25 September, 2020
Crusty Dutch Oven Bread
This is a Thermomix recipe (though other food processors would work – Thermy makes it all a bit quicker). You’ll also need a Dutch Oven – something like a heavy cast iron casserole dish with a heavy lid (think Le Creuset or a cheaper alternative!). Preparation is pretty quick and there isn’t much fussing around with proving. The result is quite a dense loaf with a lovely, crunchy crust.
Ingredients
- 300g warm water
- 2 tsp dry yeast
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 500g baker’s flour (or plain flour – which won’t rise as much)
- 2 level tsp salt
Method
First, DON’T preheat the oven.
Put the water in the Thermomix/food processor. Add the yeast and the maply syrup. Add the flour and top it off with the salt. Slowly increase the Thermomix to speed 7 (or food processor equivalent) to combine the ingredients. Should take about 10 seconds
Now switch to the Knead function of the Thermomix and set it going for five minutes. If your food processor doesn’t have a knead function, you’ll have to do it by hand, which is hard work but very satisfying if you want to work out some frustrations.
Cut two lengths of baking paper and use it to line the dutch oven. Lightly spray the lining with oil spray or sprinkle it with flour.
Once the bread dough is nice and smooth and stretchy, roll it into the shape you want (I did an oblong because the casserole I was using was that shape, but if you have a round casserole, leave it round.). Put a couple of slashes in the top of the dough with a sharp knife, and sprinkle the top with flour. Pop it into the dutch oven, put the lid on, and put it in the cold oven.
Turn the oven on to 220°C (or 200°C fan-forced).
Leave it in the oven for about 50-60 minutes. Take it out carefully, the casserole is VERY hot (I burned my thumb the first time I did this) and let it cool on a wire tray.