How do you achieve the sought after crispy crust of artisan bread? If you have spent any time reading bread baking books, you have been introduced to various methods of simulating a hearth style bake in a home oven.
Creating steam early in the baking process is necessary for a crackly crust, open moist interior (the crumb), and a wonderful rise in the oven (oven spring). There are various ways of trying to achieve that from spritzing the dough, pouring hot water in a hot pan in the bottom of the oven, ice cubes, briquettes, wet hot towels, and I’m sure many other methods as well. These methods can be tedious, unpredictable, messy and confusing. I have tried them all!
The simpler method is baking the bread in an oven ‘inside an oven’. That is, placing the ready to bake loaf in a very hot baking pot with a lid and placing it in the oven for the first 20 minutes of the bake. A dutch oven, a pot many people already have, is a decent choice as it can get very hot, has a lid and can be placed into a very hot oven. The difficulty is getting the dough placed into the dutch oven with its high sides without burning yourself on the hot pot or deflating the dough in the process. There are different methods using parchment paper to lower the dough into the hot pot. Also the cast iron of a dutch oven can cause the loaf to burn on the bottom. If you are just getting started baking hearth breads and the dutch oven is what you have, by all means use it.
My favorite and easiest to use baking vessel is a clay baker. The Superstone LaCloche works beautifully for baking a round golden brown hearth bread with a crispy crust. The even heating qualities of the stoneware along with the domed lid allows a continuous even heat flow around the baking dough.The moisture released from the dough is trapped inside, creating steam. This steam early in the bake is important for that lovely oven spring and for the texture of the crust that defines hearth breads- crackly, crispy and chewy.
The side of the round base of the Superstone LaCloche is only 1 ½ inches high, allowing an easy light ‘plop’ of your proofed loaf into the base from the banneton (rising basket). The top is scored (cut) with a bread lame (tool that holds a sharp razor blade), the domed lid is placed on top and set in the oven. The clay baker inside your hot oven does its magic, creating steam, developing the crust, and baking the dough to achieve a moist open crumb. After 20 minutes the lid is removed to finish off the bake with a dark golden crust. A favorite moment of baking hearth bread for me is taking off the lid and seeing the transformation that has transpired!
For efficient baking, use the Superstone LaCloche for one loaf and the Superstone Covered Baker Long for the second loaf. Two round bakers cannot fit in a standard oven at the same time but one round and one long baker can.
Gather some friends around your table for pasta or soup and set a long crusty loaf of freshly baked hearth bread made in the Superstone Covered Baker Long for a table center. It won’t last long! The long shape is also great for sandwiches or your morning toast. Or serve a round loaf made with the Superstone LaCloche round baker with a charcuterie board and an olive oil dipping sauce.
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