Learn to bake bread without an oven, and use a dutch oven instead! This easy alternative to using an oven will allow you to have fresh bread, even if you’re camping.
How to Bake Without an Oven
This tutorial will show you how to bake sourdough in a dutch oven!
If you’re looking for a Sourdough Bread Recipe – click here!
If you’re looking for a Sourdough Starter Recipe – click here!
Baking Alternatives: How To Bake Using a Dutch Oven
Follow these steps to bake your sourdough bread in a dutch oven
Coat the bottom of your Dutch oven with cornmeal. Put the dough inside and leave it to sit and rise again. This time, it will rise for a shorter period, about 1-2 hours. You will know it’s ready when the dough is slightly puffy. Factors such as the temperature of your dough and surrounding environment will affect its growth rate so keep an open mind.
Using a serrated knife, make a shallow slash about 2 inches long in the center of the dough. This will help the dough to expand and the steam to escape.
Using a Dutch oven to bake means that you can bake your sourdough bread outdoors. You can bake the bread in an oven at around 400-420 F for 40 minutes. You can achieve this temperature by using 40 charcoal briquets (give or take — keep a thermometer around just in case). Read more in this article to learn more about methods of baking without an oven.
Bake atop the briquets for an hour or until a deep, golden brown.
It is important to remember that some of the briquets will lose heat or die out along the way. For best results keep a thermometer handy to determine the Dutch oven’s temperature. Add or detract briquets as needed.
Once your sourdough is done, allow it to cool, then enjoy!
