Bake sourdough from cold oven? | Save electricity | Foodgeek Baking

Is it possible to bake high hydration sourdough bread in a cold oven and get great oven spring? That's what this experiment tries to find out.
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#coldbake #saveelectricity #sourdoughbread
00:00 Teaser
00:20 Introduction
01:54 Mix the dough
02:45 Bulk fermentation
03:33 Divide & Pre-shape
03:52 Final shape
04:57 Bake
07:05 Crumb reveal
07:21 Conclusion

[@Foodgeek]

Buy the t-shirt: fdgk.net/buy-planetexpresss-tshirt Buy the beanie: fdgk.net/buy-cyberdyne-systems-beanie

[@kingwenceslas4225]

Reall question is which method you will use from now on??? Personally

[@voidremoved]

@@kingwenceslas4225 been using the withdrawal method all my life so far so good

[@aviationchannel6204]

@@voidremoved What do you mean? I think I know what you're talking about, but it has nothing to do with sourdough bread...

[@shihajitechinnovation]

@@voidremoved 😄

[@rayong1]

One thing I tried before was to preheat the cast iron on the gas range for 5 mins before putting in the oven another 5 mins to let the temp even out. Total preheat of oven is just 10 to 15 mins. Turned out great. I thot the instruction to preheat oven and dutch oven for an hour was ridiculous, in that time my bake would have been almost over.

[@bjorn_]

If you, like me, don’t pay for hot water: first fill the cast iron with hot tap water, let it rest a few minutes, then empty and repeat. This should bring it to around or above 50 °C at not cost. Empty and dry before putting it on the burner (or directly into the oven).

[@primitivedaisy]

Preheating any cast iron pan for an hour is pretty standard, but you have a good idea. I’ll have to try this sometime. Thx! 🥖

[@michaelgrant6003]

I am surprised! The cold baked bread has a little less oven spring, but I expected it to look like a Frisbee. Thanks for doing this experiment.

[@SuperDavidEF]

I think it looks like it expanded as much as the control, just more outward than upward, probably because it relaxed as it warmed up instead of setting at the normal high heat.

[@esalenchik]

I’m convinced. My next bake will be cold oven for the first loaf for 55 mins and then cover off for 10, then straight into the oven with the second loaf for 30 mins then cover off for 10 mins. Thanks for doing the hard work for us, Sune.

[@Hollyferris]

Since I discovered Elaine (Foodbod) whose method uses a cold start, I haven’t preheated before baking. Less faffing with screaming hot pans and less energy consumption, with same quality bread. Win win!

[@johnnyjimj]

I've been baking my bread from cool oven for over a year now with great success. I simply extended the baking time from 45 to 50-55 minutes. I also bake fully covered the whole time now. The crust isn't as thick, the bread crumb is more moist and the bread keeps longer. It does have a tendency to make larger air pockets, but I found in general it's the best method for making everyday toast bread.

[@gracie992001]

I've gone to this method since first hearing about it a month or so agon; this has been a game changer for me. I do the final proof in my cast iron dutch oven, then start the oven once I get close to peak rise; I get even more oven spring as the oven heats up because it's gradual.

[@Foodgeek]

Yes, it's a twofer :D

[@lilykor7675]

Thank you, Sune!! Since I saw this video, I only bake from cold now, and absolutely love the results, every time!! The spring, the crumb, the taste! And, most of all - no need to deal with blazing-hot oven and baking vessels! Plus, of course, the energy savings. Genius idea 😊

[@rockets4kids]

If you want to save maximum electricity you should skip the dutch oven as well as that's just extra material you need to heat. I've done this with two cheap (thin) pans (bottom to hold the dough, top to hold the steam) and it works pretty much the same except faster.

[@susansmith7415]

I bake multiple loaves at once, overnight proof in the loaf pans, lined with parchment., in plastic bags. In the morning, slash and cover with another same size pan. 15 minutes covered, 20 minutes uncovered to internal temp of 200. I do preheat the oven for 20 minutes which I think balances out having to bake longer in a cold oven. I can reuse the parchment a least one more time, sometimes three.

[@rockets4kids]

@@susansmith7415 That's the sort of thing which really depends on the temperature sensor of your oven. I need to let my oven sit for about 10-15 minutes after the built-in sensor reports desired temperature before a separate thermometer reports the same temperature. This is not case of inaccurate thermometers, both thermometers do stabilize at the same temperature. So the real answer here is, "it's complicated." This is why people say you need to understand your oven.

