Food - Drink
A Potential Downside To Using A Dutch Oven For Baking Bread
By LUCY CLARK
Dutch ovens have a lot of benefits over other cookware, but baking bread is one underrated yet fantastic ability of theirs, since these special pots steam the bread while baking and create a crispy crust and moist interior. However, for bread bakers who like to play around and branch out, the Dutch oven has one major flaw.
The shape of a Dutch oven means that it can only produce round loaves of bread. Some breads, like sourdough, are classically round, but rectangular sandwich or baguette-style loaves aren’t possible in a Dutch oven, since the steaming and expansion inside the vessel will always lead the dough to take the shape of the pot.
There are specific cast iron bread ovens that provide the same result as a Dutch oven, but without the shape limitations. The downside here, though, is that these special pieces of equipment can be pricey, and unlike a Dutch oven, which can be used for a multitude of kitchen purposes, these tools are limited only to bread.