The real secret to great bread every time
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Breadtopia Oblong Baker
$54.00
In stock
We call the oblong cloche “The Crust Lover’s Cloche” since a longer loaf has more surface area than a comparable round loaf.
By simulating a hearth oven in your kitchen, the cloche style of bread baker helped usher in an era of quality artisanal bread baking at home. We’ve been using a cloche clay baker in our kitchen for over 20 years starting with the round style followed soon after with this oblong style. Absolutely wouldn’t be without them.
Baking bread in a covered vessel is a crucial part of getting the kind of artisanal results that we strive for out of a home oven where you do not have the ability to inject steam in the early baking process. Early steam is important for getting good oven spring and also for creating that crisp golden-brown crust we all love. The moist dough within the cloche creates the steam needed to produce both the crackly crust and a more open crumb. Using a covered baking vessel for the first part of the bake eliminates the need for unpredictable spritzing of your dough, or putting a hot skillet with water in the bottom of your oven.
Nice Size & Shape for Sandwiches and Toast
What I love most about this baker is the amazing thermal resilience of the clay; you can pre-heat it in the oven to 500 degrees and then plop dough directly into the base with no fear of it cracking.
Please note that this bread cloche is custom made to our specifications and is the third version of this oblong style baker we’ve carried over the past dozen years. It marries the best aspects of quality, price and performance.
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- Lead and Cadmium Free
- Manufactured in Portugal using the highest quality German clay
- Easy Care Instructions included.
Please watch our Clay Baker Usage Video.
Note: We’re often asked the difference between this oblong cloche and the USA made oblong cloche that costs more. Both are the same dimensions and perform the same. The difference is simply that the USA cloche costs more to make.
The following media excerpts reference the original La Cloche baker –
| From Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice…“One method of simulating hearth baking is the use of La Cloche covered baker, a miniature ceramic dome that fits into your own oven. These are fun to use and do a great job of trapping moisture for a big oven spring and shine”. |
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From Jeffry Steingarten’s The Man Who Ate Everything…“This device (La Cloche), is an unglazed ceramic dish with a domed cover that creates something like the even, penetrating, steamy heat or a brick oven. The tile underneath increases the stored heat in the oven and protects the bottom of the bread from burning. Elizabeth David’s English Bread and Yeast Cookery (Viking) has a photograph of a nearly identical baking cloche from 500 B.C., excavated from the Agora in Athens.” |
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Daniel Wing and Alan Scott from their book The Bread Builders, Hearth Loaves and Masonry Ovens…“Baking with a cloche in a conventional oven has breathtaking results, if you have never baked in masonry before.” |
Outside dimensions (for determining fit in oven): 15 1/4″ long x 7 1/2″ wide x 4 3/4″ high
Inside baking area: 14″ long x 5″ wide x 4 1/4″ high
One year limited warranty — warranty limited to manufacturing defects.
Breadtopia recommends the Oblong Rattan proofing basket to use with this oblong cloche.
Batard, Oblong and Hearth Bakers
Breadtopia Oblong Baker
Add a review
rechelebrooke (verified owner) –
This is the third clay baker I have purchased from Breatopia because I loved my other 2 so much! Now I have 3 different shapes of bread I can bake. I use this one the least often, mainly because most of my bannetons are round so the round baker tends to be my go-to, but I love this oblong one because it makes the perfect-sized slice of bread!
Tiffany Schultz (verified owner) –
This is my first sourdough bread baker. I had some trouble at first getting my starter to be happy, but once I did, baking in this baker has been a dream. The bread plops right out when it is finished and it has a nice shape.
seaworthy58 (verified owner) –
I just used my cloche for the first time, and I love it! I wasn’t sure what the capacity would be, so I cut my dough in half and did one in my small cast iron dutch oven and one in the cloche. I wish I could share pictures – they are both gorgeous! Crispy, crunchy, crusty with a beautiful crumb. As it turns out, I could probably do the entire batch in the cloche (5 1/2 cups flour), but this works out well because I like to give a small loaf away to some poor soul who doesn’t bake fresh bread for themself.