[@ninelaivz4334]

I really like Sune's channel. He is exposing a lot of myths and helping us simplify the process of making sourdough bread. I have no interest in being a puritan about this. I like what works quickest with great results. I bought a bread maker 15 years ago. It's still in the box never used. The culture in the sourdough fraternity is to bake it really dark. I prefer a lighter golden colour but I don't know if that would be enough to bake it fully internally.

[@SuperDavidEF]

You can definitely bake it to a lighter golden color. The color of Sune's cold oven bread was fine, he just likes it darker. It was definitely finished baking before he put it back in to darken it.

[@mrdoughface]

I like it dark, but a lot of people like it burned in my opinion. I'm with you. I aim for a toasted caramel colour Also, I end up toasting a lot of my bread and if the crust is already that dark, it just becomes charcoal after toasting!

[@qiubick]

I am using method with preheating oven to 200C (just about 15min) and then put bread in, with temp raised to 230-240C. i keep top cover for about 30min, then take it off and bake for another 15-20min for nice gold crust. Im not sure how much am i saving energy but this works for me, and i dont like bread with so much dark skin :) thanks for this video, sorry for my english, gretings from Poland for all bread lovers :D

[@rlwalker2]

I expected more of a difference. Nice surprise. I always enjoy experiments where you run through your entire bread making process from start to finish while the action has been made faster. That truly helps too.

[@SandroBBQ]

Appreciate the experiment in these challenging times with surging electricity prices. What I've been doing, since I try to bake multiple loaves at once to save on power, is make enough bulk for one big boule and two small batards. I place the empty dutch oven and lid on the bottom of the oven, along with the two small batards loaded into cheap steel loaf pans and turn the oven on at 230c. Once the two small loaves are looking nice (anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes) I take those out, load the boule into the now hot dutch oven, close the lid and bake it as usual. In short, I use the cooking time of the small batards as the preheating for the boule. Small oven that can't fit all three at once + expensive electricity = ingenuity

[@carlwasielewski9810]

Very interesting! I should add, if you’re baking in the winter, while you’re heating your house, you’re probably “loosing” very little electricity. Assuming your house is insulated, that heat is predominately staying in the house and your furnace/boiler will therefore turn off for a roughly commensurate amount of savings. if anything, you’re effectively temporarily zoning your house for a warm kitchen, which I actually find quite pleasant! In the summer though, it would be a different story and that energy would be wasted, would unpleasantly heat your house, and the energy could actually be doubly wasted if you run an air conditioner which would then have to fight that heat. Regardless, you save time in either season, which is precious, and this was a great experiment to see!

[@Conelpueblo]

While some of the heat will go towards the overall temperature in the house, heating by electricity - and especially by a heat source not designed to specifically do that job - will be a less efficient and more expensive way of raising the temperature in the house compared to conventional sources.

[@amocus]

Kudos for not skipping anything. I often see videos skipping dough mixing. You fast forward it and if I want to see how it's changing during mixing, I can slow down the video and look. Great video! Interesting experiment. Thanks

[@gmatm3c831]

Thanks for all your experiments, Sune! You answer so many of our questions and “what ifs”.

[@iwanmorris8978]

I pre heat my Dutch oven with the lid off, the lid placed lying by the side of the Dutch oven base, in the oven. I check the temp of the Dutch oven using my infrared temperature thermometer/gun. It reaches 250C in roughly 20 min. Heating the Dutch oven with the lid off saves me a lot of time and electricity.

[@mrdoughface]

I've always preheated with the lid off as well. I've also never bought into this heating the oven for an hour crap. I think people don't know how a thermostat works. If it says it's 500, it's 500 and an hour later it will still be 500. I mean, I don't put it in the moment it preheats, but 5 or 10 minutes later is absolutely sufficient.

[@rb-ex]

great idea and execution. keep these experiments coming, there's a wealth of information in them

[@marianjensen6653]

We tried this a couple days ago. Worked like a champ. Best oven spring I have had.

