Bread-Bakers v100.n031.25

Okay, all you bakers.  Several days ago I asked for comments from anyone
using La Cloche to bake bread and what did I get?
Nada, zilch, nuttin' honey.  So this is your last chance to help the old
Tarheel Baker.


Ok, I seem to have missed that original call!  I first came across baking
with a cloche in Elizabeth David's "English Bread and Yeast Cookery" (by the
way a book which I would recommend to anyone seriously interested in bread
baking - it's fabulous!!), and tried a large glazed stoneware casserole.
Results were wonderful, I never had bread so well risen and light.  I also
experimented with another recommendation from the same book at the same
time, to bake the bread in a non-preheated oven.  So the bread has to have
some 'rise' left in it when it goes into the oven, with the cloche over it.
Set the temperature as you would normally and then resist the temptation to
lift the cloche (of course if you use a clear pyrex bowl it might be
easier).  2/3 into your normal baking time you can check to see how the
bread is doing - mine usually lifted the cloche off, as I said, I'd never
had such a rise before.  You need to bake it somewhat longer than normal to
compensate for the steamy atmosphere and even longer if you like a really
crunchy crust.  Some time later friends who make pottery made me a
customised 'bread baker' :  unglazed terracotta base, a bit like a pizza
stone only with a rim and a cloche, which fits into the base, with two
handles either side of the cloche, so you don't burn your fingers in the
process of taking it off.  Results from that are wonderful, I'm guessing but
it probably re-creates the atmosphere of one of the old fashioned brick
bread ovens.  If any of you want one of these bread bakers let me know and
I'll give you their e-mail, but be warned, they live in the South of France.

Happy baking

Andreas