Want to prevent the bottom of your sourdough bread from burning every time you bake it? I've put together some easy ways to ensure you get perfectly baked sourdough bases every time! No more burnt bottoms or thick or chewy crusts on your next sourdough bread!
If you love using your sourdough starter to bake the perfect sourdough bread, you'll love all of these tips for perfecting the base of your artisan sourdough bread. It's actually one of the most common problems home bakers face as they embark on their sourdough journey.
My top 10 ways to prevent the base of your sourdough from burning are:
- Place a baking sheet under your Dutch Oven
- Line your Dutch Oven with parchment paper
- Use a trivet in your Dutch Oven
- Use cornmeal, rice, or oatmeal
- Reposition your bread
- Lower the overall temperature
- Consider an open cake
- Use less sugar in your recipe
- Sprinkle your dough or use ice to lower the surface temperature
- Use light-colored baking pans
If you're looking for new sourdough bread recipes, give this a trySourdough bread with chocolate chips, TheSourdough bread in small batchesor even thatOrange and cranberry sourdough bread. They are all guaranteed to please your taste buds and give you great results! I recommend using onekitchen scaleAndWeigh your ingredients, as well as useGood quality bread flour instead of all-purpose flourfor better baking quality.
Why is the bottom of your sourdough burning?
The two main reasons your sourdough bread will burn on the bottom of the loaf are:
- The bread dough is in direct contact with the bottom of the Dutch oven
- More heat is directed to the bottom of your dough than the top
Sourdough bread is generally baked at high temperatures, which increases the chance of burning part of the loaf. The bottom of the bread is often the first part to burnear of leavencomes a close second.
The good news is that there are many ways to prevent the base of your sourdough from burning.
How do I prevent my sourdough from burning at the bottom? (10 tips)
There are actually many different ways to prevent your sourdough loaves from burning on the bottom. Choosing which method is right for you can really depend on your baking method, the ingredients in your loaf, and the temperature you're baking your sourdough at.
You're sure to find a method that works for you among the methods I've listed below - all tried and tested at The Pantry Mama Kitchen!
Place a baking sheet underneath
Placing a baking sheet on the rack under your Dutch Oven will insulate the bottom of the pan and protect it from too much heat, preventing the bottom of your sourdough from burning. It lowers the heat transfer under your bread.
optimal to achieveoven spring, sourdough and other artisanal breads require a very hot oven - sometimes up to 260 degrees Celsius (500 degrees Fahrenheit). At these temperatures, it's not hard to burn the bottom of your bread.
This can spoil the aesthetics of your bread when it's sliced open, causing the crust on the bottom to turn black, chewy, and way too thick.
Use parchment paper between your dough and Dutch Oven
Baking your sourdough bread directly in a Dutch Oven without parchment paper can make it easier for your bread to burn as there is nothing protecting the bottom of your bread. Using parchment paper can also help transfer the batter from your banneton to the Dutch oven with minimal fuss.
Using a more expensive parchment paper is a good investment, as cheaper parchment paper often cracks and disintegrates under high heat.
A silicone mat can also be used as a baseAlternative to parchment paper.
Use a trivet in your Dutch Oven
If you're having trouble with the bottom of your sourdough, it's a good idea to use a trivet on the bottom of your Dutch Oven, even if you're using parchment paper. As a result, the sourdough does not come into direct contact with the bottom of the pot, which is often the hottest. Acoasters like thatperfect.
If you can't find a trivet that fits in the bottom of your Dutch Oven (or you currently doSourdough on a budget), a piece of crumpled aluminum foil works well.
But remember, you still need to use a piece of parchment paper to make sure your bread doesn't stick to the aluminum foil. So you would lift your dough into the Dutch Oven as you normally would, but place it on the trivet so the parchment paper protects the bottom of your bread from baking in the trivet.
If you don't want to use parchment paper, a silicone baking mat will work.
Use cornmeal, rice, or oatmeal
Using cornmeal, rice, or oatmeal is another technique to keep the bottom of your bread from sitting right on the bottom of your cookware.
However, you still need to use parchment paper, not only to get your bread safely into your Dutch Oven, but also to keep the cornmeal from sticking to the bottom of your bread.