[@darnbunny1]

We've been baking Cold Cold Cold for years. Cold dough into cold inexpensive Graniteware (or other inexpensive enameled) covered cooking pans into a cold oven. Bake for 55 min at 465F No Peeking. Uncovered for a few at 425F to brown if desired.

[@OlafFichtner]

Yep. I'm preparing the dough in the evening, put it in the cold oven where it can rise overnight, then turn the oven on for 40 minutes in the morning. (My bread is not very large.) I could probably shorten the time the oven is on to 30 minutes if I kept the bread in the oven for a while after turning power off.

[@opheliahamlet3508]

No kidding! I've always wondered if i could bake bread in my small graniteware roaster. Do you spray your loaf before you put the lid on?

[@darnbunny1]

@@opheliahamlet3508 I use this recipe and do not spray: 50g starter, 350g water, 500g BF, 10g salt. Let me know how CCC baking works for you.

[@opheliahamlet3508]

@@darnbunny1 Thank you for your kind response. I will try it and let you know how it goes.

[@franciabaggaley6172]

Wow! Gamechanger! I can't wait to try this. The softer crust might appeal to my hubby better.

[@TobyRose71]

Thank you very much for demonstrating this. Very helpful for saving time and money!

[@bread_baker]

You pondered about not using a baking steel, when you bake your bread. I have the challenger bread pan and I never have a baking steel or a baking stone in my oven. The bread comes out great. I followed your suggestion about heating the bread pan and then turning off the oven for the first part of the bake. I have the dough in the pre-heated challenger bread pan for 30 minutes, then I remove the lid and bake the bread at 400° F for 20 minutes. I do not wait for the oven to come to temperature. The uncovered bake time is 20 minutes total. Again, no baking steel or baking stone in my oven. Keep up the good work with your videos, I always learn something new.

[@mikaelandersson5733]

Thanks, Sune! I tried your cold start method this weekend. Lower temp, shorter time to have oven on, less hassle with lifting scorching hot pans and the end result was still great. Good experiment, spread the word!

[@rrrrr5102006]

Hi Sune, Thank you for doing all the testing so we dont have to learn things the hard way. I really appreciate it. Roger

[@joysgirl]

I always learn something new from you. I'll consider this the next time I bake my SD. Thanks!

[@mark98070]

Interesting. I just baked a loaf this morning using the usual preheat method. Came out beautiful. When I get such good results I'm reluctant to change methods But I think I'll try a 30 minute preheat instead of the usual 1 hour next loaf. Thanks for all your experimental videos!

[@MysteryMan159]

30 minutes is how long my oven takes to get to temperature so that’s what I always do and it works fine.

[@londobali]

Was thinking the same, to try pop it in when it's half-way to final temperature..

[@larrianncurtis8078]

I always use a 30 minute preheat. It seems to work fine.

[@guycampbell733]

wow i'm definitely gonna try this out next loaf. thanks for this!

[@londobali]

YESSSS.... Finally! :D Thank you, Sune! Much appreciated.. I'll be starting my oven later in my steps..

[@keepdancingmaria]

I was happy to see that paler, softer crust.... and then you -saved- -ruined- changed it! I like my crusts chewy, not flint shards ready to leave my mouth all cut up.

[@Foodgeek]

You should bake the way you like it. I like my bread dark and crunchy 🤣

[@katherinemaas6712]

Brilliant! I'm definitely going to try this the next time I bake.

[@Sara-gl8ue]

I just tried the foodbod sourdough recipe and baked it in a cold oven. Turned out wonderful! I tried it after watching you make that recipe. So delicious!

[@Sboussios]

Today I tried baking mine from a cold oven. I was impressed, it came out well, not tons of oven spring but delicious. It is definitely something i would do again, especially in the summer when I am reluctant to heat my kitchen for a couple of hours to bake bread. I used a cold ceramic Emile Henry dutch oven and pretty slack dough. MUCH easier to deal with sliding my slack dough into a cold dutch over.

[@evelynwald9132]

As usual Sune, your "outside of the box" thinking and experimenting has led to some wonderful insights for all of us who bake bread . I have always felt that it was wasteful to let the oven run so long (I bake 2 loaves consecutively when I do bake in a Dutch oven) but timid on experimenting because of investing the time to make the bread. Thank you for doing the experiment. I’m going to give this a try on my next bake.

