I've done the no-knead crusty white recipe using the cold oven method a couple of times now. I'm using a 4.5 qt Dutch oven in the middle of the oven with a cookie sheet on the bottom rack.

What's happening each time is a 1/2" layer of undercooked dough immediately above the bottom crust. The bottom crust (all of the crust, actually) is absolutely perfectly done.

The help chat says it's from using the cold method but my DO can't be preheated so I'm kind of stuck.

I'm considering only using the cookie sheet "barrier" for the last half of the bake. Any other suggestions?

I'm DETERMINED to make this work 😂 because everything about this recipe is coming out beautifully! I have little ears and everything!

(OK, so my ears are normal sized but the bread has little ears! 😁)

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