Optional side loaf off Loaf 11: scoring, steam, and the Dutch oven
Three optional steps that change what the outside of the loaf does. None of them is needed to reach Loaf 16, and the Dutch oven is the only thing in the whole course that requires a purchase.
Read this part first, because it is the part people get wrong.
None of this is needed to finish the course. The endpoint of the sixteen loaves is a pan bread. Loaf 16 is a long-ferment, high-hydration rye baked in a 9 x 5 inch (23 x 13 cm) loaf pan at 375°F / 190°C, and it is a very good loaf of bread. You can walk from banana bread to that loaf without scoring anything, without steaming anything, and without owning a Dutch oven.
The Dutch oven step below runs at 500°F / 260°C and then 450°F / 232°C. That is the only place in the entire course that breaks the frozen 375°F / 190°C, and it is the only step that needs you to buy something. Both facts are why this is a branch and not a loaf. A loaf changes one thing inside a fixed system. This step changes the system.
Take the branch after Loaf 11 and before Loaf 12. Two reasons. A cold, firm, shaped loaf out of the fridge is the first thing in this course that is genuinely pleasant to cut into, so scoring finally makes sense here. And sourdough and cast iron should never be new on the same day. Learn the pot on a yeasted dough you already understand, or skip it entirely and go straight to the starter.
Everything below bakes Loaf 11: 400 g flour, 280 g water, 8 g salt, 6 g instant yeast, 70% hydration. The formula does not change on any of these three steps. Only the outside of the loaf does.
The three steps, in order
| Branch step | The one change | What it teaches |
|---|---|---|
| 11a · Scoring | Straight out of the fridge, cut one slash 1 cm deep down the length of the loaf, then bake as Loaf 11 | A cut is a decision about where the loaf will open. Uncut, it tears at its weakest point; cut, it opens where you said. It changes the shape, not the crumb |
| 11b · Steam | Put a metal tray on the oven floor while it heats, and pour a cup of boiling water into it as the loaf goes in. Bake as Loaf 11, remove the tray after 20 minutes | Steam keeps the crust soft for the first stretch so the loaf can expand further before it sets, then dry heat browns it. Bigger loaf, thinner and glossier crust |
| 11c · The Dutch oven | Shape a round instead of a log, proof it cold in a bowl, and bake in a preheated covered Dutch oven at 500°F / 260°C for 20 minutes, then uncovered at 450°F / 232°C for 20 to 25 minutes | The pot traps the loaf's own moisture, so it is 11b with no tray. This is the only step on the whole page that breaks the frozen 375°F / 190°C, and it is the only one that needs a purchase |
One change at a time, in that order. Each step makes the next one legible: scoring shows you where a loaf wants to open, steam shows you what a soft early crust is worth, and the Dutch oven is both of those arriving together inside one piece of iron.
11a, scoring: you are choosing where it opens
Every loaf opens somewhere. Heat drives gas expansion inside the dough, the surface sets before the inside finishes expanding, and the expanding inside has to break out through the shell.
An unscored loaf breaks out at whatever the weakest point happens to be, usually the seam or a random flank. That is the split you have been seeing on top of your loaves since Loaf 1. A scored loaf breaks out at the cut, because the cut is the weakest point and you put it there.
So scoring is not decoration and it is not what gives you an open crumb. It changes the shape of the loaf and nothing else. Cut once, 1 cm deep, down the length. Do it on the cold loaf straight from the fridge, which is the only reason this step sits here: a cold firm surface takes a blade cleanly, and a room-temperature 70% dough drags and deflates under one.
11b, steam: a soft crust buys expansion
Bread in a dry oven sets its crust early, and once the crust is set the loaf has stopped growing, whatever the gas inside it would still like to do.
Water in the oven air keeps the surface of the loaf damp and pliable for the first stretch of the bake. A pliable surface stretches instead of setting, so the loaf keeps expanding for longer and ends up bigger. Then you pull the tray out, the oven dries, and the now fully expanded crust browns and crisps in dry heat for the rest of the bake.
Metal tray on the oven floor while it preheats to 375°F / 190°C. A cup of boiling water into it as the loaf goes in. Tray out after 20 minutes. You get a bigger loaf with a thinner, glossier crust, and the crumb is essentially unchanged.
11c, the Dutch oven: the same trick, in iron
A preheated covered pot is step 11b with the tray removed from the equation. The loaf releases its own moisture as it heats, the lid keeps that moisture against the surface, and the crust stays soft for as long as the lid is on. Lid off, and the dry heat takes over for browning.
Shape a round instead of a log and proof it cold in a bowl at 38 to 40°F / 3 to 4°C, then bake covered at 500°F / 260°C for 20 minutes, then uncovered at 450°F / 232°C for 20 to 25 minutes.
This is a different skill, not a further one. It is worth having, and the course does not need it. Afterwards, come back down to 375°F / 190°C and the loaf pan, and go on to Loaf 12, where the starter replaces the yeast.
Bake it twice successfully before moving on, because one good loaf is luck and two is a skill.
You baked the side loaf. Did it work?
The course is free. This is the one thing it asks for. Thirty seconds, and it is how the next baker gets a better loaf.