[@contefrederic]

Spot on, as usual. Baked a loaf this morning using the cold oven/cold dutch oven method and oven spring was noticeable larger. Thanks for the suggestion as I feel it is safer to deal with a cold oven and cold dutch oven; before I was preheating both for 30 minutes, then having to take the dutch oven out to place the scored dough. Appreciate the experiment.

[@hexefroschbein8486]

Airfryer from cold also works really well. To get the loaf bottom a darker color, slip immediately out of the form, turn it on it's head onto a little trivet in the fryer, then give it another 5 mins. For every day small loaves this is quite useful and convenient too.

[@jamndunk]

Baking sourdough bread in an airfryer I'm going to try - with a very little boiling water at bottom as put loaf in basket. I'll try 30 mins at max 200 degrees..

[@hexefroschbein8486]

@@jamndunk I've not bothered with extra water(now I have to try!), I use the cake form that comes with the airfryer and proof in it overnight, then bake it for about 30-40 minutes in the morning(plus extra time when turned over). I make small 300-600gm loaves.

[@johndelaney8405]

Yes the air fryer worked well for me in a very small Aldi dutch oven, I did preheat (5min only) to get to 200c and the small loaf was perfect. Also have done frozen bagels (frozen after cooling from 1min water bath) and they taste like fresh baked bagels.

[@davidcardinal9900]

Love you videos. Floored by this one!

[@szaboaz]

Is it possible that the custom of long preheating comes from the traditions of the old wood burning oven? My 70 years old parents still remember from their childhood that the iron tool used for cleaning out the hot ember needed to be throwing sparks when pulled on the heated surface, which was the customary way to check if the oven is hot enough for bread baking.

[@carolschedler3832]

This is REALLY big deal in summer. In winter, a short preheat becomes heat for the whole house plus baking bread. 🥖🤣🥖 Thank you Sune for confirming what lots of us were already doing ❤😂❤

[@kerriclarke9366]

Great news. Winners all round!

[@pufarinu]

great experiment Sune. I have expected to be way flatter ! Keep up the great work!

[@kunik5935]

Nice experiment. Never thought about cold baking. Will try next time with my 2 loaves 🙂 Thanks for inspiration

[@ciaobela8]

WOW~ That is super cool ! Especially b'cuz putting the dough into my super hot dutch oven makes me a little nervous --its also very heavy and I have a burn scar despite my being so careful. I loved the test !! TY Sune

[@HelloWorldETX]

THANKS I first saw this on an “American Test Kitchen” video but I was so disbelieving that I completely rejected the idea. But now the same idea from you (someone I trust), so I’m going to try this in today’s bake.

[@cydrych]

Great information. Thanks.

[@Jim181059]

Bingo! Nice one Sune!

[@yamagirrl]

I predict that you can bake with cold oven! I already love the method you shared with pre-heat 500, bake dough in Dutch oven off for 20 then bake for 450 method. Can’t wait to watch on and learn!

[@simplybeautifulsourdough8920]

What a valuable experiment. I hear about people heating their dutch ovens for an hour or more beforebaking. I've often wondered if that's necessary. This experiment kind of proved to me that my method of letting my DO heat until the oven is at the desired temp isn't affecting my end result much, if any.

[@americanrebel413]

Very interesting, great video thank you.

[@rayong1]

Oh and another thing, I used to use a cast iron dutch oven. Now days I just use an enamel pot. I preheat the oven about 10 mins. Turn the cold dough out onto baking paper on a plate, score, then use paper to lift the dough into cold enamel pot. Then stick it into oven preheated for 10 mins. The results were just as good as cast iron. Cast iron wastes power cos it takes time for heat to pass through the cast iron. Enamel pot (with lid) heats up really fast from cold. I use a 5Q oval shaped enamel pot from Ikea. I know you used an enamel roaster before but I think your result wasn't so good cos your roaster was huge relative to the size of the loaf. The 5Q is a fairly close fit around the loaf and hence retains more moisture around the loaf.

[@barrychambers4047]

Great ideas! If I may ask, what is the inside diameter of the Ikea pot, please?

[@rayong1]

@@barrychambers4047 Its the Vardagen 5L pot. Its 29cm long and 24cm wide and tall enough to accomodate a good size batard or boule. The colour is important, this is a navy blue so it radiates the heat in nicely.

