You'll Love these Cast Iron Skillet Bread Recipes (#4 will make you drool!) (2024)

FAQs

Is cast iron good for bread making? ›

But the real magic comes from the cast-iron Dutch oven, the perfect vessel for baking bread. It acts like an oven-within-the-oven, maintaining a high and steady heat that transforms this sticky dough into a gorgeous round loaf with a crisp crust and excellent crumb structure.

Ready to bake

Apply a gentle coating of vegetable oil-based non-stick spray and sprinkle in some semolina flour or cornmeal. (Be careful during this step — the pot may smoke slightly when prepared.) Slide your hand under the towel or piece of parchment paper and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side down.

You can bake a single batch of this bread in a 5-6 quart dutch oven.

The disadvantages of cast iron

Additionally, cast iron pans require regular maintenance, including seasoning and careful cleaning, to prevent rust and maintain their non-stick surface. Improper cleaning or using harsh cleaning agents can strip away the seasoning and damage the pan.

Most cast iron skillets these days come pre-seasoned, meaning they're ready for cooking on as soon as you take them out of the box. However, over time, the seasoning erodes, and you'll need to re-apply it by brushing the skillet with a thin layer of neutral oil and heating it until the oil bonds to the metal.

Coat the pan lightly (inside and out of both the base and the lid) with the Grapeseed Seasoning Oil. If you use too much oil, your cookware may become sticky, or smoke a lot in the oven.

While it won't really affect the actual bread itself, if you're using butter or oil in a cast iron or enamel pot there's a big risk that the bread will actually stick to the pot. It's not a pretty sight to behold ... and not a mess you want to clean up. Not to mention losing your bread.

Two reasons: By keeping the outer surface of the bread moist, it delays crust formation. This allows the bread to expand (or “spring”) for longer and develop the nice round shape. Without water, it might form a crust early on, but then as the middle bakes, it will expand and burst the crust.

You can shape your dough on a rectangular sheet of parchment paper, then use it to safely lower the dough into your Dutch oven. Once your gorgeous loaf of bread is finished cooking, the parchment paper makes removing the loaf super easy.

Why is my Dutch oven bread so hard? ›

It likely baked for too long at too high of a temperature. Reduce the bake time and temperature until it no longer burns. Use the suggestions in this guide post to help reduce burning on the bottom of your bread dough.

Also, the 5-qt. Dutch oven is as heavy as I'd want to deal with removing from a hot oven. I think the 7-qt. would also work, but you don't really need one that big for making the bread recipe.

Usually bread will be dense when there is too much flour. Keep in mind this dough will be sticky and shaggy, do not add any more flour than specified. Other factors that come into play are humidity and age of flour. Little yeast, long rise, sticky dough are keys to a good, light loaf.

Just check the documentation and make sure it's safe up to temperatures of 500°F, just to be on the safe side. Dishes like the Corningware Ruby Casserole and Anchor Hocking basic casserole should work. Now that you have something to bake it in, go bake some bread!

To prevent burning, use coarse cornmeal or wheat bran

Coarsely ground corn (polenta or corn grits) works exceptionally well to provide a thin layer of insulation between your dough and the Dutch oven. This layer helps keep the dough from sticking to the cast iron but also lifts it up to prevent burning.

A great loaf pan bakes evenly browned, neatly shaped loaves. It should be made from aluminized steel for optimized browning and have a nonstick coating that releases loaves immediately when turned over and is easy to clean. Finally, a good loaf pan is versatile and can handle yeasted bread, batter bread, and sourdough.

Non-stick metal bread tins – Metal bread tins made from aluminised steel are best for baking bread. I use the bread tin supplier brand USA Pan, which comes with an eco-friendly, PFOA- and PTFE-free silicone coating which has good non-stick properties.

The quality of absorbing heat and holding onto it makes cast iron ideal for any recipe that starts on the stove and ends in the oven. From searing a thick steak or spatchco*cked chicken that finishes in the oven to caramelizing apples for a tarte tatin, cast iron is the best possible choice for this kind of cooking.