Cornmeal probably isn't that bad, but you don't want uncooked rice baked into the bottom crust of your sourdough. It works fine with parchment paper though.
Reposition your bread
Sometimes you just need to reposition your bread in your oven. It's a good idea to understand where the heating element is located in your oven (or if there are multiple heat sources) and how the grates are configured.
Moving your bread farther away from the direct heat source can certainly help stop the bottom of your sourdough bread from burning. This is more difficult in a smaller oven or when the heat source is at the bottom of the oven. As such, you may need to use other techniques like adding ice or the cookie sheet trick above.
With most domestic ovens, you can easily move the oven racks when the oven is off.
Lower the overall temperature
Sourdough recipes often suggest extremely high oven temperatures for baking breads, some in excess of 500°F (260°C). If the bottom of your bread burns at this temperature, it's perfectly fine to lower the overall temperature of your pastry. Myeasy sourdough recipesuggests the initial baking temperature is 450F (230C). This is a high enough temperature to encourage itgood oven springand a crispy, crunchy crust - without burning the bottom of your bread (or the top of the bread!).
If you feel like your oven temperature is a bit off, it's a good idea to invest in oneOfenthermometerthat has been properly calibrated and can independently measure your oven temperature.
Sometimes factors such as worn oven door seals and the age of your oven can cause the temperature inside your oven to differ from the temperature displayed on the oven thermostat.
Consider an open cake
If you really have trouble with a burnt bottom when baking in a Dutch oven, you may need to consider an open baking method. That meansBaking sourdough without Dutch Ovenand to generate the required steam from other sources.
If you don't use a heavy cast iron Dutch Oven, you can avoid burning the bottom of your bread. Of course, if you use a baking stone or pizza stone, you can still get a burnt floor.
I find that using a parchment paper lined baking sheet is an effective open baking method. Adding a pizza stone and/or baking stone to the bottom rack in the oven can help better regulate the heat in this situation.
Use less sugar in your dough
Fortified batters, made with sugar (and milk and fats), are more prone to burning than lean batters (doughs made with just flour, water, and salt). In fact, batter with honey, maple syrup, or sugar generally burns much faster, even if you don't increase the baking time or oven temperature.
Use ice cubes in the Dutch ovencan help with this problem, but in general, using less sugar is key to avoiding a burnt bottom in fortified doughs.
If you bake aHoney Oat Breador even oneCinnamon Raisin, you need to protect the bottom of the bread - and I recommend using a trivet for these doughs.
Spray the dough to reduce the surface temperature
Misting the surface of the dough orAdding ice to the Dutch Ovenprior to placing in a hot oven can help lower the surface temperature of the Dutch Oven, reducing the risk of burning the bottom of the loaf. It can also have other benefits, e.gbetter oven springand ablistered crust.
Be careful when putting ice in a hot Dutch Oven (due to the risk of jarring the cast iron). You also need to make sure you don't add too much ice, which can actually result in a soggy bottom and rubbery outer crust. You will find onefull guide to adding ice cream to sourdough here.
Use light-colored baking pans
Choosing a lighter colored enamel Dutch Oven can reduce the risk of burned floors as it absorbs less heat than a darker color or raw cast iron. Most of my cast iron casseroles are cream enamelled and when I use these my sourdough loaves never burn at the bottom.
As you can see from this list, there are countless options - and combinations - that you can use to prevent your sourdough from burning at the bottom. You just have to experiment to find the solution that works best for you and your oven configuration.
frequently asked Questions
Is a convection oven better for sourdough?
Not necessarily. Many convection ovens direct the air from the bottom up, meaning the hot air comes into contact with the bottom of the bread first. To prevent this, you must turn off the convection function of your oven for baking sourdough bread. It can be more energy efficient with some foods, but it can be a problem with sourdough. If you still want to use convection heating, you'll need to use a thermal insulator (like a baking sheet) to reduce the effect of bottom-up airflow.
How do you get rid of the burnt bread crust?
If you have a sourdough loaf that is getting a little too dark on the bottom, the easiest way is to slice the bread as you normally would, but trim off the bottom crust before eating or toasting. It's much easier to do these slices one at a time - as opposed to cutting the base off as a whole.