[@rayong1]

And the enamel pot is so much lighter and easy to handle than cast iron. If you think about it, you want a pot that conducts the heat of the oven quickly into the interior of the pot while maintaining a pocket of steam around the expanding loaf. The enamel pot is extremely efficient for that. Cast iron is a good heat sink but its still just the temp of the oven. And any additional heat has to pass through all that iron to get to the interior. I preheat 10mins, bake 45 mins and leave the loaf in the oven with the heat turned off for another 5 mins. Total oven time 1hr. If you spend 1 hr preheating the oven, I would have finished by the time your preheat is over.

[@mattymattffs]

But what material is enameled? Like you can get carbon steel enamel, cast iron enamel, etc. That matters

[@rayong1]

@@mattymattffs Carbon steel enamel

[@videowatcher825]

Best baker on KZbin!

[@laurademarrais3248]

I already know it works. I watch a British baker called Foodbod Sourdough. She does it all the time with porcelain kettles. I have tried it as well.

[@jamndunk]

Cute!

[@BRyan-bj4nx]

Thank you for the planet express shirt ❤️

[@mieke280]

Very good, i will bake like this the next time!, en even more open crumb, i like that! Thanks!

[@julie55hope]

Wow! Nice surprise to see how that came out. I’m making dough (sourdough cranberry walnuts) today. I plan to try this tomorrow! 🙌✨😃😋

[@yusufalipatel5907]

In a world of rising energy prices and climate concerns, this was a very welcome video. I'll definitely be less worried about pre-heating the oven now. Thanks!

[@lourdessaragiotto5763]

Thank you! 👍

[@sandyheng8323]

I bake with a cold oven and a cold loaf most of the time as I cannot handle taking a super heavy preheated pot in and out of the oven. I'm glad your experiment confirms that the crumbs are not vastly different. However, Ive observed from my own experience that if the dough is over proofed, a preheated pot will help slow the loaf from spreading sideways.

[@jerrypritchett283]

I have been doing the cold oven for years, two loaves by using 2 dutch ovens. 45 minutes covered in a cold oven set at 475° F, after 45 minutes, lower temperature to 400° F, uncovered for 20 minutes. Two loaves, perfect every time.

[@tzvirotstein3629]

Damned good Chef. You live and learn !!

[@Peladoparaalgunos]

OMG im going to try this

[@ImForgivenToo]

THANK YOU !!!

[@jasoncope825]

This was great and actually quite surprising. Like you, it seems like I get pretty much the same results in terms of oven spring and sourness no matter what I try... autolyse/no autolyse, varying oven temps, long vs short oven preheat times, warm vs cool ferment, dutch oven/vs none. I was glad to see this experiment, because I was going to suggest you could test the theory that the oven should heat up for an extended amount of time prior to putting the bread in. That was standard guidance when I was learning. I'd think this confirms that is just a waste.

[@ande100]

Honestly, I can totally live with the cold oven start!

[@nightowlii1367]

Wow this is interesting. A real save on electricity bills Thank you for experimenting.

[@lenahalberstadt2587]

Wow, I didn’t see that coming. I’ll re-think my preheating approach.

[@nicosgeo]

In greek the expression is called equal equal (ίσια ίσια) . ie cooking time equals oven time. Until now I thought it was excluding bread cooking. You have prooved its not the case. Thank you. And nobody tells anything to the electricity company and their skyrocketing price of KWh. I have tried it successfully.

[@davidgeorge7443]

Mind blown!

[@rodneyferris4089]

Americas test kitchen has the cold oven for baking it’s “almost no knead” bread and sourdough. I’ve used this when I make boules and high hydration bread. Works a treat ! But they suggest timing from when the oven beeps when it comes to temp. 30mins uncover then 25-30 mins uncovers to brown the crust.

[@jvallas]

I know King Arthur uses the cold start - I think it was for the bread baked in the Emile Henry cloche or Dutch oven, but maybe for others as well. I was always a little dubious about it and never tried it, but my electricity bill has skyrocketed lately. So this is something I need to try out. Thanks for the testing!

[@albertolorusso]

The trick for perfect crumb is: you start from ZERO temperature, you bake it with the lid on until the oven reaches temperature (approx 15 min. depending of the oven of course) then you uncover the challenger. You will see: amazing crust and baked to perfection in pretty much the same time as your "control". Happy Baking!

