Baking Sourdough in a Cast Iron Skillet: Crusty Edges, Golden Bottom

I found my grandmother's cast iron skillet at a garage sale about six years ago. Twelve inches across, heavy as a bowling ball, seasoned to a deep black that looked like it had been cooking since the Eisenhower administration. I brought it home thinking I'd fry eggs in it. Then one Sunday morning, staring at a proofed boule and a broken Dutch oven lid, I thought: what if?

That first skillet loaf wasn't pretty. But the bottom crust was something special. Golden, almost caramelized, with a crunch that made every previous loaf feel flat by comparison. I've been baking in cast iron skillets ever since, and honestly, for certain shapes and styles of bread, I prefer it to the Dutch oven.

Why a Cast Iron Skillet Works for Sourdough

Cast iron holds heat like nothing else in your kitchen. A well-preheated skillet stores enough thermal energy to give your dough a serious burst of bottom heat the moment it lands. That immediate heat transfer is what creates oven spring, the dramatic puff your bread does in the first 15 minutes of baking.

The skillet's low walls also give you something a Dutch oven can't: exposed crust on the sides. While a Dutch oven creates steam by trapping moisture in a closed environment, a skillet lets the sides of your loaf develop their own crust. The result is bread that's crusty all the way around, not just on top and bottom.

Choosing the Right Skillet

Size matters here. For a standard 500g flour recipe, you want a 10-inch skillet. For a 750g or larger recipe, go with 12 inches. The dough should fill roughly two-thirds of the pan's floor area when you place it in. Too small, and the dough climbs the walls awkwardly. Too large, and the loaf spreads out into a flat disc.

Seasoning is important but not critical. A well-seasoned skillet releases bread easily. A newer skillet might stick, so line it with a circle of parchment paper cut to fit the bottom. The parchment won't affect the crust, the heat still transfers straight through.

The Method: Step by Step

Here's exactly how I bake a sourdough boule in a cast iron skillet. This assumes you've already mixed, bulk fermented, shaped, and cold-proofed your dough overnight in the fridge.

1. Preheat the skillet. Place your skillet in the oven and preheat to 475°F for at least 30 minutes. Yes, the skillet goes in cold and heats up with the oven. Don't drop a cold skillet into a hot oven, thermal shock can crack cast iron, especially older pieces.
2. Prepare the dough. Pull your dough from the fridge. If using parchment, cut a circle and place the dough on it. Score the top while it's still cold, cold dough scores cleanly.
3. Transfer to the skillet. Carefully pull the hot skillet out, set it on a heatproof surface, and lower the dough (on parchment if using) into the pan. Work quickly. Every second the skillet is out of the oven, it's losing heat.
4. Add steam. Drop 3–4 ice cubes around the edges of the dough (not on top), then immediately cover the skillet with an oven-safe lid, an inverted stainless steel bowl, or a large sheet of aluminum foil tented over the top. The ice cubes melt and create a mini steam chamber.
5. Bake covered for 20 minutes at 475°F. Don't peek.
6. Remove the cover, reduce temperature to 450°F, and bake uncovered for another 20–25 minutes until the crust is deeply golden brown and the internal temperature reads at least 205°F.
7. Cool on a wire rack. Lift the bread out of the skillet immediately. If you leave it in, steam trapped underneath will make the bottom soggy.

Getting the Perfect Bottom Crust

The bottom crust is where skillet bread really shines, but it's also where things can go wrong. Too dark and it tastes bitter. Too pale and you've wasted the whole point of using cast iron.

Temperature control is everything. If your bottom crust is burning before the top is done, your oven runs hot or your skillet is too thin. Try reducing the temperature by 25°F and extending the bake by 5 minutes. If the bottom is pale and soft, preheat longer, your skillet didn't store enough heat.

A thin layer of cornmeal or semolina on the parchment (or directly on the skillet) adds texture to the bottom crust and acts as a tiny insulation layer that prevents scorching. I use about a tablespoon of coarse cornmeal. It toasts golden during baking and adds a subtle crunch that's addictive.

Steam Solutions for Open Skillets

The biggest challenge with skillet baking is steam. A Dutch oven is self-steaming because it's a closed chamber. A skillet is open by default, so you need to create your own steam trap.

My three favorite approaches:

• Inverted stainless steel bowl: Find a bowl that fits over the skillet rim. This creates a mini Dutch oven effect. It's the most reliable method.
• Aluminum foil dome: Tear off a large sheet, tent it over the skillet, and crimp the edges loosely around the rim. Not as good as a bowl, but works in a pinch.
• Second skillet: If you have two identical skillets, invert the second one on top of the first as a lid. This is actually my favorite setup, it's a cast iron cloche that produces incredible steam retention.

Shapes That Work Best in a Skillet

Round boules are the obvious choice, but don't stop there. Skillet bread is fantastic for pull-apart rolls, divide your dough into 7–8 equal pieces, shape each into a tight ball, and arrange them in the skillet touching but not crowded. They bake into a gorgeous flower pattern where each roll tears away from its neighbors with soft, steamy sides and crusty tops.

Focaccia is another natural fit. Press your dough into an oiled skillet, dimple it with your fingers, drizzle olive oil and sprinkle flaky salt, and bake at 425°F until golden. The cast iron gives you a fried-bread bottom that's worth the entire effort on its own.