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Breadtopia Cloche Bread Baker — Round
$54.00
In stock
Cloche Bread Baker — The real secret to great bread every time.
By simulating a hearth oven in your kitchen, the round cloche style of bread baker helped usher in an era of quality artisanal bread baking at home. We’ve been using one in our kitchen for over 20 years and the oblong style for nearly as long. 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.
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 round dome style baker we’ve carried over the past dozen years. It marries the best aspects of quality, price and performance.
- Lead and Cadmium Free
- Manufactured in Portugal using the highest quality German clay
- Easy Care Instructions included.
Please watch our Clay Baker Usage Video.
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): 12″ dia (handle tip to handle tip), 10.75″ dia (short axis) x 7″ high.
Inside baking area: 9″ x 6.5″
One year limited warranty — warranty limited to manufacturing defects.
Note: Careful packaging has reduced the incidence of breakage in transit to almost zero. Safe delivery is ensured within the 50 US states or will be replaced free of charge.
Breadtopia Cloche Bread Baker — Round
Add a review
SheilaB54 (verified owner) –
This is a very nice clay baker. I tried to use it at same time with the Emerson pottery oblong baker and they didn’t fit— our oven wasn’t 30” it is 29”. At least we have double ovens, so I was able to handle my baking last night and get to bed. Bread turn out nicely! It does help to take lid off for last 10 minutes. This is a good price for a quality clay baker. Happy that Breadtopia has such nice things!
rechelebrooke –
I absolutely love these clay bakers! This was the first one I purchased, and I have since purchased two other shapes. They hold the heat well and make the most beautiful crust on my sourdough bread. Everyone asks me how I get such amazing crust and I always recommend these clay bakers. My sister, dad, and aunt have all purchased them after seeing and tasting my bread. They are also very affordable!
Chrissyjk (verified owner) –
I love this product. I found just what I was looking for. I tried many bakewares to bake my bread and was continuing to have a dark bottom but with this cloche my bread bottom and top was prefect. I highly recommend it.
Ylva (verified owner) –
My cloche arrived and I got to use it for the first time today. I made a raisin nut bread, one I have made many times before, using my cast iron Dutch oven.
Using the cloche, this is the best result I have ever gotten for this bread. Beautiful crust, nice moist inside and a terrific smell.
I am sure I will use this many times.
YS Fung (verified owner) –
Really appreciated the baker arrived with the best protective packing. It’s so happy that I finally find the bread baker I want, although it’s from a long way overseas.
Testing the first time now, sure it will be as great as other reviews.
David Hunt (verified owner) –
Used this for the first time today and it worked wonders. I have to admit I screwed up my recipe, only used half the sourdough starter I needed. Realized my error about halfway through the fermentation and decided to go ahead and add in the missing starter. Didn’t get a very good rise but didn’t want to waste the dough so I heated up the cloche and dropped in my loaf. To my surprise, I got an excellent rise. Baked it for 15 minutes with the lid on and then 20 minutes with the lid off at 500 degrees. Saved the day.
Brian Chipman –
This is really the only way to bake sour dough bread. So easy and it turns our so great each time. Be sure to buy the mits as well because this thing gets hot. Well worth it and you will love the outcome!