In this review of the Kook Dutch Oven, I use it to bake bread dough made in a bread machine. Spoiler alert: the results were fantastic!

Originally posted November 27, 2024

The Kook company sent me their Dutch oven to review.  I told them I’d be happy to try their product and give my honest opinion.  However, I was concerned because the pan is marketed for “sourdough bread making.”  I love sourdough bread, but I don’t make it in the bread machine.  The folks at Kook said they thought their pan would work for any type of bread.  So I agreed to give it a try.

I am so glad I did!!  Here’s a loaf of bread that I baked in the Kook Dutch Oven.

Using the Kook Dutch Oven with Bread Machine Dough

I recently wrote an article on how to bake dough from the bread machine in the oven.  I thought it would be interesting not only to test the Dutch oven, but to compare it with bread baked in the oven in a regular bread pan.

I made a batch of sour milk bread in the bread machine.  Then I separated the dough in half.  I made one loaf the traditional way.  I used the other half in the Dutch oven.

The Kook Dutch Oven is enameled cast iron.  It’s 3.4 quarts and heavyweight. 

As you can see, it comes with a removable handle to help get the lid on and off.  I read in the reviews that potholders are much easier to use.  Also, some people say that the handle can damage the enamel on the pan.  So I just used potholders and didn’t have any issues.

To use this Dutch oven, you heat it in the oven before the dough is added.  The instructions say to preheat your oven to 450º.  Then put the Dutch oven (with the lid on) into the oven for at least 30 minutes.

While the Dutch oven was preheating,  I let the dough rise in another pan that was generously lined with parchment paper.  

When the dough was ready, I used the parchment paper to lift the dough out of the regular bread pan and into the hot Dutch oven.  

To bake the bread, I put the pan in the oven (with the lid on) and lowered the temperature to 350º.  Here’s the regular loaf of bread and the Kook Dutch Oven side by side.

Be sure that the parchment paper is far away from the oven burners!

After half an hour I removed the regular loaf of bread.  At that point, I took the lid off the Dutch oven and let it cook for another 10 minutes to brown the bread a little more.

Both loaves of bread were good.  However, the crust on the Dutch oven bread was amazing. It seemed to be chewier. Delicious!  Also, the loaf baked in the Dutch oven was a little larger and had a more rustic appearance.

The loaf on the right was baked in a bread pan. The loaf on the right (nearer the camera) was baked in the Kook Dutch oven.

Here’s how the loaves looked sliced.

This was a total success!  The only thing I’d do differently next time is not to brown the bread for the full 10 minutes.  I’d try it for 5 minutes.  The reason is that the crust on the bottom was a little too thick.

If this sounds interesting, check out the Kook Dutch Oven on Amazon.