You'll Love these Cast Iron Skillet Bread Recipes (#4 will make you drool!) (2024)

FAQs

Is cast-iron good for baking bread? ›

Regular old cast-iron Dutch ovens work pretty darn great for baking bread, but I still prefer using a vessel designed specifically and only for the task, for a bunch of reasons I will get into below.

To season your pan, rub it all over with peanut oil or vegetable shortening, until it's completely coated. Bake for 90 minutes in a low oven (300°F), then wipe off any excess oil with absorbent paper.

It doesn't matter if you use an enamel-coated cast-iron Dutch oven or a traditional black cast-iron Dutch oven. As long as you have a lid to cover it, the bread comes out perfectly every time. I found that using a 4- to 6-quart Dutch oven yields the perfect round shape.

Yes, you can season the pans for frying, sautéing, or baking in cast iron cookware like pans, pots, or skillets with butter, but it's not the right choice to season it for the first time. Butter immediately starts to smoke when added to a heated pan because cast iron can withstand a lot of heat.

A cast iron skillet can be used for baking or as a casserole dish for your potatoes au gratin. I've also used a cast iron pan for biscuits, cakes, sticky buns, upside-down cakes, and giant cookies.

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.

Yes, I periodically season the Dutch oven I use to bake my bread—it is cast iron after all. I simply apply a thin layer of vegetable oil all over the pot.

All cooking oils and fats can be used for seasoning cast iron, but based on availability, affordability, effectiveness, and having a high smoke point, Lodge recommends vegetable oil, melted shortening, or canola oil, like our Seasoning Spray.

Wash your cast iron cookware by hand. You can use a small amount of soap. If needed, use a pan scraper for stuck on food. For stubborn, stuck-on food, simmer a little water for 3-5 minutes, then use the scraper after the pan has cooled.

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.

Does adding more yeast make bread fluffier? ›

Perfect Your Yeast Levels

Carbon dioxide is responsible for all the bubbles that make holes in bread, making it lighter and fluffier. Because gas is created as a result of yeast growth, the more the yeast grows, the more gas in the dough and the more light and airy your bread loaf will be.

Too much yeast could cause the dough to go flat by releasing gas before the flour is ready to expand. If you let the dough rise too long, it will start having a yeast or beer smell and taste and ultimately deflate or rise poorly in the oven and have a light crust.

Bread baked in stoneware will be crustier in the area covered by the pan than bread baked in metal. This is a more compelling advantage with quickbreads. In my opinion sandwich bread doesn't need to be crusty. Metal bread pans are cheaper, lighter, and less fragile.

Glass: Glass loaf pans allow for you to be able to monitor the browning on the bottom and sides of each loaf pan. They also are often dishwasher-safe and may be microwave-safe or freezer-safe. Aluminum/stainless steel: Loaf pans made out of this material tend to be lightweight and on the affordable side.

A great loaf pan bakes evenly browned, neatly shaped loaves. It should be made from aluminized steel for optimized browning and have a nonstick coating that releases loaves immediately when turned over and is easy to clean.