This morning, so as to save time and not overheat the kitchen with the usual 1
hour preheat, I used the cloche. As soon as the oven got to 500F, I put the
loaf in the cold cloche and baked at 475 then 450, then with lid removed at 425
F.

I offer this up because sometimes I wonder if the cloche is treated by the NG
as maybe dangerous or somehow not worthy, but frankly it does an OK job and can
produce the blistered crust without a lot of boiling water etc.

I believe there are some decent cloche bread photos over at Carl's friends
website.

This is this morning's result

http://members.aol.com/smoken1667/images/Cloche.jpg

And after my wife sliced it up (before it cooled) while I was out mowing.



This is a 32 ounce loaf, probably 28 ounce finish weight. It is 14 inches in
diameter and not too dense.
While the results are not spectacular, I





While the

Continued..

(darn AOL)

Sliced photo

http://members.aol.com/smoken1667/images/Slice.jpg

While the results are not spectacular, the cold start helps give the loaf oven
spring.

Ed Bechtel

"Ed Bechtel" wrote in message
...
Continued..

(darn AOL)

Sliced photo

http://members.aol.com/smoken1667/images/Slice.jpg

While the results are not spectacular, the cold start helps give the loaf
oven
spring.

Ed Bechtel

from here it looks good enough to eat :-)

Ellen

I use a cloche, which I carried over from the States after a visit to my
family. I find that it does an excellent job, and eliminates the need for a
pan of water in the bottom of the oven. Also, spraying the bread with the
hard water we get in England was doing funny things to my oven.

My wife likes a crust that isn't hard or very chewy; I like a crust with,
er, personality. The cloche gives me a decent compromise.

I've never hhad the courage to try the cold oven baking method describbed in
Elizabeth David's book. Your way sounds interesting.

The only difficulty with the cloche is that there's a limit to how many
loaves I can fit into it.

David T.


On 25/10/03 1:32 am, in article
, "Ed Bechtel"
wrote:

This morning, so as to save time and not overheat the kitchen with the usual 1
hour preheat, I used the cloche. As soon as the oven got to 500F, I put the
loaf in the cold cloche and baked at 475 then 450, then with lid removed at
425
F.

I offer this up because sometimes I wonder if the cloche is treated by the NG
as maybe dangerous or somehow not worthy, but frankly it does an OK job and
can
produce the blistered crust without a lot of boiling water etc.

"Don Hellen" wrote in message =
...

If you don't mind my asking, what is a "cloche?"

Google bread cloche.

That's the Elizabeth David method?

"David Thalenberg" wrote in message
.. .



I use a cloche, which I carried over from the States after a visit to my
family. I find that it does an excellent job, and eliminates the need for
a
pan of water in the bottom of the oven. Also, spraying the bread with the
hard water we get in England was doing funny things to my oven.

My wife likes a crust that isn't hard or very chewy; I like a crust with,
er, personality. The cloche gives me a decent compromise.

I've never hhad the courage to try the cold oven baking method describbed
in
Elizabeth David's book. Your way sounds interesting.

The only difficulty with the cloche is that there's a limit to how many
loaves I can fit into it.

David T.


On 25/10/03 1:32 am, in article
, "Ed Bechtel"
wrote:

This morning, so as to save time and not overheat the kitchen with the
usual 1
hour preheat, I used the cloche. As soon as the oven got to 500F, I put
the
loaf in the cold cloche and baked at 475 then 450, then with lid removed
at
425
F.

I offer this up because sometimes I wonder if the cloche is treated by
the NG
as maybe dangerous or somehow not worthy, but frankly it does an OK job
and
can
produce the blistered crust without a lot of boiling water etc.