Bread burnt on bottom, not cooked through

December 24, 2018 8:24 AM

I baked no-knead bread in a dutch oven, and it burned on the bottom but wasn't cooked all the way through. How should I adjust it next time?

I made a double batch of no-knead bread following this recipe. I baked it in the preheated dutch oven for 50 minutes at 450 F. The bottom of the bread was burnt black, and the middle wasn't all the way cooked - it was still wet and gooey.

What should I change? Longer time at a lower temperature?

posted by medusa to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

Do you use a separate thermometer in your oven? It may be running hotter than you realize.
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:48 AM on December 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

After reading the link, it sounds like you doubled the recipe and tried to bake on double sized loaf by increasing the time but leaving the temp unchanged. The simplest plan would be to bake two loaves. You could even do the sequentially and finish in about the same time as your doubled experiment. If you are committed to one bigger loaf, I’d start looking at other recipes for clues.
posted by advicepig at 8:49 AM on December 24, 2018 [11 favorites]

I have not had great luck doubling recipes for bread. It just doesn’t seem to scale the way I think it should. Personally, I would do two smaller loaves instead of one larger one. (Not the same thing, I know!) But if you’re up for an experiment, I think your instinct of lower heat for a longer time is a good one...maybe 400 degrees for 80 minutes?
posted by corey flood at 8:52 AM on December 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

As others have said, you can't double the size of your boule and bake it the same way. Try again with a single recipe. Or, alternatively, make a double batch but split it into two boules and bake them serially.
posted by slkinsey at 9:00 AM on December 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

Ok, after suggesting just making two loaves, I fell down the internet rabbit hole reading a bunch of other recipes and many, including Serious Eats, say scaling no knead recipes are fine, but most handwave at the time adjustments. Also, the general time with lid varies drastically, and most recipes give a very large range to how long it should cook before it is done.

If it were up to me, I’d try to get the oven setup so the Dutch oven is as high as practical to get it away from the heat source and put a half sheet roasting pan or baking stone on a lower shelf to shield it a little. I’d also do the uncovered bake while an oven thermometer was inserted so I knew when the middle was done. I’d probably take notes so I could try it without the probe later.
posted by advicepig at 9:10 AM on December 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

That sounds like too high a temp to me. My go to no knead recipe calls for heating the oven and the pot to 400 for 20 min and then turning down to 375 when you place the dough into the pot and place the lid. I bake for 30 min at that 375 with the lid on and then take off the lid and assess. You can lower at this point if too browned and finish off at 350 or 375 for 30 min.

I’d try playing around with a lower temp.
posted by rdnnyc at 9:28 AM on December 24, 2018

A lower temp is where I'd start attacking this problem; if you've scorched the bottom but the rest isn't cooked, it means that the gradient between the inside and outside temps was pretty severe. Baking it longer at a lower temp will allow the inside to reach temp before the bottom scorches.

That said, if the high heat is necessary to achieve some aspect of the recipe (e.g. a specific crust texture) then I think you're stuck making two normal-sized loafs rather than trying to bake the doubled recipe all in one loaf. You might be able replicate some of it by starting or finishing it at a higher temp and then doing the rest of the baking at a lower temp, but it'd require experimentation.

Nthing to not double unfamiliar recipes. Baking is chemistry, not math.
posted by Aleyn at 9:53 AM on December 24, 2018 [3 favorites]

Did you by any chance lower the oven rack (making it closer to the heat element) to accommodate the height of your dutch oven? Because that'll do it. (Although so will doubling the quantity, as it throws off the exterior/interior ratio of the boule.)
posted by fingersandtoes at 2:43 PM on December 24, 2018

My partner does a lot of baking, and when he doubles that recipe he always bakes 2 loaves sequentially.
posted by asphericalcow at 3:25 PM on December 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

I had problems burning the bottom of loaves and solved it by putting the bread on a rack above another rack with a heavy tray on it (would have used a pizza stone but couldn't find it). The idea being that the direct heat coming from the bottom of the oven is the problem.
posted by hawthorne at 3:49 PM on December 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

Whoa, you made bread with 6 cups of flour???? That's a giant loaf!!! No wonder it didn't cook all the way through.

You should call King Arthur Flour's Baker's hotline if you want to bake another loaf that big. They'll know what to do.
posted by Toddles at 8:22 PM on December 24, 2018 [2 favorites]

Did your dough rise?

The ratios in the dough recipe you linked are close to what I use and I've never had results like you describe. The recipe you use, though, starts with a smaller amount of yeast and calls for a longer rise -- I'm wondering if maybe your yeast didn't activate properly and maybe you didn't get a proper rise.

I do usually have a baking stone in the oven on the rack immediately below the middle rack on which I place my dutch oven. I agree with others that it might help to either block the direct heat from the oven elements or else move a little further away from it. I'd also avoid using convection mode if that's something your oven does -- I'm sure there's some way to adjust for it but that's not the usual baking mode with the no-knead breads in my experience.
posted by Nerd of the North at 9:30 PM on December 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

This sounds maybe like a proofing/fermentation problem, rather than a baking setup problem. Yes, six cups flour is a big loaf but it's plenty doable. I routinely make big loaves at 450f and they finish before the bottom is burnt.

A guess: the dough was over-proofed and the yeast was exhausted, killing the oven spring.
posted by Caxton1476 at 12:21 PM on December 25, 2018