I need help. Does anybody bake bread in a la cloche? I got one, was sooooo excited. I made some whole wheat raisin walnut bread and rose it 1/2 way in a banneton (for design), then flipped it into the bottom of the cloche to rise the rest of the way. I put it in a cold oven (as you're supposed to), turned it to 475 and was supposed to bake about 1/2 hr, then remove the lid to brown the top. Well the LID STUCK! I could not for the life of me get the lid off! I could lift the whole thing, bread, bottom of la cloche and all (maybe 10 lbs total) with the lid handle but lid wouldn't budge. So I finished with the lid on and then figured I'd throw the whole thing out when it was cooled. I let it cool and eventually, to my surprise, the lid simply released the bread, but not before it was in the cloche much longer than it should have been, so it's kind of dark crust. The bread is still very good but I need to know: HOW DO I STOP BREAD FROM STICKING TO LA CLOCHE LID?? Anybody know? If so, please tell me. I can't spray the lid with Pam cause then oil will drip on the bread. BTW, at the same time I made one in a plain normal bread pan. While not as "pretty", it tasted the same. La Cloche is supposed to make the most amazing bread, but we didn't see any major difference, other than shape and design. Any comments? Any advice would be appreciated. I found absolutely nothing online about lid sticking to the bread but it must have happened to somebody besides me! So frustrating!
with butter or olive oil? Use a light film of oil on the lid too, it isn't that much and save you the stress. After a few uses, it shouldn't be sticking any more. You can also put baking parchment between the rising dough and the La Cloche. Sticking to the lid might also indicate that too much dough was placed into the pan. Might want to try using a smaller loaf. Dough sticking to the lid means the dough might have lifted the lid somewhat letting trapped steam escape or at least filling the space where steam should be. The idea of using a cloche of any kind is to trap steam for more volume. I think you got more volume than wanted. :)
Mini
I've got it too and am quite happy with it, but it is a BAD idea to put dough into the cold cloche. I know there are recipes around that say do your final prove in the cloche but it's not right - it has to be preheated. It must NOT be oiled in any case!
I usually put it in the oven, lid and base, for at least 20 minutes while the loaf is rising. The only thing that ever stuck in my experience was this: the flower rolls, but that was because some salty glaze trickled down to the base and cemented the dough onto it!