Baking in a cast iron skillet changed my mind about bread pans

I stopped by a bakery in Portland last month called Little T, and the owner showed me how they do all their sandwich loaves in preheated cast iron. She said it gives a crust you just can't get from a standard loaf pan no matter how hot you run the oven. I tried it myself at 475 degrees for 25 minutes and the bottom crust came out way crispier than anything I've gotten from my usual setup. Has anyone else switched away from traditional bread pans for certain recipes?

3 comments

3 Comments

holly7094d ago

Wait hold on, did you preheat the cast iron first or just dump the dough in a cold pan? Cause I tried this with a sourdough loaf last week and the bottom came out almost burnt while the top was still pale at 25 minutes lol. I had the pan in the oven while it preheated but maybe I didn't let it get hot enough? What temp did Little T say they use for their full bake time, cause their crust looks insane in their photos.

mark_chen624d agoMost Upvoted

Ngl I think the issue might be your dough temp too. Tbh if you drop cold dough straight from the fridge into a screaming hot pan, the bottom cooks way faster while the top lags behind. Letting it sit out for 30 minutes first could even things out.

jessica9214d ago

Ngl that sounds like a pain, I always preheat the cast iron in the oven at 500F for a full 30 minutes before I even think about dropping dough in there. Honestly a cold pan will just absorb all the heat weird and give you that burnt bottom raw top situation every time. Pretty sure Little T bakes at 450F for like 20 minutes with the lid on then another 15 with it off, their crust game is unreal.