DIY -- dutch oven retake

 First I want to correct something I said in the old post on this topic. You bake on the middle rack of your oven. The dutch oven is the same; you want a booster to make sure your bread or whatever is in the middle of the heated space.

So I tried again with sourdough pumpernickel. First, I made rolls not loaves. They fit in the dutch oven better; it took three rounds to make a dozen rolls. If I had bought a bigger dutch oven, maybe I could have done it in two rounds.

Second, I bought a package of three foil pans that you can use for cake. One went upside down in the dutch oven.  This was my booster. I had to pinch the sides in a little to make it fit.

That left me with two pans. Each held four rolls, so I had one in the dutch oven and one loaded while the rolls continued to rise.

The same set-up works for pies and cakes. Sourdough  bread likes to cook with steam; pies and cakes don't, so make extra sure you don't forget to use parchment paper to keep the basting bumps from dropping steam down onto your pie or cake. I haven't tried it yet but the recipes on the Internet tell you it's so. This means that quick breads like brownies and shortbread should work the same way as pies and cakes.

I made another batch of rolls, this time sourdough honey 100% whole wheat. I used a lot of sour and they are very tangy; this makes them great with cheese or lunch meats. And of course a year ago it was great to have sourdough starter around because all the yeast disappeared from the stores when the pandemic started or, as I have often said in this DIY column, when SHTF.