Hi Mary Lou, if the manufacturer of your Dutch oven does not recommend preheating empty, you can still get good results with a cold oven start or by preheating the oven, and then putting the dough and pot into the oven together. The big difference in these methods is when to take the lid off. For a preheated Dutch oven, I recommend removing the lid after 20 minutes of baking. If you preheat the oven and then put the pot and bread in together, I recommend removing the lid after 25 minutes. For a cold start, I would remove the lid after 30 minutes. These various baking options are outlined in this blog post. Baking time after you remove the lid can vary, depending on what type of bread you are baking, but you'll be able to keep an eye on it then and take it out when it's looking nice and brown and fully baked. One other tip: when the bread dough is allowed to rise in the pot for an extended time it's a little more likely to stick, so I recommend lining the pot with lightly sprayed parchment paper to ensure an easy release. 

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