2y ago
During the pandemic, like a lot of people, I started baking bread. I started with sourdough, and got pretty good at it after a couple of months. I was using a cast iron Dutch oven to bake loaves and boules. I thought the bread was coming out well, but got frustrated with the hardness of the bottom crust. I got onto a baking website that was selling Emile Henry clay bread bakers and cloches, and the member reviews looked pretty good. I got a EH modern bread cloche and was VERY pleased with the boules baked in that item. One of my friends, who was a guinea pig for many of the things I baked, wanted to repay me for all of the stuff I had given him and his family, and bought a ciabatta bread baker for me, which produced excellent ciabatta rolls. I also purchased a long covered baker for Italian style loaves, and which has turned out to be great for sourdough loaves. Now, these bakers are expensive, and - unlike cast iron pots and Dutch ovens - are breakable. Some care has to be taken storing clay utensils, and it's not a great idea to place them directly onto a cold marble surface right out of the oven. That being said, I have generally found that bread baked in these products to have a uniformly light and crispy crust, and a wonderful open crumb, and great taste.
