My first attempt with Reinhart

My first attempt using Reinhard's "epoxy" method in Whole Grain Breads.

Yesterday, I took my San Francisco liquid sourdough (started from a small crock with yeast package I purhased over 12 years ago, and have transported across the continent twice) and made it the core leven in his more dough-like mother starter. It went in to the fridge last night and 14 oz came out before breakfast today. I also made the soaker.

This morning I made the dough (his standard whole wheat) and used a basket with foured dishcloth successfully toi make a Banneton (my first attempt at that technique).

Baked in my terracotta plant-pot cloche (preheated with the oven, so I could not soak the top in water, to make steam. It seems to have jumped quite well in the oven.(I did not know how to create steam inside the cloche, otherwise). I also forgot to reduce the heat mid-way through baking, so the crust is really dark. I brushed the crust with melted butter to soften it a little.

I'll post a crumb shot when it has cooled.

So: how can I create steam inside a terracotta cloche without just misting the dough, which negates the flour dusting from the banneton?

When using a cloche you shouldn't need to do anything else to add steam. Occasionally, if the hydration level of the dough is low, I will mist the dough with a fine spray of water, but it's rarely necessary.

Thanks. I'll try it without any added water next time. I'd really like to keep the floured look from the banneton.

My concern is when baking bread raised while coated in flour in a banneton. Will that dry surface still express enough water for the dough to create steam in the cloche?

Here's a picture of the cloche I'm using and the crumb of the loaf.

Thanks, Dancing Bear!

Of course. This makes perfect sense. The hole in the top of the cloche will make steam ingress easy. It will treat the crust and slowly vent out at the same rate as an exposed loaf on a stone. But I'll still get the brick-oven effects, including nice even heat, from the cloche.

My next experiment, I'll try that. I really need to make two loaves, one with the steam bath and one with just the sealed cloche.

But perhaps I should beware of splatters of water from the frying pan onto the super-hot stone. Could they crack a it?

Have any of you experience in trying a steam bath with a cloche? I guess a preheated baking pan on top of the cast iron frying pan would prevent splatters and allow only the steam to escape. A thinnish one that buckles in the heat would still let the steam out. This is getting elaborate, but not prohibitively so.

Thanks again!

Mason

I use both cloches and steam but never together. If you terra cotta has a hole in the top seal it with something so the steam stays in. You should get plenty of steam unless you are under 60 percent hydration. The other choice is to use steam but using both is not likely to be very helpful. I get almost identical results either way.

Good Luck!

Jay