Wow! It never occurred to me that the scorching or blackening my bread ends up with could be remedied just by starting out with a non preheated dutch oven! I guess I thought the heated dutch oven would be necessary for the steam to form faster during baking, helping the bread to rise best. I was baking my bread for less time required by the recipe I used instead, and, even though the thermometer was registering 200 degrees F when I removed a less blackened loaf at about 10 minutes less than the time required, I think maybe I was loosing some of the great flavor as a result? I shall try baking the time required in the recipe I use, but try starting out with a cold dutch oven in my preheated oven next time. Also, I will try your recipe and do a comparison.... thank you! (Although my starter is plenty active, I want to see what the extra dry instant yeast will do.)

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