Best Crusty Dutch Oven Bread Recipes

CRUSTY DUTCH OVEN BREAD

Steps:

• Pour bread flour into the bowl of an electric stand mixer and add water, followed by salt. Sprinkle yeast over the surface and allow to dissolve, about 5 minutes.
• Mix on medium speed using the paddle attachment until the dough comes together. Replace the paddle with a dough hook. Continue mixing until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to the dough to rise to about twice its size, 30 to 45 minutes. Push a finger into the dough. The dough should give some resistance, but not spring back. If it springs back, let it rise longer.
• Turn dough out onto a floured surface and punch down to expel excess gas and redistribute the yeast. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Shape the dough into a boule by pushing back and forth on the counter in a circular motion until you have a round, smooth ball. Cover dough with a clean dish towel and allow to rise, about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease a Dutch oven.
• Slice a very shallow "X" into the top of the bread with a sharp knife to help it expand while baking. Place loaf into the prepared Dutch oven and cover with the lid.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and continue to bake, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking until deep golden, 25 to 30 minutes.

EASY NO KNEAD DUTCH OVEN CRUSTY BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended.
• The dough will be shaggy and sticky.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap.
• Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
• The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles.
• Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it.
• Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice.
• Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
• Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal.
• Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal.
• Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours.
• When it's ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
• At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees.
• Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats.
• When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and lift off the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up.
• The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that's OK. Give the pan a firm shake or two to help distribute the dough evenly, but don't worry if it's not perfect; it will straighten out as it bakes.
• Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
• Remove the lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned.
• Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.

THE BEST CRUSTY BREAD (DUTCH OVEN)

Steps:

• 1. Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in a 3-4 quart bowl with a tight-fitting lid. I like to use my trusty Tupperware. If you don't have a bowl w/lid use plastic wrap on a bowl.
• 2. Add the water and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough is mixed well.
• 3. The dough will be quite sticky and shaggy looking, but that's OK.
• 4. Cover the bowl and set aside for 12-18 hours (up to 24 overnight is fine).
• 5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place a cast-iron Dutch oven with the lid into the oven while preheating and heat the pot/lid for 30 minutes.
• 6. Meanwhile, scrape the risen dough from the bowl onto a heavily floured surface. (Dough will still be very sticky.)
• 7. With floured hands, gently shape the dough into a round loaf, making sure there's enough flour on the surface so the dough doesn't stick. Let the dough just sit there until your pot is preheated.
• 8. Take the hot pot from the oven and gently place the dough into the pot.
• 9. Cover with the lid and return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
• 10. Remove the lid at that time and return the pot to the oven for another 10-15 minutes.
• 11. Gently shake the loaf onto a cooling rack and enjoy the beautiful aroma. Give it a chance to cool before cutting into the loaf.

DUTCH OVEN CRUSTY ARTISAN BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Stir dry ingredients together.
• 2. Add water.
• 3. Cover with plastic and let sit 2 hours up to 14 hours. It will be ready to bake at 2 hours but you can let it sit up to 14 hours for your convenience.
• 4. Turn out onto a floured surface and form into a ball.(be sure and coat your hands with flour as the dough is sticky) Cover once again in plastic and let rest. While this rest preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Once your oven is ready then preheat your dutch oven for 30 minutes.
• 5. Place dough into the dutch oven and cover.(I usually grease mine with ghee) Bake 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.

NO KNEAD CRUSTY DUTCH OVEN BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Directions 1 Whisk dry ingredients together. Add warm water. 2 Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours (up to 24). Overnight works great.( But I put mine in the refrigerator overnight as I like a denser loaf.) I made this bread both on the counter overnight and in the refrigerator overnight but like the overnight in the refrigerator better. 3 Preheat oven to 450. 4 Place a cast iron Dutch oven with a lid or any pot with a lid to withstand the high temperature (NOT GREASED) in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes. 5 Meanwhile, pour the sticky dough on a heavily floured surface. Flour your hands and shape into a ball. 6 Cover with a tea towel until the Dutch oven is hot. 7 Remove hot lid from pot in the oven and drop the dough in. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. 8 Then, remove the lid and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Carefully remove bread from oven and from pot and place on a cooling rack. 9 Notes: The original recipe said to bake 30 minutes covered and then 10 - 15 minutes uncovered. I took mine out after baking for 13 minutes after the lid is removed because it was looking quite brown. I'll do mine for 10 minutes next time. Mine sat overnight on the counter in a pampered chef glass measuring bowl with the lid on for 16 hours. (* you could use an ordinary bowl covered with a towel) Again, I like to put my dough overnight in the refrigerator for a denser loaf. 10 This bread is awesome. After I'd mixed the dough, I read about these variations. Make sure if you are adding any flavors to your bread, add them to the flour mixture before adding the water and stir to mix before adding the liquid. 11 Pepper Jack Cheese 12 Jalapeno and Cheddar 13 Raisin, Walnut, and Cinnamon 14 Pecan, Cinnamon, sugar 15 Pumpkin, sunflower, and poppy seed 16 Rosemary, lemon, Gruyere 17 Lemon, Thyme, Asiago cheese, Rosemary, Chives, and Thyme 18 Garlic and Basil

DUTCH OVEN NO KNEAD BREAD (WITH PERFECT CRUSTY CRUST!) - BOWL OF DELICIOUS

Steps:

• In a large bowl (or container), mix together the warm water (1.5 cups), yeast (1 packet/2.25 teaspoons), and table salt (1/2 tablespoon), until yeast and salt are fully or almost dissolved (I like using a whisk for this).
• Add the flour (3.25 cups) to the bowl all at once and stir together until a sticky dough forms. Don't worry about mixing it too much, just make sure everything is uniformly wet. It WILL be messy and sticky. You can scrape what's left on the spoon with a silicone spatula.
• Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel (or place the container to the lid on ajar). Leave it for 2-3 hours to rise in a somewhat warm place (If it's cold out, I like to preheat my oven for a few minutes, then turn it off, then place the bowl in the oven, trapping the heat inside. If your house is warm just leave it out, or if it's warm outside you can place it there).
• After the two-three hour rise time, you have two options: bake, or store in the fridge. See notes for how to store.
• 30 minutes to an hour before you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Place your Dutch oven in the oven, with the lid ON, while the oven is preheating. Once the oven reaches 450, keep it preheating for another 20 minutes, so the Dutch oven gets good and hot.
• Scrape the dough into the edge of a piece of parchment paper dusted with flour. Make it into as much of a "loaf" shape as you can by folding the edges up on top of it (a silicone spatula works well for this).
• Then, use the edges of the parchment paper to flip the loaf over so the floured side is on top and the loaf is in the center of the parchment paper. Don't worry about it looking beautiful or smooth on top. My Dutch oven is an oval, so I made an oval shape. You can do a circle if yours is round.
• Optional: use a very sharp knife or clean razor blade to cut a few slits across the top of the loaf about 1/2" deep, across the entire top. I did this in a cross shape for mine.
• Take out the preheated Dutch oven and take off the lid, carefully! Grab the parchment from the sides and place the loaf in your Dutch oven.
• Place the cover back on the Dutch oven and place in the preheated oven on the center rack. Bake for 35 minutes at 450 degrees F (40 minutes if dough was cold from the fridge). Remove the lid and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until a golden brown color forms- longer if necessary. Remove the loaf from the dutch oven (grabbing the sides of the parchment paper works well here) and place it on a wire rack or cutting board to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.