[@daneekaplan4284]

how long do you bake with the top off? for a total of 50-55 mins?

[@jenniferdinkelmeyer9445]

Awesome!!!

[@billabrams4271]

Pretty amazing Sune

[@bjorn_]

Does anyone know the power consumption for heating compared to keeping the temperature? My guess is that the main power consumption comes from heating the oven. The more there is to heat (e.g. oven size and extras such as baking steel or Dutch oven) the more it will take. There will always be heat loss when having reached the target temperature (insulation etc certainly differs between ovens). I imagined Sune would have used some metering method to compare the power consumption … but perhaps that’s for a future video. In any case, thanks for sharing the experiment.

[@johnnyjimj]

Interesting. For a gas oven like mine, getting to baking temperature is really quick, usually 10 minutes or so and from my observation, the rest of the time the oven turns itself on at low heat for only a couple of minutes every 10 minutes or so, so savings would be minimal, probably no more than 25%. I'm sure it would be better with an electric or convection oven that takes much longer to heat up. In any case, 1 hour seems a bit excessive to me - 30 minutes should be enough because most home ovens have insignificant thermal mass. It's obviously very different for brick ovens.

[@valerio95valerio]

Ovens regulate the on-off cycle based on the air temperature with a built-in thermometer and don't care if there is a Dutch oven inside, also when you open a hot oven the temperature drops and it has to turn on again

[@bjorn_]

@@valerio95valerio Opening the door will result in heat loss and increase power consumption. My wondering were more related to the power consumption when keeping a hot oven at a preset (and reached) temperature. Opening the door is not part of that equation. My comment on, for instance a Dutch oven, related to the heating power consumption. The more mass there is to heat (and the initial temperature of that mass) should affect the power needed to heat the oven to a target temperature. Just like boiling 10 litres of water will require more power than boiling 1 litre (all other factors equal).

[@goattactics]

I've baked bread in a cold oven with commercial yeast before and had great results. Surprising but it works

[@alexandersolla]

Not at all what I would have expected. Everyone always talks about how you have to have a ripping hot oven in order to get good oven spring.... I guess not. Thank you!

[@johnnyjimj]

That's old advice carried over from the time people used brick ovens.

[@tomboyle4312]

Are we not going to address the elephant in the room with this video. That hat. Love it! ;)

[@Foodgeek]

I'll be back 😉

[@tomboyle4312]

@@Foodgeek I certainly hope so!

[@tracebooks]

I would love to see a comparison between this method and the turn-off-hot-oven method using the same recipe for both.

[@HornadySetiawan]

I predict it'll not spring well. SUGESTION for next video: "What if you put egg into the dough? Yolk only vs white only vs full egg vs control" 👍❤ After watching till the end, turns out my prediction is wrong 😅...

[@saab693]

Hi Sune, great video! Love your experiments! Just a quick question about how you measure the rise of the dough in the Cambro container. I try my best to level it but inevitably it is not the same height all the way around the container. Say there are four different "peak" heights around the container - would you recommend picking the highest peak or the lowest peak to measure the 25-50% rise? As an experiment, I tried marking the rise on two sides of the container and found that one side had grown around 40% before the other side had even got to 25%!

[@garymarcos]

Hi, I'd like to see a breadsticks (twisted) recipe with several different kinds of inclusions. For example, some breadsticks with cheddar cheese and jalapenos, some with garlic cheese, some with different seed combinations from an 'everything' (poppy, sesame, salt, fennel...) to just a single seed such as sesame. Thanks!

[@viktoriapeterson489]

Stunning experiment! Now am I brave enough to try it?

[@ronk8480]

Great experiments! Love your channel. Quick question…I know a lot of factors are at play, but to be sure I’m getting a good rise/spring out of my sourdough, what would you say should be the final baked size of a 2lb loaf? As a reference, my 2lb loaves come out 9” long, 6” wide and 5” tall. I use a clay rectangular baker. Thanks!

[@kerncountyrd5263]

Looking forward to the Dutch Oven test! Electricity Consumption is one of my wife's biggest complaints to making homemade bread.

[@peterthomas5792]

Very interesting, thanks Sune, I'll try this on my next bake: 50m covered, 10m uncovered. I suspect the baking steel has no noticeable effect with a Dutch oven - another experiment worth doing maybe.