I used a parchment sling, and only had to dust out a little flour from the cloche at the end. Love it, and I predict I will be using it a lot.
Margaret Syverson (verified owner) –
I just received this beautifully made oblong baker and can’t wait to try it out with my new sourdough recipe. I’ve been baking in loaf pans and look forward to upping my game!
sean.boisen –
I switched to this from a Lodge cast iron Dutch oven, and have gotten better spring and crust as a result. As others have noted, this is also a better shape for sandwiches.
David Miner –
I have had this oblong US made cloche for about two years or more. I bake at least weekly with it side by side with my European batard cloche on a baking stone in my 27 inch GE oven. I bake hearth style yeasted breads from Peter Reinhart’s formulas. I prefer this oblong cloche over the batard cloche. I am very pleased with it, even wondering about getting a second one so that my loaves are the same shape. I preheat the oven with the cloches in it and have never had the bread stick in the oblong cloche. My infrared thermoter shows the US oblong cloche to be hotter inside than the European batard just before I insert the dough into the cloches.
rpiantko (verified owner) –
Received my cloche on Saturday. Sunday I made a loaf of Peter Reinhart’s Lean Dough Artisan Bread. It’s a higher hydration dough. Raised the dough in my oblong proofing basket and preheated the cloche to 500 degrees. Dusted the top of the raised dough while in the basket with flour before inverting it into the cloche. Baked covered at 500 for 10 min. and then 450 for 10 min. then uncovered and went for another 10 min. It came right out of the pan without the slightest bit of sticking because of the preheat and flour dusting. It looked just like all the pictures you see and the crust was solid when tapped. After it cooled we tried it and the interior was perfectly tender and moist, the crust had a great chew and it was delicious. Made this same recipe many times on a USA Pan cookie sheet and it never came out anywhere near this good. We were so impressed that today I’m ordering the Combo Baker and the gloves for all the other shaped of bread we make. By the way, their packing of the shipment was the best we ever saw.
Lucia Murphy –
I purchased my loaf pan a year ago. I loved it! However, it simply cracked in half.
I did not hit it, drop it or do anything to damage it. It baked wonderful bread,
UNTIL, it didn’t. I’m really hesitant to purchase another one, since I figured I would
have my last one for life. I do bake sourdough bread at a high heat, but this pan
should be able to withstand it.
lshalsor (verified owner) –
I just treated myself to this oblong baker with its accompanying oblong basket and basket liner. I also treated myself to your lame. I could barely wait to use all of my new bread supplies. I just baked my first loaf and could not be happier with the end results. I baked Breadtopia’s recipe for No Knead Sourdough bread, and had fabulous results! I had placed the dough for its final rise in my brand new basket and liner, placed it directly, without parchment paper, in my brand new new oblong baker which I had preheated, used my brand new lame. WOW!
It’s a beautifully raised loaf with a great crust and crumb, and the loaf did not stick to the baker.
Thanks so much, Breadtopia…for both the recipe and the very reasonably priced baking supplies!
Lara (verified owner) –
This is great, and it’s definitely elevated my baking by a couple of notches. Unlike when I use an enameled cast iron dutch oven, the bottom of the bread isn’t so prone to over-browning, and the end result just looks great. I look forward to getting this in other shapes in the future, but for now I’ll be baking a lot of oblong loaves with this.
Alan (verified owner) –
I was looking for a different shaped loaf because with boules or batards I’m always struggling to get the rise and shape for sandwiches and buns. This is the answer! The sides keep the loaf from spreading out and encourage more of an upward wise. Because of this I noticed the crumb is a little tighter on the bottom sides- but it’s a worthy tradeoff. I think I can even use softer flour (which I prefer) because now I don’t have to rely on strong bread flour to keep shape and upward rise. I’m still getting a great blistered crust without having to spray the loaf with water, and the crust isn’t overly thick or burnt bottom like cast iron.
It is extremely space efficient- in my tiny 24″ electric oven I could easily fit two which is an absolute game changer for me. With a standard 30″ oven I’m sure you could fit three on a rack, possibly 6 in total? Many options to do multiple loaves at the same time with different shaped clay bakers.
