La cloche recommendation, please :)

[BikeBookBread]

I would like to ask for an oblong la cloche clay oven bread baker for Christmas.

 

Does the brand matter? The only brand I even recognize is "Romertopf" I always thought "La Cloche" was the brand, but doing a quick google returns lots of brand names.

[kalanamak]

You mean:

 

http://breadtopia.com/store/oblong-la-cloche.html

 

I believe La Cloche is a brand. I have had a round one for years, and if you like to bake European-style breads it is very nice. I haven't had time in while, but back in the days when I entertained my xh friend's a lot, I would let my bread rise in a linen-lined basket, sprinkle cornmeal on the top and then lay the bottom of the cloche on it and invert and put in in a very hot oven. After 15 minutes I would then cover the whole sheebang with the lid, which I'd soaked in water.

 

Try various rituals with it. This recipe, which I easily got by googling "finest wheaten bread"

http://books.google.com/books?id=6PK3vQrxydYC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=finest+wheaten+bread&source=bl&ots=6L6L5efqkd&sig=grfSAR4Ot8JC9FflWSIbueRMyMg&hl=en&ei=Y2TpStjTKIrSsQOd45DSCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CA8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=finest%20wheaten%20bread&f=false

turned out the best of all the dozen or so breads I tried.

HTH

I think Nicole M has one, too. She might have ideas.

 

P.s. La Cloche is a good solid baker. It has held up.

[BikeBookBread]

You mean:

 

http://breadtopia.com/store/oblong-la-cloche.html

 

I believe La Cloche is a brand. I have had a round one for years, and if you like to bake European-style breads it is very nice. I haven't had time in while, but back in the days when I entertained my xh friend's a lot, I would let my bread rise in a linen-lined basket, sprinkle cornmeal on the top and then lay the bottom of the cloche on it and invert and put in in a very hot oven. After 15 minutes I would then cover the whole sheebang with the lid, which I'd soaked in water.

 

Try various rituals with it. This recipe, which I easily got by googling "finest wheaten bread"

http://books.google.com/books?id=6PK3vQrxydYC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=finest+wheaten+bread&source=bl&ots=6L6L5efqkd&sig=grfSAR4Ot8JC9FflWSIbueRMyMg&hl=en&ei=Y2TpStjTKIrSsQOd45DSCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CA8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=finest%20wheaten%20bread&f=false

turned out the best of all the dozen or so breads I tried.

HTH

I think Nicole M has one, too. She might have ideas.

 

P.s. La Cloche is a good solid baker. It has held up.

 

Thanks for clearing this up...yep, that's the one (I LOVE Breadtopia...have the sourdough no-knead proofing as I type). So it IS the brand. I was looking on Amazon, for one, and I think someone must've just used the tag feature with the term "la cloche". Thanks for the recipe link, too.

[Spy Car]

Funny.

 

I have a big round(ish) La Cloche (the brand is actually "Sassafras") and it's been the subject of some de-cluttering discussion lately.

 

My wife wants it gone. I'm horrified. I've had it almost 20 years. It's beloved. Of course I've never actually used it :D

 

It's maybe the only cooking item I own that I've never used. But I know darn well if I did bake bread in the cloche it would be awesome :tongue_smilie:

 

I'm digging in my heels.

 

Bill (a cook not a baker)

[BikeBookBread]

Funny. I have a big round(ish) La Cloche (the brand is actually "Sassafras") and it's been the subject of some de-cluttering discussion lately. My wife wants it gone. I'm horrified. I've had it almost 20 years. It's beloved. Of course I've never actually used it :D It's maybe the only cooking item I own that I've never used. But I know darn well if I did bake bread in the cloche it would be awesome :tongue_smilie:I'm digging in my heels.

Bill (a cook not a baker)

 

DIG DIG DIG!

 

Here's a recipe for bread for COOKS, not bakers... mix the night before, shape and rise and bake IN THE LA CLOCHE the next day. (It's that easy no-knead recipe everybody has...truly it's easy. When I don't want to "bake", I make this bread.)

 

Here's one step up from the No-Knead recipe, the "Almost No Knead" recipe that has a few added ingredients: lager and vinegar...almost a mock sourdough.

[Spy Car]

DIG DIG DIG!

 

Here's a recipe for bread for COOKS, not bakers... mix the night before, shape and rise and bake IN THE LA CLOCHE the next day. (It's that easy no-knead recipe everybody has...truly it's easy. When I don't want to "bake", I make this bread.)

 

Here's one step up from the No-Knead recipe, the "Almost No Knead" recipe that has a few added ingredients: lager and vinegar...almost a mock sourdough.

 

The breads I want to make (in my fantasy baking life) are Nancy Silverton's "wild-yeast" loaves. Did you read her "La Brea Bakery" book. I love getting bread from her (old?) shop. And even the commercial "La Brea" line (which stores receive half-baked, and finish in-store) are pretty good.

 

One day I WILL BAKE BREAD.

 

Bill (keeping his cloche :D)

[BikeBookBread]

The breads I want to make (in my fantasy baking life) are Nancy Silverton's "wild-yeast" loaves. Did you read her "La Brea Bakery" book. I love getting bread from her (old?) shop. And even the commercial "La Brea" line (which stores receive half-baked, and finish in-store) are pretty good.

 

One day I WILL BAKE BREAD.

 

Bill (keeping his cloche :D)

 

I do wild yeast loves a la Peter Reinhart...have one rising right now :) The La Brea Bakery book is on my short list for my bread library

[kalanamak]

The breads I want to make (in my fantasy baking life) are Nancy Silverton's "wild-yeast" loaves. Did you read her "La Brea Bakery" book. I love getting bread from her (old?) shop. And even the commercial "La Brea" line (which stores receive half-baked, and finish in-store) are pretty good.

 

One day I WILL BAKE BREAD.

 

Bill (keeping his cloche :D)

 

Yes, that book was very, uhhh, inspiring. The recipe I posted above is really very exceptional. I used non-instant non-fat milk powder (soy powder does just fine, too) and the hard flour and malt syrup from King Arthur Flour. You'll love it.

That recipe also makes terrific bagettes, which I snip with a scissors at an angle, and bend the tip out in a left/right alternating pattern. These travel well and at a party the guests can just pull the end one off....sort of like crusty pop-bead bread rolls. Better than anything I've ever purchased in the USA.

[Spy Car]

Yes, that book was very, uhhh, inspiring. The recipe I posted above is really very exceptional. I used non-instant non-fat milk powder (soy powder does just fine, too) and the hard flour and malt syrup from King Arthur Flour. You'll love it.

That recipe also makes terrific bagettes, which I snip with a scissors at an angle, and bend the tip out in a left/right alternating pattern. These travel well and at a party the guests can just pull the end one off....sort of like crusty pop-bead bread rolls. Better than anything I've ever purchased in the USA.

 

OK. As soon as I finish re-painting the kitchen, I'll give it a go.

 

Bill