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.
Love all the new photos in the new edition.
I’m addicted to the smell and taste of home made bread. This bread is mine…I loved
I like the books and the Bread in Five website. And if I don’t win the cloche :), where is a good place to buy one?
I bought the Nook version of the book and tried the recipe last weekend. Came out pretty good and looking forward to trying it again this weekend
Mmmmmmm!
My Aunt turned me on to your books and I love them! There is nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the house. Thanks for making it so easy!
I live in bread heaven since I’ve found the bread in five book! Would love to win that Cloche!
Yay for fresh bread!
Loaves look amazing 🙂
That crust looks amazing!
We just recently purchased and moved into our first house, and all I’ve asked for as a housewarming gift is the new book!
I just discovered your book and can’t wait to try your method!
I love your photography. Just fabulous. I’ve never tried bread as yeast seems scary to me. What a perfect opportunity to try … and that red cloche? Beautiful!
Thanks for the giveaway, and for the book!
There is nothing better than the smell of baking bread when the weather turns cold and miserable outside. It just feels like home.
I’m really excited to get this book and learn some new recipes!
This is my first time to comment here but I’ve been using your method for more than 2 years now. Thanks so much.
I’m so anxious to read the new book! I have so enjoyed the 5 min a day strategy. Thank you for sharing your work with the world!
Love to win for my sister
thanks for the giveaway
Interesting technology and great Giveaway.
Love this giveaway! For the last 2 years, I’ve been making your Rosemary Crescent Rolls for Thanksgiving! Thank you for the giveaway!
Oh–I want this!
Can I add finely pureed spinach to the master recipe? How would this change the recipe? Thanks!
Hi Dana,
We actually have a recipe in our book for Spinach feta bread. Do you have the book?
Thanks, Zoë
I do have the book. Both! I am looking to hide some spinach to make green pizza dough for my kids this weekend. Maybe I should follow the broccoli cheese bun recipe ratios?
I bought Pizza in 5 first, then thumbed through Healthy Bread and bought it. One day later I ordered the NewABin5. Please keep up your wonderful work — I’m looking forward to the next book!
Sorry…I forgot to ask how large a white or whole-grain loaf the Emile Henry cloche will accommodate. Thank you.
I have all three books and plan to give the new book to my sister for Christmas. I would love to try a cloche.
I have a new gas range, of course it won’t hold the steam, so I broke down and bought a new enameled Dutch Oven from Costco, Kirkland brand made in France. It’s beautiful and only $79. I baked in it for the first time last night, the crust was beautiful all over. I had a hard time on the preheated stone getting the bottom nice and brown (???). The Kirkland dutch oven has a knob that can heat up to 500 degrees. I baked at 500 covered for 15 minutes then took the lid off and finished for 20 minutes at 450.
Just learned about your updated book and new gluten free options and found you today! Very interested in hearing how others like the GF options!
I’m wanting to learn how to make your breads, and plan to buy the book. Can’t wait!
Got the new book today and our first loaf is in the oven.
Just got my The New Artisan Bread yesterday and I can’t stop reading it! Thank you for devoting time to publish this wonderful book.
The largest container I usually mix dough in has a 9-cup capacity. I made a master dough in half the recipe last night and after the initial 2-hr rise, it almost outgrew my container, but I have to leave the lid cracked open so didn’t bother me. The question I have here is that is it okay if my dough STICKS TO THE LID even when it went back down a little in the fridge? Will I do any harm to the gluten when pulling the lid open?
Or should I adjust the recipe to fit my container, (say, less than 40% of the original master dough?)
What a Gorgeous book! My first loaf is baking right now – the house Smells heavenly!! Keep up the Great job of making bread baking a simple work of art!
Heard about you thru my awesome Niece Katty! Than you for the opportunity and thanks to Katty for introducing me to something new. Suz
Your books are the best!
Thank you for this opportunity.
This bread looks so good, I can’t wait to make some for the holidays! 🙂
Can it really be that easy to make homemade artisan bread? I’m going to give it a try.
Can’t wait to get the updated book! Going to pass my old one on to my sister.
I just discovered Bread in 5 a couple months ago when I found the recipe on the Gold Medal Unbleached Flour bag I had just purchased. What a great recipe, almost too easy to have such a yummy loaf of fresh bread! I’m looking forward to more when I have the full book collection. Thank you!
What a great giveaway! Thank you so much for the opportunity!
A very good friend of mine showed me how easy it was to bake bread using your method and also how good it tasted! I am going to try it myself this week. I feel confident that I will be successful, thanks to not only your book, but also your website and videos. I can’t wait to bake my first loaf of bread! Thank you!!
What an incredible way to have fresh breads… I am so excited at the concept and look forward to making this a part of my meal prep.
What a beautiful loaf of bread, staff of life. Beautiful gift…I now know what I’ll be giving to my friends and boss this Christmas.
We have a bucket of dough almost permanently in our fridge and use it for all of our bread items. I’d love to have a chance to read the new edition and try the cloche.
I’d love to win this for the gluten-free chapter alone, but that cloche really is a thing of beauty.
This looks stunning. I am baking my panettone today using your fabulous recipe. Can’t wait!
I can’t wait to try this method for bread! All the other things I’ve done never seem to match my hectic schedule, I think this may be the key to doing bread much more often than I used to.
I’m excited to find this as a new blog read and learn more about bread!
Would love a fresh piece of bread right now with butter and honey or cinnamon and sugar!
I love Artisan Bread in 5 recipes
Your cookbook works! My loaves look like your photo. Always like a cookbook that actually works and tastes good. Thanks!