Only feedback is I think the bottom half should have handles shaped into it to match the lid to make handling it a little bit easier. And the lid should have an inner lip on it to seat onto the bottom snugly.
Dorothy Lipton –
I love the clay baker, but after using it for a year, it’s broken. My loaf was sticking a little so I used a spatula to pry it loose, and it broke. It must have had a crack in it. I hope you can make it a bit more thicker and sturdier for the future.
Eric Wooden (verified owner) –
New to baking bread and this clay baker makes me feel like a pro! I was using my cast iron dutch oven for round boules and wanted more of a batard shape. This fits my needs perfectly. I did buy the banneton Breadtopia recommends as well. I do the hot oven method and nothing sticks what so ever.
Daniel Sloper –
The oblong clay baker is fantastic. I had a bit of a learning curve when first using it; timing the lid removal for a deep golden-brown crust and properly cooked center.
I have had great success with an overnight (refrigerator) fermentation/proof and baking first thing in the morning: 30 minutes at 485, 20 minutes at 450. Natural leavened bread has never better.
Oh, and don’t forget the proofing basket with liner!
evnpar (verified owner) –
I’ve been using cast iron for boules and batards, but wanted a loaf easy to slice for sandwiches. When my wife gave me a gift certificate for Breadtopia fo my birthday, I immediately ordered the oblong baker, and am so happy that I did. The baker is so light and much easier to handle than my cast iron pots, and the loaves have turned out wonderfully well. I’m tempted to donate all my cast iron pots and use nothing but clay bakers.
Leigh Morris (verified owner) –
I’m a big fan of the clay bakers and use them exclusively for baking my natural yeast breads. I’ve had this one for quite some time now and just recently started using it a little more regularly. My only beef (and reason for the 4 rather than 5 stars): I think it is slightly too narrow, and the coordinating cane banneton that I also ordered from Breadtopia is wider than the baker. So, if the dough fills out the banneton, it will be slightly wider than the clay baker. I use parchment paper and am able to slowly lower it snugly into the baker, but the sides of the dough immediately touch the sides of the baker. The resulting bread shape is perfect for the toaster however, so the final result is fine. It’s just a little more ‘fiddly’ than my other clay bakers as far as lifting the dough in and I think it makes the lower sides of the crust a little tougher than normal. But, I’ll keep using it for toaster bread recipes! Just wish they could modify the design a bit and make it a little wider or make the coordinating banneton match better.
Cheryl Watson (verified owner) –
I didn’t notice that it only let me attach one photo. Here is the other photo I intended to attach to my review.
Cheryl Watson (verified owner) –
This is my absolute favorite bread cloche! It’s a wonderful everyday loaf size and make perfect slices for sandwiches and toast. I bake with only home milled flour (love my Mockmill!) and leaven only with sourdough, and the oblong cloche provides some support to the sides of the loaf as well as the perfect environment for baking. This loaf is 100% hard white spring wheat. I used to preheat the cloche but have switched to putting my cold dough into a room temp cloche, putting the cloche into a room temperature oven, and then turning on the oven. It is so much easier to not have to try to get the bread into a hot cloche and then the hot cloche into a hot oven without burning myself, and my bread hasn’t changed at all!
Nancy (verified owner) –
Love the oblong baker!! My bread always turns out great and I agree with others so much easier to handle than the iron ones!
The first loaf I made came out perfect then the second one stuck to the pan and it got semi ruined. So since then I’ve been lining with parchment paper and no more problems. Not sure why that happened. I totally recommend this product!!!!
johntreacy (verified owner) –
This very easy to use and I am very happy with the results. This photo is of the first loaf I baked using this cloche.
Michael (verified owner) –
First loaf of no-knead bread turned out terrific. Beautiful crackly crust, very even all over. I had been making round loaves in a Dutch oven, but now I can reproduce the results in an oblong loaf. Planning on trying other conventional recipes next.
