it's bulk rise, it's time to shape it into either a boule or a batard (this depends on the size and shape of the Dutch oven you're using).
For this recipe, I'm shaping my dough in a short batard and baking inside my Lodge Double Dutch Oven. You can see a video of how to shape a sourdough batard here.
You'll need to flour your counter top with rice flour for this (we use rice flour because it has no gluten). Try to be quite sparing with the rice flour, you only need a very light dusting (in these photos I've used semolina instead of rice flour).
Use a plastic dough scraper to gently ease the dough out of the bowl. You want it to land upside down on your counter so that the smooth top of the dough is on the countertop and the sticky underside is facing up. This will make it easier to shape.
You will need a banneton to put your dough into. If you do not have a banneton, you can find some alternatives for a proofing basket here.
Placing Into A Banneton
Once the dough is shaped, place the shaped dough into your banneton smooth side down, so your seam is on the top - this way the top of your dough will get the pretty lines from the banneton.
If you're using a cloth or tea towel in a bowl it's ok to put your dough with the smooth side up. Just make sure the dough is tight. Lift your dough around the edges to pop a little more rice flour if you feel it needs it.
Cold Ferment
Now the dough is in its "shaping container" cover it loosely with a plastic bag or elastic food cover and place into the fridge. I use a large plastic bag to cover it - I just reuse it each time.
Try to leave it in the fridge for a minimum 5 hours up to a maximum of around 36 hours.
The longer you leave it the better your bread will be! A longer cold ferment creates beautiful blisters on your crust and a deeper sourdough flavour. It will also ensure your dough forms a skin which makes it easier to score.
Preparing To Bake
Once you're ready to bake your sourdough, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F.
Place your Dutch Oven into the oven when you turn it on so it gets HOT. Try to preheat for around 1 hour to ensure your oven is super hot - but you know your oven so just adjust this time if you need to.
Leave your dough in the fridge until the very last minute - placing a cold dough into a hot, preheated Dutch Oven will give you a great "spring".
Bake Time!
Now it's time to bake!
When your oven is at temperature, take your sourdough out of the fridge. Gently place it onto a piece of baking paper.
Make sure that you make the baking paper big enough to use the edges as a handle to lower to dough into your preheated Dutch Oven.
Gently score the top of the dough with a lame, clean razor blade or knife. At minimum a large cross is sufficient, but you can get as artistic as you like.
You can find my full guide on how to score sourdough bread here.
Carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the baking paper as a handle. Put the Dutch Oven lid on and place the pot into the hot oven. It's a good idea to wear good quality heat resistant gloves for this step.
If you want to you can spritz your dough with extra water or add a few ice cubes before you put the lid back on.
BAKE TIME:
30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus
10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F
Finishing The Bake
When you remove your dough from the oven, carefully remove it from the dutch oven as soon as possible and place on a wire rack to cool.
Tips for Perfect Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread
Making the perfect loaf of sourdough bread in a Dutch Oven is a relatively straight forward process, but there are a few things you can do to increase your success, even on your first loaf!
- Always make your sourdough bread with an active sourdough starter. This will ensure that your bulk fermentation is on point and you'll end up with a much better loaf of homemade sourdough bread. You don't have to rely on the float test to know when your starter is active, you can easily see the best time to use sourdough starter here.
- Make sure you use a piece of parchment paper underneath your dough. It not only helps to easily transfer the dough to the hot Dutch Oven, it also prevents the sourdough bread from sticking to the bottom of your pot (this is not a situation you want to have to deal with).
- Do not use olive oil or any other oil inside the Dutch Oven. It will make the dough stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Always use a preheated Dutch Oven. The cold dough going into the hot pot will increase your oven spring and give you better results.
Baker's Timeline for Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread
DAY 1
1.00pm - Feed sourdough starter
5.00 pm - Premix and Autolyse (while I cook dinner)
6.30pm - Form into a smooth ball. Rest for 30 minutes.
7.00pm - Perform 4-6 sets of stretch & folds over next 2 hours.
9.00pm - Cover and leave on bench overnight for bulk ferment if temp right.
DAY 2
6.00am - Shape & lift into banneton/bowl & into the fridge.
(I could bake my bread from around 2pm today if I wanted to, I just prefer a longer cold ferment).
DAY 3
2.00pm - 32 hours later place into hot oven.
7.00pm - finally cut into delicious sourdough and slather with cultured butter!
