This last week I finally received the 2 covered bakers so I can continue working my way through the BB.  I do have a few questions:

1. I do not have the octagon-shaped Silpain that Rose recommends.  Sprinkling the bottom of the bakers with cornmeal or flour is suggested as an alternative.  Do I need to heavily or lightly apply cornmeal?

2. The manufacturer recommends seasoning the base of the baker with oil.  Is this a one-time thing or do I season after each use?

3. In the BB Rose recommends using the covered bakers in specific recipes.  Can I also use it with, for example, the Basic Hearth bread or the Heart of Wheat…or other recipes that call for a free-form round or rectangular loaf?

Thanks in advance!

1.  I just use parchment, although I think Rose says bread may stick to it when used in La Cloche, I have never had that problem.  I do usually spray it lightly with cooking spray though before setting the dough on it.

2.  I’ve had mine several years and I don’t remember that being a part of the instructions, so I didn’t do this—seems to be fine without it.

3.  Bake the recommended recipes first, and you will get a sense of how the bread turns out in la cloche.  You can certainly use it for others, but the results will not be desirable for every bread.  The two you mention, however, are “variation tolerant,” so I think it would work just fine.

Thanks, Matthew!

I, too, just received my la cloche and baked the olive bread from the BB in it, was disappointed because the crust was not shatteringly crisp the way I expected it to be. I baked it just like the instructions: 450 degrees preheated with dome on for 10 minutes, 400 degrees for 5 minutes covered, and finally 15 minutes uncovered. The crust started off crisp, but then got soft. Does anybody have any ideas as to what to do? I really want a crust like you get in breads from a bakery.

RODDY:
  Good afternoon to you. Roddy, I am sorry to learn of your bread baking mishap. There are various reasons for your problem. However Roddy, let us start by me asking you a question that I believe I know the answer to. Roddy my friend did you read page 557 of Miss Rose’s BB edition.   Roddy if not follow her instructions & let us know how your yeasted bread turned out the next time you bake it.
  Good luck to you from Las Vegas NV. & enjoy the rest of the day.

~FRESHKID.

Hi Roddy, La Cloche isn’t good for making that type of crust, however it has other benefits, such as a higher oven spring and moister crumb.  If you are after a shatteringly crisp crust, I don’t think La Cloche is the way to go.

I have to take back what I said Roddy.  I started playing around with the basic hearth bread recipe using la cloche, and I’ve been getting some very crunchy crackling crusts.  Here’s what I do:

Preheat dome and baking stone in oven for one hour at 475
Place base on half sheet pan, cover with heated dome, and set on stone to bake for 10 minutes
Lower heat to 450 and bake 15 minutes
Remove dome and bake 5 more minutes
Remove bread from base and bake directly on stone for 10 minutes

I like using the half sheet pan because it is so much easier to move la cloche in and out of the oven, especially when it is intensely hot.

Thanks Matthew, I’m going to try exactly what you’ve said here next time I make the hearth bread. How long does your crackly crunchy crust last?