Obrienmartha (verified owner) –
I received this bread baker recently. I was tired of using a pizza stone and throwing a cup of water into a pan to create steam. The vessel is wonderfully light and bakes a crispy, brown, delicious loaf which audibly crackles after I remove it from the oven! So far I have used it for no-knead bread. I rest formed dough on parchment paper and then easily transfer it into the pre-heated bread baker (450 degrees). I haven’t even come close to burning myself. I’m so very pleased with the results!
Ann –
Love this baker. Indispensable for sourdough artisan bread baking.
Alan Abonyi (verified owner) –
My expensive Le Creuset dutch ovens were slowly getting burned by constant bread baking. I bought both this oblong and round clay baking cloche in an attempt to use something more cost effective. Little did I know they were going to yield amazing, consistent results every single time! I couldn’t be happier. They clean up perfectly with just a little light brushing using a dry towel.
dhunt75 (verified owner) –
Very pleased with this product. It’s so much lighter than my cast iron Dutch oven but bakes just as well.
Kevin Brown (verified owner) –
This is a great addition to the toolkit. I have been making naturally leavened bread for a while using a Lodge cast iron Dutch oven. Mostly great things to say about it, though it is quite heavy, takes forever to cool down and the round shape limits what one can produce from it. I bought the oblong clay baker in order to make longer baguette type shapes without having to deal with a stone or steel and getting steam into my oven. Really happy with this product. It is ultra light weight and cools off quickly, a stark contrast from the cast iron. I got outstanding oven spring and crust, with zero sticking to the clay even with a lightly dusted high hydration dough. Attached pic is my first attempt. 300 g flour, 215 g warm water, 100 g well fed starter, 6 g salt, overnight cold ferment. 25 minutes lid on @425, another 12 minutes with the lid off. How easy is that?
Marty Brown (verified owner) –
I must be doing something wrong, because every loaf of no-knead bread I make in this baker turns out terrible. It’s flat and burns easily. Making the same recipe in the round Breadtopia Clay Baker turns out a perfect loaf everytime.
Kathryn Odell (verified owner) –
I really like this baker! It works great, making a French bread size loaf. I heated the baker to 450, and then loaded my raised dough and put the lid on. The bread came out perfect, with a crispy crust and beautiful golden color.
aml369 (verified owner) –
I’ve had the Boule Breadtopia Clay Baker for quite some time now but only used it once in a while for no-knead breads. That changed when I got some sourdough starter. With the help of the fabulous recipes and video tutorials on this website I started being able to bake wonderful loaves of whole wheat sourdough breads with fabulous oven spring in my clay baker! And have been using it once or twice a week ever since.
I usually bake two loaves at a time and decided to order this Oblong Breadtopia Cloche Bread Baker to replace an old pot used for baking. The oblong cloche was delivered a couple of days ago and I couldn’t wait to try it. Since I still had a round whole wheat bread, I tried Eric’s Artisan Sourdough Rye bread. Mine is lighter in color as I didn’t have molasses — still fabulous!
I use both of my Breadtopia clay bakers with the recommended coiled rattan baskets, cotton liners, and, since this morning, the extra big and loud timer :-)! I also have the Breadtopia oven gloves and lame. Having great equipment and wonderful instructions make success so much easier. THANKS Breadtopia!!
Ellen (verified owner) –
Tried for years to make no-knead bread in a Dutch oven. Never got any oven spring until now. Love the oblong baker. Difficult waiting two hours before slicing…
Linda (verified owner) –
I have and regularly use several different cloches and covered clay bakers by Emile Henry, Romertopf, Breadtopia and Netherton. (My husband commented that, ever since I started using them, he no longer sees the burns that used to run from my wrists to my elbows when turning my oven into a steam oven for bread baking.). This long, covered clay baker is my most recent addition. It works like a charm (and is quite lovely with the wheat sheafs on either handle). Here is Ginsberg’s Dakota Rye that I baked in it today.
easummers (verified owner) –
I love this baker! This is my first clay baker. I’ve been using a 3 qt enamel cast iron dutch oven which works wonderfully. I bought this for the shape and not only love the oblong shape, but love the baker for how light it is and the results as good as the dutch oven. The shape is perfect for me: easier to slice, slices fit toaster and the slice size is great for sandwiches AND toast. I’m very happy with this purchase!