Toasty brown stone

New  no knead bread pots, a whole kiln load of 'em.
They have tested well over the last few months and I am just now putting them up for sale. They mold the bread into a nice form, letting it bake evenly and slice well. They are strong, simple, unglazed stoneware with integrated handles on pot and lid. They get a lived in patina with use. They are a beautiful bird-like form. The brown stoneware is coming out toasty. The rough brick clay is a nice autumnal orange.
Contact me for info, call for credit card by phone or use paypal.

Freshly baked breadPots.. later this week

Wheel thrown stoneware in a variety of humble brown clays, cloche or casserole style, knob or strap handle, slip decorated, inlaid recipe or proverb inside. These are some of the variations of the BreadPots  I will be firing  this week. There will be a great variety to choose from. They are for advance sale here, in our virtual clay boulangerie, for $78. Please pass this along to any no knead bread bakers you know. You can call, visit the studio, send a check or use paypal button. They will ship after Passover and Tomb Sweeping Day and Nceca.
www.motzkin.com/breadpots.htm

Irish Soda Bread

For a few weeks now, I've been thinking about Irish soda bread again. Soda bread is a treat I should make more often, as it's comparatively abstemious (at least for me). I like John Thorne's very simple recipe:

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 and 1/4 - 1 and 1/2 cups buttermilk (as much as it takes)

Mix all the ingredients together quickly, as lightly as possible, like biscuit dough. I roll in some golden raisins. shape into a rough ball and throw into a baker preheated to 425F. Bake covered for about 45 minutes, until golden brown.

I suppose one could slice it, but I tend to tear pieces off it hungry-wolf-fashion, with the excuse that it's never as good as right out of the oven anyway. It has no butter at all and is better than all but the best biscuits.

Pistachios

I haven't posted for awhile, but that doesn't mean that I'm not happily baking in my Breadpot. I think that I've shared the important points of my baking with Judy and am now happily anticipating the first batch of pots for sale. Just want to share that of late I've been mixing in a "bunch" of pistachios and love the taste of the finished loaf. I'm bring a loaf of this bread along with cheeses for a cheese course at a friend's house this weekend.

The Eagle Has Landed

 The eagle has landed. The travelling pot of brick clay has finally landed in its permanent home in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. It arrived in perfect condition and is doing just fine, thank you. Here it is with a loaf of wheat/rye bread with flaxseeds and wheatberries. Its flatter, wider shape also makes it a great breadbox. Thank you so, Judy. 

And don't think I'll be ignoring the original glazed pot. It's become one of my best rising vessels, and keeper for all sorts of things, and I still hope to bake beans in it someday soon.

Judy's Rye bread

This is Judy's rye bread. It has been the best fit for the pot so far. I have had too much dough with the other recipes. I think this is due to the warmer weather. I began this loaf on a gray cold day. It was still cold, but sunny on my baking day. This loaf had great texture and crust. The pot is holding up quite well. No pings since the first baking.

















My next trial was to make a double batch. I cooked half in the clay pot and half in an enamel pot. This bread was not the best batch. The dough seemed quite dry when mixing, but was extremely wet the next day. I tried adding extra flour and probably kneaded more than I should have.






This is the blob I ended up with after it was supposed to rise. The bread was divided between the two pots. They were each cooked at 450, 30 minutes with the lid on and 15 minutes with the lid off. Both breads were cooked through. There were no doughy centers. Both breads had smaller cells than the previous batch.




As you can see from this photo, the bread in the clay pot has a warmer color to it. I found the bread cooked in the enamel pot was too chewy, almost a rubbery texture to the crust. We all agreed the texture of the bread cooked in the clay pot was far superior. I wonder if the unglazed clay soaks the moisture from the clay at a faster rate than the enamel pot. I could see this as a selling point for the clay versus the enamel.


The bread cooked in the enamel pot is slightly larger, but less tasty. We ate it toasted.