Waiting for delivery

I had a gas leak at the kiln, fixed it, but did not have enough gas to fire the stoneware pots to temperature. I took the opportunity to change to a larger tank and get rid of the old ones that had to be refilled every firing. So I have a batch of pots in the kiln, waiting for 80 gallons of propane to be delivered. It is getting late for starting. I will be up late tonight. If  all goes well I will be shipping next week.
Because of a broken finger, I don't have many BreadPots this baking and gifting season.
They will go fast, so if you want one, let me know right away.

Saturday 11-2 if you want to come over.

BreadBellz

8"h x 9-10 square base

I have the one on the left remaining and another in the works. If you want a cloche, send an email.

New BreadPots

It has been busy in the studio with a gaggle of projects going at once. New BreadPots are in the works and will be ready in a couple of weeks. I have two new cloches made of a dark chocolate brown clay. BreadBellz. There have been orders for custom inscribed wedding present BreadPots. Nice. What a good gift for a wedding!

the experiments continue

this crumb's not bad

we're keeping this cloche prototype in business and discovering The Joys of the Scientific Method too!

the last loaf i baked (not the rye sourdough and unfortunately not pictured here) was perplexingly sticky as dough, to the point of being unworkable. i avoided abject loaf failure, always looming on the horizon, only narrowly. after baking it in the cloche and tasting the result, i discovered the reason for the dough's weird consistency: i'd forgotten to add the salt. the always-reliable bread nerds at king arthur tell us that "bread baked without salt will have a flat and insipid taste ... salt tightens the gluten structure. when salt is left out, the resulting dough is slack and sticky in texture, work-up is difficult, and bread volume is poor." don't forget the salt.

this time, i didn't forget the salt. this is a white (93%) and whole wheat (7%) sourdough boule, 1.8% salt. slightly lower hydration ratio (63%) compared to the sourdough rye, but with a longer autolyse (12h), longer bulk fermentation with more folding (14h!), and a much longer proof (5h!). no kneading on this one, just many cycles of stretching and folding. i think the unseasonably low temperatures in massachusetts are messing with things. the crust on this one is great (crunchy, glossy, caramelised), crumb is good and improving (more uniformly aerated through the loaf, fewer dense spots), flavour is excellent (mildly sour, richly flavoured, a marvelous lactic aroma), but the dough is still too wet in the shaping stage and the shaped dough spread too much as it proofed.

the crumb issues are, i think, associated with the hydration ratio on the dough. a slightly drier dough may proof better and (maybe) yield a better crumb. next time around, i'll drop the hydration even more (maybe 61%). flavour is good, so i'll keep the flour types and proportions and the approximate autolyse/bulk/proof times.

a note on the cloche: so far, the cloche seems to be associated with consistently excellent crust and great oven spring (3 for 3) even when i do something boneheaded like forgetting to put in the salt and the dough spreads out into a huge puddle during the proofing. but you know what they say about the relationship between correlation and causation.

[another guest post from the sap also rises]

New batch of bakers coming out well...

So, now that we have been using the bakers for a while and I have some new ones done, I am looking for input about what the price should be. At what price would you jump at a chance to have this? At what price would you think twice? Buy for a friend who bakes? At what price would you say, "forget it, who needs a handmade clay baker anyway"? Please comment.

Conversation with Ejo

Ejo: At any rate, I did a second baking using my wheat recipe. I followed your measurements for flour, but still had too much dough. I cooked it about 15 minutes less to see if the bottom would not be almost burnt. The bottom was not burnt, but the inside was slightly under done. It was interesting to compare the taste of the bread cooked in your pot vs the bread I completed the day I started it. The no knead bread had a slightly more sour taste than my sandwich bread. The bread cells in the no knead bread were slightly larger than the sandwich bread. All in all, I enjoyed the flavor and texture of the bread. I would cook it longer next time. I will tweak my measurements and include those next time (as long as they are correct). ejo

Judy: At what temperature are you baking? I was baking at 500, but now find that 450 is better for less burning and more even baking.

You are the only one whose pot does not seem big enough. Can you measure the lid diameter and the height from the bottom inside to the lid flange?

I wonder if you are using a better yeast, hi gluten flour, or just have a warm place to rise, something we do not have this time of year.

I am making more pots with the leftover sculpture clay I used for your baker. Any problems with the clay? I find it uncomfortably groggy to work with, so I won't end up using it. It crumbles in the drying so I have lost a few.

Size matters

Katya has pointed out that the sides don't brown as much as the top if the dough does not see as much open oven. When a pot is too small the dough is less exposed to the oven air and it may hit the top of the lid. 

Janes stuck to the lid when she removed it. 

Ejo's also hit the roof, making for a nice positive of the inside volume of the pot.

However, my understanding is that the bread should have that hot air above to fully grow and crust nicely.

So I ask you to take a minute to send me three dimensions.

Lid diameter, height at the lid seat, and with the lid on. Do not include the handles.

Rona got her pot

 I got this message on facebook today from Rona:
Hi Judy. I received the pot today and have the dough rising. Do I send you messages directly or do you want me to post on the blog? I am almost embarrassed to say that I wasn't sure if I should let the dough rise in the pot. Before I received it I was SURE that I was going to do the rising and the baking in it. Then, when I looked at the recipe you sent, I had second thoughts. However, I finally decided to rise in the pot; that just feels right. I love the look of the pot on my counter, knowing what's happening inside of it. I guess that I might(not sure) have to clean out the pot before the baking. Also, I decided to use the recipe inside of your lid...not the one in the NYT. Next time I might try that one. I will take pictures and keep you posted; just want to know about how you want us to use the blog. Bakers Gone Wild! Love it. Rona

Rona,
I don't mix or rise the dough in the baker, but go ahead and let us know how it goes. Definitely clean it before baking. Since you have to heat the pot in the oven to 500 before baking, if it is not clean it will burn the gunk on. I will also set you up to directly to post here soon. And, my mom says hello.

First test report from the ugly pot and beautiful Katya

Our first report:
"the main thing I've noticed from my first informal tests is that I've been putting in loaves that are slightly too large, thus the crust gets nice but the bread didn't have large holes in the crumb. i also tipped the loaves out about 10 minutes before done-ness to brown them up. perhaps with a smaller loaf i would just need to remove the cover. handles are a good idea, i think, (mine doesn't have one) for handling fragile vessels."

Katya

Let the testing begin

I have assembled a team of friends who will test these bread bakers, keep records of the use of the pot, take pictures, and make notes.
1. Katya, who has already started, posted about it on Second Dinner. She has one of the overfired, glazed, ugly ones.
2. Joan got an earlier design with added handles, in the best color of clay, fired at cone 6, unglazed.
3. Johanna is taking the one pictured, the nicest yet clay body, a little small for the white and black sesame bread I made this week. She will also ask the When Pigs Fly people to test it in their wood fired oven.
4. Jane will get one of the three that came from the kiln this morning. Hers has a blow out in the foot and interior because I was rushing and it was not dry. The clay was a mix which I find anemic in color and will not use again.
5. Rona will get the other light colored one that has an s crack in the lid.
6. Ejo will get the one made from Standard 547 sculpture clay. It is very groggy, nice color.
Carol and Susan will get pots to test from the next batch in February.

I will include a recipe and no knead bread method, but I hope you will try other things and keep notes. I will share all the info here. In addition to baking, I want feedback about design, marketing, naming.