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Following those few sets of stretch and folds, and a long overnight rise, baking a loaf of sourdough almost always involves one thing: a Dutch oven. Baked for a period of time with the lid on, and a separate period of time with the lid off, a Dutch oven ensures your sourdough loaves bake all the way through on the inside to get that nice, golden crust formed. However, what if someone were to tell you that there’s a way to bake sourdough without a Dutch oven and still get great results? You might not believe them. But, what if that person was the executive chef and baker at Helms Bakery in Los Angeles, Nanor Harboyan? Yeah, now you’re listening.
In an interview with Tasting Table, chef Harboyan shares her recommendation for baking sourdough without a Dutch oven. “Making sourdough in a home kitchen doesn’t have to be difficult, there are plenty of creative ways to replicate the heat and steam available to us in professional kitchens,” she says. “When I’m baking at home, I like to use a cast iron pan filled with lava rocks.” More often used in gas grills and firepits, lava rocks can be purchased at hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowe’s, or purchased in 7 lb bags on Amazon for $24.50 if that’s more convenient.
Tips for baking sourdough with lava rocks
While it might sound a bit out of the ordinary, and maybe even a little intimidating, Harboyan has lots of tips for baking your sourdough using just a cast iron pan filled with lava rocks — and it even comes with its advantages. Once Harboyan fills the cast iron pan with the rocks, she places it on the bottom rack of her oven while it’s preheating and then puts a baking stone on the middle rack. “After turning out my bread onto the stone, I spray water onto the hot stones and close the oven door quickly to trap the steam,” she explains. “The increased humidity in the oven will give your bread a beautiful sheen and increased oven spring, making for a taller loaf.” You can go ahead and add that to your list of the best tips for working with sourdough, but there is a catch to ensuring it works.
When we asked chef Harboyan the biggest tip for succeeding with this style of baking, she advocates for patience. “As tempting as it may be, avoid opening your oven door to check on your loaf,” she says. “One of the biggest differences in professional ovens and home ovens is the ability for the oven to get hot enough, and to recover when heat is lost.” Having said that, you can add opening your oven door to the list of all the biggest mistakes you’re making with sourdough too.
