Salt dough with or without baking - that's the best way to succeed

• Bake salt dough or not "> Dry salt dough with baking
• Dry salt dough without baking

Salt dough is one of the cheapest and best ingredients for crafting. No wonder he is so popular. After the quick and easy preparation of the dough, the desired figures and objects are created. But then a crucial question arises: should the salt dough motives be air-dried or transported into the oven in order to achieve the required stability? We give you specific advice on what to look for in which method and how to make the best of it!

To make salt dough, all you need is flour, salt and water. It only takes about an hour (including "brewing time") and then the crafting material is ready for use. Take a look at our DIY guide salt dough recipe to find out exactly how to prepare the dough. Quietly involve your children in the work. The little girls and boys usually enjoy kneading the salt dough with their bare hands. Of course, they should or should actively support the creative part that follows. Once the figures have been modeled, they must be literally put in dry cloths. With or without baking, that is the question that we want to answer in detail below!

Bake salt dough or not?

With or without baking - which is better when?

Basically, it is advantageous to dry the salt dough products in the oven, as this is simply the faster method. However, there are situations where we recommend air drying. And: If you do not have an oven at home, you can logically only resort to the alternative version.

a) When it is appropriate to dry the salt dough motifs in the oven

Flat and / or evenly thick salt dough pasties can be well and clean baked in the oven and dried in this way.

b) When it is appropriate to dry the salt dough motifs without baking

With reliefs and sculptures made of salt dough, it is much more difficult to achieve good results with the oven variant. Even when working with (smaller) children often arise objects that are not uniformly thick. In all these cases, it is advisable to rely on air drying to ensure that the motifs retain their original shape and are not "defaced" by the intense heat in the oven.

Dry salt dough with baking

If you are dealing with flat and / or evenly thick salt dough creations, then in case of doubt, choose the oven to dry your handicrafts. The principle is conceivably simple: you just need to place the figures on a sheet of baking paper and push them into the oven. Nevertheless, you can do a lot wrong with the method. Excessively high heat increases the risk of unsatisfactory results. Follow our tips to avoid any negative surprises when removing the dried salt dough elements.

Tip # 1: Let the dough dry in the air first!

Before placing the dough elements in the oven, let them air-dry for a few hours to allow the various forms to solidify a bit before being exposed to the intense heat.

Tip # 2: Brush the salt dough teas with some cooking oil in advance!

Cover the tinkering with some oil. Any edible oil comes into question, such as olive or sunflower oil. As a result of this procedure, the surface of the salt dough becomes somewhat more flexible so that the salt dough can stretch better during the baking process. In this way, you prevent the annoying popping of the dough - a problem that often sets itself by the enormous heat effect and often leads to cracks and / or bubbles that ruin the (perfect) result.

Tip # 3: First bake the salt dough at low (he) temperature!

Then set the oven to 50 degrees Celsius and heat it for a few minutes. Then transport the baking tray with the salt dough figures into it.

Tip # 4: Open the oven door every now and then!

In order for the moisture to escape better and you get more beautiful results, you should not keep the oven door consistently closed throughout the drying period. Instead, it makes sense

• to leave the oven door open a little bit at the beginning (for about an hour) OR
• occasionally ripping them open for a minute or two.

Note: For example, clamp a kitchen glove between the interior and the top edge of the oven door to keep the oven open ajar.

Tip # 5: Bake the salt dough for half an hour at 50 degrees Celsius!

How long your artwork from Salzteig will stay in the oven at 50 degrees Celsius depends on its thickness. Rule of thumb: Every half an inch, they have to be baked for one hour. Example: If your products are about two centimeters thick, they will take four hours for this first part of the drying process.

Tip # 6: Increase the temperature in the oven!

After the first part of the drying, you should increase the oven temperature from 50 to 120 to 150 degrees Celsius and then bake the salt dough creations for about an hour at this stage. The bigger the elements, the more time they need. So small figures may need to be left in the oven after 45 to 50 minutes, while very large tinkering may take 70 to 75 minutes.

Note: In case of uncertainty, remove the salt dough objects from the oven after 45 minutes and check whether they are already sufficiently hard. If they prove to be "immature", just expose them to the heat again. Overall, a bit of your feeling is needed regarding the baking time.

Dry salt dough without baking

It's best to dry more complex and / or unevenly thick creations in the air - without the aid of an oven. Depending on the size, ie size and thickness of the individual salt dough teasers, the drying process can take several days to a few weeks. As a rule, you can count on one day per half-centimeter.

Example: If the dough of a motif is four centimeters thick, it takes about eight days to dry.

Keep in mind that sometimes salt gets out of the dough surface with very thick objects. This in itself is not a problem. However, you should be careful not to process the salt dough elements until the dough is really completely dried out. How you recognize this ">

These are the basic instructions for air drying salt dough creations. Here are some tips for storing the handicrafts in the drying phase:

a) Place the elements of salt dough on a tray or similar solid surface. A piece of baking paper between the substrate and the products does not hurt.

b) Place the base with the salt dough pastes in a dark place with the lowest possible humidity. A laundry room, the bathroom or comparable premises are therefore unsuitable. Even when cooking, the elements should not be nearby.

c) Use your products every few days. This ensures that air gets into the dough on both sides. This promotes drying immensely.

Once the salt dough is completely dry, you can paint it and use the different crafts as you originally planned. Tips for painting the dough can be found in another of our DIY guides: Painting salt dough figures

When it comes to drying the salt dough, you have two options: Either put your artwork in the oven or let it harden in the air. While the former requires the presence of an oven as well as flat and / or even elements, for the air drying option you need space to store the creations and a lot of patience.

We hope you enjoy crafting with salt dough!