I pulled my sourdough out of the Dutch oven, set it on the cooling rack, and actually did a little victory dance in my kitchen. Then I knocked it off the rack. It hit the tile floor with a sound that I can only describe as someone dropping a bowling ball, bounced twice, and rolled under the stove. That crust was not thick. That crust was basically a helmet. If you have ever dealt with a sourdough crust too thick or too thin situation, I promise you, this post is for you — and yes, the story gets better from here.
Crust problems are honestly one of the most frustrating parts of sourdough baking because they feel so final. You have already waited 24 hours, you have done your folds, you have shaped with care, and then the oven gives you something that is either shattering under a butter knife or collapsing like wet cardboard the moment you breathe on it. Neither is fun. But both are fixable once you understand what actually caused the problem, and that is exactly what we are going to dig into today.
The Thermometer That Stopped Me from Blaming My Dutch Oven
A thick, helmet-like crust often isn’t actually about your Dutch oven—it’s about the oven temperature inside that box being wildly different from what you think it is. I spent months adjusting steam and scoring, never realizing my oven was running 50°F cold and basically stewing my crust instead of searing it.
What works
- Reads accurately enough to catch real temperature swings—I found out my oven wasn’t reaching the 500°F I’d set it to, which explained everything about my crust problems.
- Hangs stable from the oven rack without wobbling around, so you can actually trust a reading after 10 minutes of preheat instead of chasing a moving target.
- Large, easy-to-read dial face visible through the Dutch oven lid without opening it and letting all your steam escape mid-bake.
What doesn’t
- Won’t tell you about hot spots in your oven—it only measures the spot where it hangs, so uneven browning can still happen even with correct temps.
- The hanging clip is a little flimsy and can slip if you’re not careful positioning it, which means you might measure the Dutch oven instead of your actual oven air temperature.
I almost returned it after my first bake because the temperature reading seemed wrong—until I had my oven professionally calibrated and realized the thermometer was right and my oven dial was a liar. Rubbermaid Commercial Stainless Steel Oven Thermometer
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