Pizza stone vs dutch oven

[Lavendar01]

I tried making my first sourdough loaf in a stainless steel pot in an open flame oven that reaches 230°.

It took 1hr in total for the crust to change colour. The crust was very chewy quite difficult to bite off, and the texture was more like a crumpet but tasty.

Stuck in deciding which would be better a tool/ investment for my bread making, pizza stone or dutch oven?

Thanks!

If you’re serious about making sourdough I’d say a Dutch oven every time. You need the enclosed steam. You just won’t get that with a pizza stone in a normal oven. But sourdough’s supposed to have quite a chewy, crackly crust, and to be pretty holey….

I was expecting a chewy crust, just not as much...

How deep (cm/") does the dutch oven need to be? Some I've seen online are 4.5inch deep, I'm thinking that's not deep enough??

Welcome any recommendations 🙂

I’m definitely not suggesting you lash out £300 on this, @Lavendar01, but it’s the sort of thing lots of sourdough fanatics might use. It gives the dimensions and it’s over 5 in high so I’d say around that at least, definitely. You need height to give your dough a chance to rise.

TBH any decent mid-range sturdy casserole with a lid would work. I’ve got a Le Creuset type one (not actual Le Creuset! Cheaper!) and I make a reasonably successful loaf. I’m afraid I can’t recall where I got it as I’ve had it for years, sorry! But TK Maxx sometimes has them, or look on eBay or Amazon? Le Creuset do make an actual cast-iron bread-oven now but it’s £160+ <faints>

Thank you, that's very helpful! X

Dutch oven to create steam. Sourdough bread crust is chewy, high hydration dough is less so but it's tricky to handle for a novice. The crumb should be looser than normal bread with holes but its real benefit is the taste. it sounds as though you have done well.
have you checked your that oven temperature is correct?