14 Cast Iron Skillet Bread Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What size cast iron skillet for baking bread? ›

Rustic Cast Iron Skillet Bread – Extra-Large Loaf. This loaf can be baked in a 10.25” or 12” cast iron skillet. I do not recommend using enamel coated cast iron for this recipe if you are baking it on the grill.

But the real magic comes from the cast-iron Dutch oven, the perfect vessel for baking bread. It acts like an oven-within-the-oven, maintaining a high and steady heat that transforms this sticky dough into a gorgeous round loaf with a crisp crust and excellent crumb structure.

It's fine to place the dough into a buttered or oiled tin (providing the tin is non stick). This sourdough focaccia can also be baked using just olive oil in a cast iron skillet.

To prevent burning, use coarse cornmeal or wheat bran

Coarsely ground corn (polenta or corn grits) works exceptionally well to provide a thin layer of insulation between your dough and the Dutch oven. This layer helps keep the dough from sticking to the cast iron but also lifts it up to prevent burning.

Yes, a 15-inch cast iron skillet is too big for most people. They're not practical since they are difficult to cook with and store.

Parchment paper can also bring its non-stick convenience to cooking with cast iron. Whether you're baking bread in a Dutch oven or whipping up a pizza in a skillet, there are plenty of ways you can use parchment paper to make the most of your cast-iron cookware.

Place a cast iron skillet on the bottom rack of the oven. Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper, if using, and carefully set it on the preheated baking stone. Carefully add the boiling water to the cast iron skillet and close the oven door.

According to some of the world's best chefs, cast-iron pots and pans are durable, long-lasting, and make food taste better.

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.

Why do you bake bread in a cast iron skillet? ›

Cast iron is able to reach high heats and maintain constant temperatures, creating a Maillard reaction on the bread's exterior—aka a seemingly simple but rather complicated set of chemical reactions that take place as food is cooked, affecting both color and the complexity of flavor.

Vegetable oil - Lightly moisten a paper towel with vegetable oil and rub it over the surface of the pie dish to prevent sticking.

Wetting the dough causes the surface to steam. Covering it traps the moisture. This partnership stops the bread from drying out on the surface in the hot air of the oven and forming a premature crust. Your bread rises more and produces a richer colour, becoming glossy on the surface.

If you're looking to bake better sourdough bread, one of the best things you can do is to season your cast iron bread baking pan with a method called “curing. ” This will help create a non-stick surface on your pan that will make it easier for the dough to release, and it also helps protect against rust.

But the vast majority of yeast bread recipes call for one of two basic bread pan sizes: 9" x 5" or 8 1/2" x 4 1/2". Both of these bread pans are generally 2 1/2" tall; sometimes, they're interchangeably referred to as a “loaf pan.”

The two most popular bread pan sizes are 9×5 and 8½x4½ inches. Both sizes are typically 2½ inches tall. While the difference in sizes seems small, it actually equals a 15% difference in capacity. That can really affect the outcome of your bake—especially in quick breads and those that use less than three cups of flour.

The two most common loaf pan sizes are a 9 by 5-inch pan and an 8½ by 4½-inch pan.