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How to prevent bread from sticking to baking vessel during baking
Some bakers have reported that their bread sticks so strongly to the bottom of their Dutch oven or ceramic baker (e.g. La Cloche, Romertopf) that they destroy their bread trying to pry it out and then have to deal with cleaning the baking vessel. Not a desirable situation. (See this FAQ for how to remove the bread and clean the baker.)
Here’s what works to prevent it – either thoroughly preheat the baker before putting the dough it. “Thoroughly” is the key word here. We recommend allowing 25 to 30 minutes of preheating time before putting the dough in. 10 to 15 minutes is not enough, even if the thermometer on your oven reads a high temp.
Additionally, you can place a piece of parchment paper between your dough and the baker. Do this by laying the parchment paper over your proofing basket and then flipping the basket so the dough is centered on the paper. Lift the paper and dough to place them into the baker. If your baker is preheated, the paper will not stick to the bread, but even if it does, that’s much better than the dough sticking to the baker.
The parchment paper technique is critical if you want to start baking your bread from a cold start. A cold start is when you put the dough in your baker while it’s still at room temperature, and then put it in your oven and turn on the heat. Some bakers prefer the cold start method with parchment paper if –
1. they’re concerned about burning themselves trying to place the dough in a hot baker.
2. they want to proof the dough in the bottom of the baker and then bake it.
3. they find the dough so wet after the long proof that it’s hard to handle. In which case the wet dough can be virtually poured into a parchment paper lined proofing basket for the final proof and then lifted by the edges of the parchment paper and lowered into the hot baker.
Avoiding Dented Bread Edges
If you find that your stiff parchment paper dents the sides of your bread as it bakes, you can prevent this by crushing the piece of parchment paper in your hands and then smoothing it out before flipping the dough onto it. The paper will now accommodate to the shape of your dough rather than poke into it.
How to prevent bread from sticking to baking vessel during baking