DIY -- dutch oven bread

So my baking element shorted out one Friday when I was roasting a chicken. I finished it on the stove so that was no loss.

But there's no sense in buying a new range yet because I gotta gut my kitchen anyway.

So I did the next best thing: I got a dutch oven and dug up recipes for using it on a stovetop as a substitute for baking.

The recipe I used was posted by some people who live on a boat. Boats do not have a lot of space, and the place where you would normally put an oven, you actually want for storage. But since you have a gas or electric cooktop, you can make bread and cake in a dutch oven.

Size is the first problem. The dutch oven I got is 6 quart and just barely held a half batch of my French bread recipe. I am seriously considering getting a deeper one for "baking" and using the one I have for chili and things.

The second thing is you can't expect the bread to get brown. Using a dutch oven basically cooks with steam. This is normal and natural for sourdough breads, but your other breads will not brown on top.

The third issue is whether the lid of your dutch oven has blisters on it to drip fluids back into your recipe, especially to baste "roasts". If so, when you "bake" in it, you need to put a layer of parchment paper or foil between the lid and the pot so the liquid doesn't drip into your cake or bread.

Fourth, you have to insulate the bottom of what you're making from the bottom of the pot. Most people tell you, get a tuna can and put it open side up under what you're baking. The fact is, you have to layer things. First the pot. Then the can or a sturdy pottery dish. Then a "pan" of three layers of aluminum foil or, if your "oven" is big enough, a small pizza pan. Then a layer of oatmeal to absorb moisture on the bottom of the dough. Then the dough. If you're going with a tuna can, use the 6 ounce size, not the big one you use for a family size batch of tuna casserole.

And you shouldn't put the pot directly on the burner. You need a thick pizza pan or cookie sheet directly on the burner, to protect the bottom of the dutch oven.

The real advantage of a dutch oven is if SHTF. If you ever saw Lonesome Dove, you may remember the scene where the cowboy goes out and hauls a bunch of sandwich loaves out of a pot on an open fire. That was dutch oven bread. (Of course, it was probably sourdough due to the history of packaged domestic yeast, but they didn't show you the starter tub or the time it takes to build your dough.) 

I got a Staub cast iron dutch oven. There are other brands. I recommend that you don't go cheap. Remember, I also told you to buy some good stainless steel utensils like Revereware, despite the expense, instead of these non-stick things that never last long or turn out to produce poisons. Same with a dutch oven. Spend the extra bucks to get something good.

Oh, by the way. Do yourself a favor and follow the instructions in the pamphlet. Always let your dutch oven go cold before washing it.