Hi Ginger, great question! You'll see that on the product pages for the Dutch ovens, we now say that you can let your dough rise right in the pot and put it into a preheated oven OR you can preheat the pot empty if you'd like to create a burst of steam. We've found that both methods work well and produce lovely loaves of bread--you can experiment for yourself and see which approach you prefer. Happy baking! Kye@KAF

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