Everyday Bread #51 - Camp Bread in a Dutch Oven: My Second Attempt

 Camp Bread #2: 

A Multigrain Bread Baked in a Dutch Oven 

This bread was made with only multigrain flour.  I was thinking that I'd like to make an olive bread if this one turned out.  So I used no sourdough, and no rye in the dough (except for the floured crust).

Dough: Same as before, only with 3 c of multigrain bread flour.

Method:

• 24 hr initial rise.
• At about 1930 I folded the dough and put it in a floured couche.
• I started the fire at 8 p.m.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• At 2100 I put the Dutch Oven in the coals to preheat 30 minutes.
• At 2130 I put the Dutch Oven on the top of the barbecue grill of the firepit.  I left the coals on the lid, but there were no coals under it.  I estimate the pot was now 12-18" from the hot coals.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The bread baked in the closed pot on the top grill for 25 minutes.
• At that point I looked at the loaf.

• To me, it didn't quite look baked.
  
• I took the lid off for 5 minutes and placed the Dutch Oven back on the coals.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Then I stuck the lid back on for another 10 minutes.

At this point, most of the campers on our site had gone to their tents for sleep.  I took the loaf out of the pot and locked it away in the car, on an oven mitt, to cool overnite.  I didn't want raccoons or bears to get into it, after all that work.

In the morning we toasted some, and others raved about it.  To me, it tasted quite bland, however, like white bread, but with some particles of multigrain throughout.  I finished eating the older burned-on-the-bottom loaf that no one else was interested in, finding it more to my own personal taste.

This second-attempt bread is a lot more moist and flimsy than I like.    But once toasted, it seems to hold up well.  It seems to take a lot of moisture from the air, when sitting.

Notes to Myself

• You can probably leave the Dutch Oven in the hot coals for a time, but the pot will likely be hot enough to bake the bread without doing so, with an adequate 30 minute proofing. All of this depends, of course, on the quality of the coals.
• To regulate the heat, you may have to place it in the coals, or remove it from direct contact with coals, several times during the baking session.
• With the lid on , you can't really depend on your sense of smell of the baking loaf: the smoke of the fire will predominate (unless it is already burning on the bottom, then you may be able to tell if it should be taken from the coals)
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