Testing the Emile Henry Bread Loaf Baker
I really love creating boules and batards. But there are times that a standard loaf shape just makes more sense. Metal loaf pans never did what I wanted, but a few months back I received the Emile Henry Loaf Baker and today I gave it a try.
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Normally in the summer I only bake breads outside, but because I was baking for a party, I turned on the oven and decided to finally give the new baker a try.
I did a standard pain au levain and decided to bake side by side with a boule to get some comparison. I didn't proof the loaf in the baker because I like my cloche to be hot and thought I would use the same approach. The only problem was the warm weather had caused my dough to expand a little too much and needed a little squish to get in. But it recovered from that quite nicely.
Here are the two loaves side by side. I got pretty much the same results as the boule with oven spring and coloring (The loaf hit the top of of the baker so it was just the right size) I had absolutely no sticking or any problems at all. Looks like it will make nice sandwich slices.
The boule was quite musical today. It sang to me for a very long time. Never get tired of that sound! I have been extremely impressed with the Emile Henry products. Next on the list is the baguette baker.