Baking in a Cloche
There are many ways to get a crusty loaf of bread, but one of our favorites is to use the tried and true method of baking in a clay cloche, here, the Emile Henry brand cloche. It is very similar to using a Dutch Oven, but the cloche was designed to bake bread, so it is an even more intuitive method. In other words, you aren’t lowering the bread into the piping hot vessel, you just lift the lid and slide the loaf onto what is essentially a baking stone. The cloche traps the steam from the dough to create a perfectly crisp and beautifully shiny crust, without having to add steam to the oven.
This loaf was made with the Master Recipe from The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day:1 pound of Master Recipe from TheNewABin5
Shape the loaf into a ball and let it rest for 40 to 90 minutes on a piece of parchment or a Pizza Peel covered in cornmeal.
The dough will rise, but may not double in size, this is perfectly normal for this method.
About 40 minutes before baking, preheat your cloche to 450°F.
Slide the loaf onto the bottom part of the cloche. Put the cover on and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the cover and continue baking for 5 to 10 minutes,
or until the loaf is a deep caramel color.
Remove the loaf from the cloche and parchment to allow it to cool completely on a wire rack. If you leave it on the parchment, the bottom crust will not be as crisp.
This loaf was rested for about 90 minutes, and you can see that it has a nice open crumb. If you are in a hurry you can reduce it to 40 minutes.
Note: Red Star Yeast (Lesaffre Corp) sponsored this post, and supplied yeast for recipe testing. Emile Henry also sponsored, and provided the cloche for testing. BreadIn5.com is reader supported–when you buy through links on the site, BreadIn5 LLC earns commissions.
Wonderful contest. Such a shame it is open only to US Residents and not to northern neighbors, Canada. NAFTA rules don’t apply!
What about Canadian residents with legitimate US mailing address???
At least I can still use my original Bin5 books.
Hi John,
Thanks for the question. We’ve changed the language to reflect that we can only ship to a US address, but anyone can enter, as long as there is an address in the states we can mail it to.
Cheers, Zoë
The anticipation of the holidays has revived my interest in baking and the 5 minute bread process. I am a constant tinkerer in the kitchen and no matter what I seem to add or do to this bread it always holds up and bakes beautifully. The new Emile Henry Cloche is tops on my list of must have kitchen gadgets for Christmas this year. Thanks for making baking so effortless and fun!
What a wonderful gift to have a chance to win..Merry Christmas everyone.
I would love an actual cloche; I baked in a covered clay baking dish and it was okay but this would be awesome.
Oh, to bake the way you do! What beautiful photography too.
Does this method work with the gluten free recipe as well? Still working to perfect my efforts with consistent results. Thanks for the research and efforts on our behalf.
P.S. I would share the non-GF parts of the prize with family if selected.
Wow. Gorgeous loaf; gorgeous cloche!
I am German and miss good bread, so glad I found your books (have all of them) so when I get homesick I can bake my own bread.
Love your site! I would use this cloche like crazy!
What a beautiful loaf! Love the idea of not having to add steam to the oven.
It’s the first snowy day here in northern Maryland, & that means bread baking!
I love ABin5. One of my clients let me barrow her book, that was over a year ago and I have not given it back. I have made at least half the breads in there. Love love love it
I would LOVE to win this!!!!
My copy of your first book is well-loved, and I’ve given it as a gift to many relatives. Thank you so much!
What a great prize!
I usually bake in a cast iron dutch oven, but this looks even simpler! And prettier 🙂
I’ve got brioche and potato doughs in the fridge right now, and it’s snowing; perfect day for baking!
oooh, just what I what for Christmas!
Great bread! Will have to try this method.
Got your master recipe resting right now for some rolls to go with out chicken soup!! Lunch all week is served between two slices of your soft white whole wheat recipe! Thank you!
What a fun giveaway! I love Emile Henry! And would LOVE a cloche and a copy of the new book! Thanks for the giveaway!
Getting back into my bread baking would love this to play with (I think of it all as play- with a side benefit of wonderful things to eat)
Love the new book!
I would love the giveaway. Right now I alternate between cooking on the bottom of a cast iron skillet or in a dutch oven.
That is a beautiful Choche AND loaf of bread!
Dough rising now- need a new stone! Happy Holidays
Love LOVE the idea of making bread at home…..and this cloche is beyond gorgeous!
A delight, always…simple and complete…inspiration !
The Emile Henry Cloche looks like an amazing addition to the kitchen. When I bake a loaf of bread (if it’s not sandwich bread) I use my cast iron dutch oven – thanks to Jeff for the video.
Love the new book!
I have been making bread using ABIN5 for several years now. It’s my go to bread book. I have been using cast iron to bake my bread but I would love to try this cloche.
I’m one of those who replaced my oven after destroying the glass window with only a few drops of water. And yet I still continue making bread. I now take great care with steam and have been wanting to try using a cloche to limit the risk of needing to purchase yet another oven. That makes it an incredibly expensive hobby. 🙂 I am so glad I was introduced to this style of bread making. Happy holidays to you two. Thank you so much for answering questions on the blog.
I use you recipe books weekly. I have been using a quick rise method with damp towels and a low temp oven. I think the cloche would be a lovely new way to help the dough rise more quickly.
I would love to win this! Nothing beats a homemade bread!
As usual, love your posts and your books
I love your books and had great success with all different kinds of breads. My family enjoy these freshly baked bread very much. What a great Holiday giveaway,especially the beautiful cloche! Happy holidays!
I love the simplicity of your bread baking method as well as the aesthetic quality and the delicious taste of your bread! Thank you for this awesome giveaway!
Always been interested in trying baking with a cloche!
Just made your Challa yesterday– this leaves me craving the basic recipe!
I’m new to bread baking and have spent the morning curled up with your Healthy Bread in 5 minutes a day. Plan to try baking as soon as my oven thermometer arrives ;). Thank you for giving me the courage to try and bake bread.
This is so beautiful!
Great giveaway.been wanting to try these for a long time!
This is great, I love a good crust!
I love baking in pots. The bread comes out great!
The cloche is great idea, I noticed Amazon is sold out, but its probably available locally.
MMMM … I’m in love with this bread!
Since I started making bread this way, following your recipes, we have totally stopped using our bread machine. This bread has a great chewy texture and we love it.
How pretty!
Would love to try baking with the cloche; because of the knob, my cast iron dutch oven can’t be used in a 450 degree oven.
sounds like a cloche would work so much better than my cast iron dutch oven would.
Would love to try baking breads in a cloche. Thanks!