Dutch Oven Monkey Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best size Dutch oven for bread making? ›

You just need a lid to cover it and the proper heat-conducting cast-iron material, and your bread will come out perfectly every time. Size & Shape: Look for a 6- to 7-quart, round Dutch oven. Anything much bigger will cause the bread to spread out and go flat.

My method for baking bread dough in a Dutch oven: Preheat your home oven to 450°F (230°C) with a Dutch oven inside for 30 to 45 minutes.

Fill your dutch oven no more than halfway with oil and then heat to your recipe's prescribed temperature. Submerge your ingredients in the heated oil until cooked, then rest them on a paper towel or wire rack to remove excess oil.

The high heat inside the Dutch oven brings the water inside the dough to evaporate. Because you have the lid on top, the steam is trapped inside and creates a hot and steamy environment. This helps your bread to stay moist and flexible so it can rise and expand easily.

I think your 3 qt will be just fine, simply adjust your recipe. The recipe I make in a 5qt dutch oven uses 6 cups of flour. That makes for a BIG loaf. If 3qt is 60% of 5qt, why not simply reduce everything and start out with 3 1/2 C of flour?

The most popular size for a Dutch oven is somewhere between five and seven quarts. If you're cooking for family or friends fairly regularly, something like a 5.5 quart Dutch oven might be ideal for you.

To ensure you get a burst of steam when the dough is put inside the pot, it should be preheated empty for about 30 minutes. Start preheating your pot roughly 30 minutes before your rising dough is ready to bake. Keep in mind the temperature of your kitchen will make a difference in how quickly the dough rises.

After 30 minutes, remove the lid, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F, and continue baking until the bread is nicely browned and cooked through. It should have an internal temperature of 200°F or so when done.

Any tips for preventing a thick, hard crust on the bottom of my bread done in a Dutch oven? Make sure you are using a heavy gauge Dutch oven and that it isn't too close to the bottom heat element in your oven. If you are still getting a thick, hard crust, you can put a pillow of foil down, like this.

Here's a tip that helps with cooking and cleanup: Before braising in the oven, cover the pot of your Dutch oven with a sheet of aluminum foil and then put the lid on. This tactic tightens the seal during the cooking process and prevents stains on the inside of the lid during braising, making cleaning easier.

Do you preheat Dutch oven with lid on or off? ›

The most common method is: Preheat Dutch oven in the oven with the lid off at 500F/260C. Many bakers will continue preheating for 10-20 minutes after the oven reaches target temperature to ensure the Dutch oven is at its hottest. Lower the loaf into the Dutch oven using a sling made of parchment or silicone.

Generally, you also want to stay away from using high heat, except for boiling. Even then, you'll likely want to turn down the heat eventually, as the cast iron's efficiency could lead to a boil-over. If you're using your Dutch oven in the regular oven, be sure your lid and knob are oven-safe.

If the bottom of your Dutch oven isn't enamel-coated, it's best to use the parchment paper. Mine is enamel-coated, but I find it easier to keep the round shape of the dough if I just place it in the Dutch oven with the parchment paper. Whatever works fer ya!

As long as you have a lid to cover it, the bread comes out perfectly every time. I found that using a 4- to 6-quart Dutch oven yields the perfect round shape. Fight the urge to grease your Dutch oven. Because of the high temperature, the fat will burn off almost immediately, giving your bread a charred taste.

Haven't had one single loaf of bread stick to the pot. If you might want a larger pot for other cooking, you might prefer the 7 quart, otherwise, as others have said, 5 quart should do. It's a heavy pot, so a 7 might be more awkward to remove from oven.

Anywhere between a 5- to 7-quart Dutch oven is the right all-purpose size for most cooking tasks. It has high walls that prevent spillage and enough surface area to brown meat for a braise, but it's not so big that you need help hauling it in and out of the oven. It's also the perfect size for bringing to the table.

Bread will conform to the shape of the pot it is baked in, especially with wet doughs like the 'no knead' variety. So with an Oval Dutch Oven, your bread will bake in a more traditional loaf shape versus a rounded boule shape that results from a Round Dutch Oven.

Preheat the pot with the lid on to 500°F for about 20 minutes. I used a 7 1/4 quart pot to bake a 1 1/2 pound loaf of bread.