You can find more information on sourdough baking timelines here.
Frequently Asked Questions
While a Challenger Bread Pan (or other cast iron baking pan) is not exactly the same as a cast iron Dutch Oven, mainly because it's sole purpose is baking bread, it does work on the same principle. That is, it is a heavy, enclosed cast iron pan with a tight fitting lid that holds the steam inside to optimise your sourdough.
I have baked many loaves in various Dutch Ovens, both round and oval, as well as in a cast iron bread pan similar to the Challenger Bread Pan, and I find that this style of pan gives a more golden brown crust.
No, you don't need to grease a Dutch Oven for sourdough bread with any type of oil or butter. This can increase the risk of your sourdough bread sticking to the bottom of the pot. Using parchment paper is enough when making Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread.
Yes you can bake sourdough bread in an enamel Dutch Oven. I use both raw cast iron and enamel Dutch Oven with no real difference to the outcome. If your enamel Dutch Oven is lighter in color, the high temperatures necessary for sourdough can mark or stain the enamel, so that is something to be aware of.
Yes, you can bake sourdough bread without a Dutch Oven. The trick is to find a way to keep steam inside your oven for the first part of the bake. I've written a guide to baking sourdough bread without a Dutch Oven here.
Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Digital Scales
- Banneton (size guide for bannetons)
- Dutch Oven (size guide for Dutch Ovens)
Ingredients
- 500 g Bread Flour
- 350 g Water
- 50 g Sourdough Starter
- 10 g Salt
Instructions
- Autolyse - Premixing The DoughWeigh out your sourdough starter and water into a large ceramic or glass bowl. Glass is always good as you can see what's happening underneath your dough. This recipe is based on you having an active starter that you have fed a few hours before starting your bake.Mix the water and starter together briefly. Then add your flour and salt and mix whole lot together to form a shaggy dough. I find a dough scraper the easiest way to mix it as you can keep the sides of bowl clean.The dough will be fairly shaggy and only just brought together (see photo). You might wonder how this will turn into bread, but just wait, time is your friend and the dough will change in around an hour.
- Cover your bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and let it sit for around 1 hour. It's ok if it's a little bit longer, it's not going to matter too much.This process is called the "autolyse" and allows your flour to soak in all the water and become hydrated. You can see how the dough has changed in this photo.
- Forming Up The DoughAfter the dough has been through autolyse you need to bring it together into a ball. Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself, into the centre, until a smooth ball is formed. You shouldn't need more than about 20-30 stretches to form the ball. You'll notice that the dough is fully hydrated after soaking all the water up. It will be fairly sticky but as you bring it into a ball, it will become smoother and shinier.
- Once the dough has formed into a smooth ball, pop the cling film back on and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Stretch & Fold - Creating StructureOver the next few hours you need to create some structure for your dough by "stretching and folding". Aim to do around 4-6 sets of stretches and folds. For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times. Leave around 15 minutes in between each set. Again you do not have to be exact with time, but you need to do at least 4 sets over 2 hours.I like to be fairly liberal with my timings as I am generally cooking amongst the chaos of family life and therefore sometimes timing does go astray!
- Bulk FermentOnce you've finished your stretch and folds, place the cling film or damp tea towel back over your dough and let it rest and ferment (a plastic cover is a better option for this stage).See notes below for more info on this step.
- Shaping The DoughOnce your dough has finished it's first ferment, it's time to shape it into either a boule or a batard. You'll need to flour your counter top with rice flour for this (we use rice flour because it has no gluten). Try to be quite sparing with the rice flour, you only need a very light dusting.Use a silicone dough scraper to gently ease the dough out of the bowl. You want it to land upside down on your counter so that the smooth top of the dough is on the countertop and the sticky underside is facing up. This will make it easier to shape.You can either shape your dough into a batard (oblong) or a boule (round). You'll find instructions for shaping your dough in the notes section.You will need a banneton to put your dough into. If you do not have a banneton, then a bowl or basket lined with a floured tea towel is perfectly fine. Make sure your bowl isn't too big though, you want your dough to retain some shape.Whatever you're using needs to be liberally floured with your rice flour. If you're using a banneton - liberally sprinkle it with rice flour. If you're using a cloth or tea towel, rub the flour into it to ensure it becomes non stick.
