Was all decided, until I came here...

[MaineMom]

We had a heck of a discussion about a month or two back on the whole breadbaking thing. The few who were stir crazy enough to actually try it....myself included....put the dutch oven inside the woodstove instead of on top. If woodstove baking is your thing, you may want to find a stove that will comfortably swallow a dutch oven and still have room for coals in the firebox. Incidentally, the results were awesome. Woodstove bread rocks.

That is awesome, did you use a cast iron Dutch oven or an enameled steel one? My enamelware is ovenproof but I am a little leery about putting it in open flame. My lodge logic can take it for sure, but once I got it into the stove, I probably wouldn't be able to get it back out!

 

[firefighterjake]

We had a heck of a discussion about a month or two back on the whole breadbaking thing. The few who were stir crazy enough to actually try it....myself included....put the dutch oven inside the woodstove instead of on top. If woodstove baking is your thing, you may want to find a stove that will comfortably swallow a dutch oven and still have room for coals in the firebox. Incidentally, the results were awesome. Woodstove bread rocks.

That is awesome, did you use a cast iron Dutch oven or an enameled steel one? My enamelware is ovenproof but I am a little leery about putting it in open flame. My lodge logic can take it for sure, but once I got it into the stove, I probably wouldn't be able to get it back out!

I suspect that most people would put the Dutch oven only in hot coals . . . like you would if baking over an open fire while camping . . . and I also suspect it would be a cast iron -- non-enamel type.

 

[wildlandfirefighterswife]

We don't have our stove yet and have a 2 year supply of wood! Cedar and oak

 

[firefighterjake]

We don't have our stove yet and have a 2 year supply of wood! Cedar and oak

Trust me . . . this is a good thing . . . a very good thing.

 

[begreen]

We had a heck of a discussion about a month or two back on the whole breadbaking thing. The few who were stir crazy enough to actually try it....myself included....put the dutch oven inside the woodstove instead of on top. If woodstove baking is your thing, you may want to find a stove that will comfortably swallow a dutch oven and still have room for coals in the firebox. Incidentally, the results were awesome. Woodstove bread rocks.

That is awesome, did you use a cast iron Dutch oven or an enameled steel one? My enamelware is ovenproof but I am a little leery about putting it in open flame. My lodge logic can take it for sure, but once I got it into the stove, I probably wouldn't be able to get it back out!

I suspect that most people would put the Dutch oven only in hot coals . . . like you would if baking over an open fire while camping . . . and I also suspect it would be a cast iron -- non-enamel type.

That depends, but for baking I think you want the dutch oven elevated on bricks, above the coals. Otherwise it would burn the bread.

 

[Slow1]

We had a heck of a discussion about a month or two back on the whole breadbaking thing. The few who were stir crazy enough to actually try it....myself included....put the dutch oven inside the woodstove instead of on top. If woodstove baking is your thing, you may want to find a stove that will comfortably swallow a dutch oven and still have room for coals in the firebox. Incidentally, the results were awesome. Woodstove bread rocks.

That is awesome, did you use a cast iron Dutch oven or an enameled steel one? My enamelware is ovenproof but I am a little leery about putting it in open flame. My lodge logic can take it for sure, but once I got it into the stove, I probably wouldn't be able to get it back out!

I suspect that most people would put the Dutch oven only in hot coals . . . like you would if baking over an open fire while camping . . . and I also suspect it would be a cast iron -- non-enamel type.

That depends, but for baking I think you want the dutch oven elevated on bricks, above the coals. Otherwise it would burn the bread.

Aww, heck, since we are taking this thread totally off topic anyway - if you elevate the bread within the oven you can have it right on the coals (and put coals on top of the lid too if you like). just watch your bake times etc as it will get hot inside rather quickly (depending on your coals/air etc of course). I have only done things like dinner rolls and cakes in dutch ovens though (and only when camping - i.e. open fires). My stove is too small for that and I've never had a dutch oven big enough for a 'proper' loaf of bread anyway - or I haven't learned how to make a small enough batch of bread

Now to the original reference to bread by the OP - I had the warming shelves on my first stove (VC Encore NC) and did try to use them to hold bread during rise. It was ok if in the right part of the burn cycle, but if the stove is really heating then the shelves were too close to the stove (i.e. bread would get too hot for a good rise on the side facing the stove). I found the shelves best for keeping other things warm, not bread dough.

For bread I like to cover the dough and place around the hearth on slightly raised surface - I have a corner install so the side between wall and stove is great for me. The FV puts out a nice even heat on the side there and I get a nice rise out of my breads (I bake just about every weekend). I do keep meaning to set up a stovetop oven, but that is another topic...