Baking Bread with a Cloche

[BakerAunt]

I'm starting a thread devoted to bread baking with a cloche. I bought one from Skeptic, which she found at a thrift store, and I first experimented with it, and posted about it, on the May 15 Week baking thread. It's not easy finding recipes and directions, so my hope is that this thread will become a reference for bakers who want to use a cloche.

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[BakerAunt]

I decided to try an experiment for a rustic sourdough bread I wanted to bake. I worked off of the King Arthur recipe that appeared in the Spring 2016 issue of Sift (p. 65), but I made an overnight levain using a cup of my thick, milk-based starter, 1 cup King Arthur AP and 1/2 cup water. The next day, I mixed it with a cup of water to which I had added 1 Tbs. honey and proofed 1 3/4 tsp. active yeast, then added a mixture of 3 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup mostly pumpernickel flour, and 2 Tbs. special dry milk. After mixing, I allowed it to rest covered for 15 minutes, before adding 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Artisan bread flour, mixed with 1 1/2 tsp. salt. (The original recipe calls for 2 1/2 tsp.!) I mixed in 2 Tbs. olive oil, then kneaded. I had to add a bit more of the bread flour to bring the dough together. I let it rise for 45 minutes, which was more than enough time. After turning it out onto the mat, I pre-shaped into a boule, waited 5 minutes, then repeated the shaping, using a technique I saw online. In the past, I have tried to shape boules from the top, pulling the dough in; now I work from the bottom.

I baked the bread in a round Romertopf bread baking bowl that I bought from King Arthur some years ago but had never used. I did not know at the time that most Romeertopfs have lids. I have a small King Arthur bread baking bowl, and it can be a challenge getting the bread cooked through without the top getting over browned and having to be covered with foil. I found that the cloche cover, from the cloche set I bought from Skeptic, rests nicely on the rim of the bowl. So, I greased the glazed bowl, sprinkled with farina, and put the shaped dough inside to rise, covered with the cloche top. Given the speed of the first rise, and the warmth of the house, left over from yesterday's heat, I anticipated a quick second rise and checked it at 35 minutes, slashed the top, then put it into the cold oven and set the temperature for 425F.

I checked at 40 minutes, and the temperature was 165, although the top had browned nicely, so I re-covered and let it go another ten minutes, at which time it reached 200F. It came out of the bowl beautifully. It ended up a bit lopsided, no doubt a shaping error, but at the highest, it is three inches tall. I will cut it tonight to go with soup at dinner, at which time, it would have at least five and a half hours to cool.

I might replace all the AP flour next time with the Bob's Red Mill Artisan bread flour.

Note: The bread has great flavor and texture.

[Mike Nolan]

A lot of pages come up when you search for 'baking bread in a cloche', but it looks like about half of them are places trying to sell a cloche. How good the ones that actually talk about baking bread in a cloche are is a separate issue. 🙂

[BakerAunt]

Yes, I hit a lot of ads while searching. It was useful to look at some sites that discussed how to season the cloche bottom or the difference between pre-heating and cold start. One site showed shaping techniques, which I found helpful.

There used to be a recommendation of soaking the unglazed cloche before using, but there seems to be a movement away from doing so, now that so many are glazed, and so do not soak up water.

Most of the recipes do not use wholegrain flours.

There is some debate between preheating the cloche bottom and doing the cold start. With the latter, it is important to oil the unglazed bottom or to grease the glazed one, then sprinkle with farina to prevent sticking. Supposedly, there is more oven spring if the cloche is pre-heated.

Most recipes specify putting the cloche on the bottom oven rack. Since my cloche set-ups, whether I use the base that came with it or the bowl, which makes it somewhat higher, fits on the second rack up, I used that position, and it worked well.

Timing is hard to figure out, and with the covered loaf, it is not possible to see how it is doing during the baking. My sourdough loaf used 5 1/2 cups flour (originally AP flour) and a cup of sourdough starter. 50 minutes at 425 seems to work for the larger loaf with a cold start. For the smaller cloche set-up, I baked 35 minutes at 400F, then another 10 minutes uncovered. I will take notes as I work with other recipes.

[Mike Nolan]

Pullman pans have the same problem, you can't see how its doing. Most recipes for bread in a Pullman pan suggest removing the lid for the last 5-10 minutes of baking time.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Has anyone ever tried turning a Dutch oven upside down? I would need to figure out something for the knob on the lid but it might work.

[Mike Nolan]

Why not just turn it upside down and set it on a baking sheet, skipping the lid? IMHO the biggest challenge might be lifting it up again.

[BakerAunt]

I once read an article about how professional bakers bake at home. One just put a metal bowl over the loaf.

I'm not sure why one would turn the Dutch oven upside down with the lid rather than leaving it right side up with the lid on.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Never thought about just putting it on a pan covered by a Dutch oven.

The part I like about a cloche is that I don't have to drop a ball of wet dough into a 400+ degree Dutch oven. So by flipping it upside down I can put the dough on a pan over oven lid then put the oven on as a cover. It uses a the Dutch oven as a cloch.

[Mike Nolan]

I like the suggestion to use a disposable aluminum turkey roasting pan, though I haven't tried that yet.

I'm the original klutz in the kitchen, but I've used a wide offset spatula (KA used to sell it as a cookie spatula, Fox Run still makes one) to lower 10-16 ounce boules into my dutch oven. (Larger boules won't fit, which is why I want to try the turkey roaster sometime, maybe with an oven steel for the preheat impact, but I would want an oven steel roughly the size of my 3/4 sheet pans, or about 17x22.)

[Mike Nolan]

When you use a Dutch Oven, the boule is still largely surrounded by the sides or the pan even after the lid is removed. That could affect air/heat flow. Having the pan upside down may have a big impact on the air/heat flow once the pan is removed about midway during baking.

[Mike Nolan]

A technique I have seen in several recipes and on YouTube is to use a long strip of parchment paper as a sling to lower the boule into the hot Dutch Oven. Haven't tried it, though.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--I found this video useful, including tips on how not to get burned while dropping in the loaf:

Clay Baker Usage Tips

While I haven't tried working with a heated baker, I did find their shaping instructions helpful. We shall see if I ever get the nerve to try the hot, pre-heated baker or Dutch oven.

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