- Placing Into A BannetonOnce the dough is shaped, place it into your banneton smooth side down, so your seam is on the top - this way the top of your dough will get the pretty lines from the banneton. If you're using a cloth or tea towel in a bowl it's ok to put your dough with the smooth side up. Just make sure the dough is tight.Lift your dough around the edges to pop a little more rice flour if you feel it needs it. Just try to handle the dough as little as possible and be really gentle as you really want to preserve all the gases and air bubbles that have formed during your bulk ferment.
- Cold FermentNow the dough is in its "shaping container" cover it loosely with a plastic bag or damp tea towel and place into the fridge. I use a large plastic bag to cover it - I just reuse it each time. Try to leave it in the fridge for a minimum 5 hours up to a maximum of around 36 hours. The longer you leave it the better your bread will be! A longer cold ferment creates beautiful blisters on your crust and a deeper sourdough flavour. It will also ensure your dough forms a skin which makes it easier to score.
- Preparing To BakeOnce you're ready to bake your sourdough, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F. Place your Dutch Oven into the oven when you turn it on so it gets HOT. Try to preheat for around 1 hour to ensure your oven is super hot - but you know your oven so just adjust this time if you need to.Leave your dough in the fridge until the very last minute - placing a cold dough into a hot oven will give you a great "spring".
- Bake Time!Now it's time to bake!When your oven is at temperature, take your sourdough out of the fridge. Gently place it onto a piece of baking paper. Make sure that you make the baking paper big enough to use the edges as a handle to lower to dough into your Dutch Oven.Gently score your bread with a lame, clean razor blade or knife. At minimum a large cross is sufficient, but you can get as artistic as you like. You can find my full guide on how to score sourdough bread here.Carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the baking paper as a handle. Put the lid on and place into the hot oven. If you want to you can spritz your dough with extra water before you put the lid on.BAKE TIME:30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F
- Finishing The BakeWhen you remove your dough from the oven, carefully remove it from the dutch oven as soon as possible and place on a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- Notes on Flour: This recipe is written using strong Bread Flour. Bread flour has a higher protein content than All Purpose flour. If you choose to use All Purpose flour you may have a different result because of this. You can read more about the differences between All Purpose Flour and Bread Flour here.
- Notes on Sourdough Starter: This recipe is based on you having an active starter that you have fed a few hours before starting your bake. For info on how to make a sourdough starter, go here.
- Notes on Stretch & Folds: If you are going to do the stretch & folds on your bench top, spray your surface with water mist rather than using flour. You can leave the dough in the bowl if you want to. Wet your hands to stop the dough sticking - although it shouldn't be too sticky. It will get less sticky as you do your stretches and folds. For more information on how to do stretch and folds, go here.
- Notes on Bulk Fermentation: If your home is warm then your dough will ferment a lot faster and could be done in as little as a few hours. If it's colder, it will take longer, possibly overnight.
I would recommend that you try to do your first few bulk ferments during daylight hours so that you can watch your dough closely.
Once you're more familiar with the process - and the temperature of your home - you will be able to do overnight ferments. You will know your dough is ready to move to the next stage when it has *just* doubled in size. It will be fairly wobbly and full of bubbles. You should be able to see large air bubbles under the surface of the dough.
You don't want to let it go any further than doubled as it will be over fermented.
If you want to do an overnight ferment, but your home is warm, consider using a little less starter (ie 25g).
Less starter means your dough will take longer to ferment and you will reduce the risk of over fermenting your dough. You'll find more information on these topics here:
When is my bulk ferment finished? What is the difference between cold ferment and bulk ferment? Why does the amount of starter matter?
- Notes on Dutch Oven: You can use either a round or oval Dutch Oven, depending on the shape of the loaf you're making. I recommend a 5Q or 5L Dutch oven for each one, however as long as your banneton fits inside with a little wiggle room, you will be able to fit your loaf inside. You can find more information on the best Dutch Oven to use for sourdough bread here.
- Notes on Baking: If you're worried about the base of your bread burning, place a baking sheet on shelf underneath your Dutch Oven - it works! If you're worried about your bread not being cooked all the way through at the end of cooking time, turn the oven off and place your dough straight onto the oven rack. Leave the door ajar and let your bread rest there for a few hours. Make sure you don't close the door or your sourdough will sweat and you'll get a wrinkly, soggy crust. Remember not to cut into your loaf too soon - you'll need to let it cool for at least a few hours (4-6 is best).
Nutrition
