October 31, 2018 - 7:34pm
emile henry cloche
I do not know if this is general knowledge ( not that I have a new cloche ) but I just received this beautiful cloche, WITH a real nice mixing bowl from Costco for a mere $99 !
Every where else I saw it started at about $120 and went up. Proving bread right now to try it, I only got it a few hours ago. From what I understand this will pretty much solve my battle with steaming properly, not to mention it is a fantastic piece of cookware.
Hope I am not violating any protocol by putting the link in, but then again there is only one letter difference between partisan and artisan !
costco.com/Emile-Henry-Bread-Cloche-with-3.3-quart-Mixing-Bowl.product.100372357.html
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yes, I just saw it. great price.
write it with your results.
how long do you have to preheat the oven?
I am making a dough by their recipe. Not too thrilled with it As per the booklet, 3 1/2 cups flour , 1 1/4 cups warm water, 2 tspn. each of salt, sugar, yeast , 1 tbls milk. throw it all together, retard overnight.
Seems to be a real stiff dough, much firmer than I usually use and by my calculation it is %60 hydration.
Interesting thing though, it specifically says to "proof dough on base 1 1/2 hours at room temperature, cover with cloche and put into COLD oven set at 450f "
Other recipes in the booklet say pre-heat oven but not the cloche. I think some experimentation is called for. I am getting a new oven in a week so I will start to play then.
Gotta love this bread making stuff. Kind of like a rabbit hole !
well the cloche works great. more than happy with it and at the price from Costco, I will have no trouble justifying this purchase to my wife !
The recipe in the booklet leaves a little ( lot ) to be desired but not going to worry about that. Find it kind of hard to believe that basically a clay pot would make so much difference, but it does. I would go so far as to say that if you bake more than a couple of loaves a month, get one. I have no idea if this is a standard Costco item or a " while supplies last" sort of thing. Also for those who will not doubt wonder, I have absolutely nothing to do with Costco or Emile Henry.
The only down side is that you are more or less limited to medium sized boule. So my sany's don't have corners any more, who cares ?
Hi,
I just ordered the cloche from Costco and am looking forward to getting it next week.
I am really enjoying the recipe 100% ww by Elly on Youtube and have gotten such good chew, lightness and thin crispy crust in my Creuset cast iron, but I want to go with the ceramic cloche to reduce the energy use and hopefully see even more improvement to the bread. Right now I try to get something cooked during the 1 hr preheat before popping in the bread.
The Costco price is really great. I picked the black cloche.
Can you link me to that youtube recipe you like? Also, moving from a cast iron to the cloche, are you happy with the results? I'm considering the same thing.
Hi,
Here is the link. Note that it is for 100% whole wheat.
I tried the cloche once with the 100% ww recipe, but prefer the hot cast iron result. I also got a really good oven spring with an inverted bread loaf pan over an identical one to trap steam (only 30 min , vs 60 min, oven preheat; loaf pans , no preheat). With the cloche I had a preheated oven and a room temp cloche.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd_r69WauPk
Cheers - I actually learned to bake from Ellys everyday. I love that she uses a lot of "intuitive" measurements and not grams... But in retrospect it may have initiated my baking life as someone who isnt as good with measurements and time and just kind of eyeballs it, to mixed results.
I just ordered the cloche myself and hope I didn't make a mistake, since you seem to say you like the CI more!
There is definitely something to be said for the ability to bake by feel. When your measurements are not necessarily consistent, it forces you yourself to be incredibly consistent in your judgment and your procedures.
If you learn by feel and judgment, you must develop the ability to use precise measurements if you want the top level of success. If you learn by precise measurements, you must develop feel and judgment if you want that top level. ?
I think a big part of the reason that accurate and precise measurement is currently the most popular method on this site is the fact of worldwide electronic communication. The feel and sound and smell of "when it's just right" are hard to get across in a forum post, but charts and measurements are easy to send, and numbers don't need translating. And thus most of the contentious or difficult bread forum topics involve one or more people's lack of feel and judgment of the dough. Misunderstood or mistaken measurements are usually pretty easy to explain and to settle.
Agreed on all counts - and as an anthropologist and historian, your last paragraph can stand in for a grand history of science approach to human history. Translatable, scalable units are responsible for a lot of the systems we use today, for good and for a lot of bad (all colonial history :-|)
If you have any tips about the cloche, on more prosaic level, please let me know :-)
I've never used one. But like you should with any good tool, allow it to make your process less complicated, not more - and as far as possible, work with it instead of against it.
made a second loaf and it turned out better.
Congrats on your purchase. I am sure you will be more than happy.
Best thing about Costco, use it for a few times, if your not happy returns are no problem with Costco
Enjoy , I sure am
Great price for a great piece of kit! I recommend that cloche.
I have a Fornetto bread cloche. It looks very much like the emile henry one. I really love the way bread turns out in it. I line mine with some baking paper before putting my dough in as the first time I used it, the loaf got stuck to the bottom ? I’m a newbie to both this group and sourdough bread making. I like to put my dough in to prove for a final 30 minutes before baking and cover with the lid. Then I score the bread, cover the cloche back up and put it into a cold oven then turn it on to 220c for around 40-45 minutes, then remove the lid, reduce to 180c and bake a further 15-20 minutes or until it gets to the colour I like. I’ve had better success with my loaves doing it this way with the cloche than a hot oven and cast iron dutch ovens. I’m sure you will all love to use your cloches.
I used my new Emile Henry one time with lots of flour on it, but the loaf still stuck. I got it off without losing any of the bottom, but I can't get it clean. I have let water sit on the glazed part, and I have scrubbed it for several days, but the residue will not come off.
Any ideas about cleaning it? Thank ayou.
Hi,
I bought this cloche too and wanted to keep the bottom nice and so I line it with a piece of parchment each time. Either flip the dough over and onto the paper or lift youdough out by hand and lay it down.
The only parchment I can find burns in my oven. Huge temp difference between high and low temps while set on 400. I also have the Emile Henry baguette baker. I have used it several times, and it clean up so easily. I even burned the bottom of the breadline time, but the residue came right off.
I can't figure out what the difference is and why I can't clean the cloche. I won't use it until it is clean, just in case it makes it worse. Thanks for the tip.
Hi Patti,
I buy Reynolds parchment and it does turn brown but it doesn't catch on fire and it doesn't seem to affect the bread color. After taking off the lid of DO, I can also remove the bread from the parchment and slide the bread alone into the oven for late 20-30 min.
I have Reynolds brand, but when I try to lift the bread up, it disintegrates. My oven is just too hot.
I have this same cloche and simply put a little semolina on the bottom of my loaves. Haven't had any sticking issues and I just brush it off to clean it. Don't know why you're having issues, use semolina or cornmeal instead of flour and you shouldn't have problems...
from the first time I baked a loaf in it without lining it first and it got stuck ? Just use paper from now on as suggested in the above comments. It’s hard to keep a cloche pristine... shows it’s been used and loved...? no-one but you will see it as the lid hides it from prying eyes. Try not to worry about it.
Ok, I'm not worrying. I just didn't want to bake it on even more. Funny that the baguette baker has been used lots and is still brand new looking. Emile Henry said to soak in white vinegar so I am trying that. Thanks.
I used fume free, oven cleaner on it and all the baked on dough came off. I tested it on the rim, and it worked quickly. I tried another spot, and another, and they all came clean. Back to perfect! I think the Emile Henri bread recipe that I used was just too wet. My baguette baker is pristine, and it cleans easily so it had to be a dough problem since the cloche and baguette baker are made of the same material.