[@kerncountyrd5263]

Hi Sune, Quick question? I live in an area where power outages are very frequent during certain times of the year. I’ve wanted to learn how to make Sourdough for a while now and have gotten off to a very good start. I’m ready to take my quest to the next level now. Baking bread in either a wood burning oven, or a smoker. I’m very interested in the Lone Star Grilz IVS Cabinet Smoker. This is a highly efficient, long burning, set it and forget it, type smoker. By the way… They ship globally! It can use wood, lump coal, charcoal, or a combination of the 3. My intention is to use one of these as an off grid oven/smoker. My question for you, and I hope you reply, is how well does the challenger lid seal? It’s recommended that the cabinet smoker go no hotter than 450°F, so your Bake sourdough from cold oven? | Save electricity | Foodgeek Baking video really caught my attention! My only concern with cooking in this type of environment is going to be the amount of smoke that might make it into the cooking chamber of the Challenger. While a little smokey flavor can be accenting, a lot of smokey flavor can be a complete fail. Your thoughts on how the Challenger might perform in this type of an environment is all I’m after. I’m not holding your feet to the fire, pun intended, for a professional opinion. Thanks for your time, Sune! I really do enjoy your videos. Please keep it up.

[@janezscancar4178]

there is so much more possibilities: booster heat (take less than 5 min for Miele basic model to reach 230 deg. C), or start baking in cowered cold cast iron pot for 35 min, than continue with lid removed for another 20 min. Result is crust with the same colour and taste as in pre-heated oven. In practise, 5 min of preheating on max temp. is more than enough for any electric oven. It remained mystery why anyone does something that is literally throwing energy through the window as it is in the case of 1 h preheating to extremely high temperature. More, when you bake bread with nuts and seeds, keep temperature max to 180 deg. C and remember, pumpernickel bread is baked at 110 deg. C (true for hours).

[@mattmallecoccio8378]

Beavis: Hey Butthead! heh heh he just scored! Twice! Butthead: I know. I saw it, fartknocker.

[@voidremoved]

The best loaf I made was from cold start and shut off early. I don't let the loaf ferment quite as long because it seems to change in the oven more this way. Plus I left it covered the whole bake.

[@momma636]

enough baking for me today, just made a batch of cinnamonbuns. Around 60 of them. I could write in swedish since you are danish and we understand one and other :) just a bridge apart right

[@zyx1024]

Thanks!!!! ))))

[@nicolegallagher4319]

I have two Challenger pots so I can save power costs by baking two loaves at a time. To bring my energy cost to zero, I'm going to start baking my bread in my outdoor Ilfornio Roma Grande wood fired pizza oven. So this knowledge was good information. Thanks

[@tomaszsosnowski9279]

If you bake two loafs, just park them side by side on the tray and use an elongated bread basket. You don't need a dutch oven. It's too much material to heat. Just pour some water during baking on the bottom of the oven to steam the chamber.

[@abbasduman6963]

Interesting results I experienxed tastier bread when turning the oven down to 190°C after the first 15 minutes, which also saves electricity.

[@mariebombolo9823]

I too was concerned about energy use. I preheat my oven to 450 and wait until it reaches that temperature. It takes about 12 minutes. Then I use two dutch oven pans and put them side by side in my oven on the same rack.. They turn out great. I bake two loaves in the time it takes to bake one.

[@ProstMahlzeitNZ]

Wow, intetesting. I isually oreheat for 30min. But I might try the cold oven method next time, maybe not with a loaf I want to gift just to be on the safe side 😂

[@shanti34567]

This was very interesting. I generally cook in a Romertopf clay baker. I soak the top in water while the bottom is in the oven to heat up. I would love an Experiment comparing clay baking to cast iron. I have a cast iron baker but the clay always seems to give better results. Your thoughts.

[@goldpilot100]

Great Mia reference

[@gerhardk98]

I was never able to make myself heat the oven for an hour, I do ten minutes heating the Dutch oven and then the bread goes in. Maybe next bake I will try the cold oven idea.

[@zoegirl2948]

I bake my sourdough loaf for 50 min in a cold oven in an aluminium double roaster set at 230°c then take the lid off for a 20 min bake at 180°C. I get a perfect oven spring and beautiful crust.