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What is a Bread Cloche?

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

A bread cloche or cooking bell is an earthenware cloche which is designed to be used in an oven during bread baking. To use a bread cloche, bakers preheat it in the oven, put the bread dough inside, and then cook the dough as they would normally. By baking inside the cloche rather than in the oven itself, the bread cooks differently, developing a more chewy crust and a chewy, moist crumb. For people who make artisan breads, a bread cloche is an appealing alternative to a costly traditional bread oven.

People have been using cloches in cooking and baking for centuries. The Romans, for example, buried cloches full of meat and fish in their campfires to roast their food, and cloches have been used in Northern Africa for things like tagine for centuries as well. There are two main parts to a cloche: a bottom baking stone, and an upper domed lid. Many cloches having baking stones with lips which are designed to retain drippings and juices from foods cooked in the cloche.

Bread dough is placed inside a cloche for baking.
Bread dough is placed inside a cloche for baking.

There are several reasons to use a bread cloche in baking. For one thing, the interior of the cloche stays moist, retaining the steam released by the bread as it cooks and yielding a moister final product. Cloches also get hotter than the surrounding oven, and the internal temperature of a cloche is very regular, without the hot and cold spots which develop in an oven. All of these factors combine to impact the way the bread cooks, changing the texture and the flavor of the finished product.

Using a bread cloche is fairly simple, but there are a few cautions to keep in mind. Most cloches are sensitive to thermal shock, so you should never put a cold cloche in a hot oven. You should also avoid putting a hot cloche on a cold counter, as it may crack. Cloches should not be spritzed with water, either, as the sudden release of steam can cause the cloche to crack. To wash a bread cloche, wait for it to cool to room temperature and rinse it with water.

A bread cloche doesn't just have to be used for bread. These cloches can also be used like their historical counterparts for meat, vegetables, and fish. However, because these foods can deposit flavors on the cloche, many bakers prefer to dedicate a particular cloche to bread and another one to other foods to avoid things like fish-flavored sourdough.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a DelightedCooking researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a DelightedCooking researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

ElizaBennett

@dfoster85 - They come in different shapes. Most are round for making round loaves, but you can also get oblong-shapes ones for making long loaves of bread. I would suggest starting with around one. They're a little more versatile, I find--you can also use them for baking meat, fish, etc.

If you've never baked with stoneware, you're really missing out. Nothing else is going to cook so evenly and give you such nice texture. I almost never use anything else anymore. I even bake cookies on an oven stone.

dfoster85

I love baking bread, but so far I've only done loaves because that's all I know how to do. (And once I did focaccia on my pizza pan!) I do like sandwich bread, but I'm interested in trying other kinds as well. Is a cloche a good way to make boules (round loaves)?

And is a cloche useful for making loaves and focaccia, or is it only good for making boules?

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    • Bread dough is placed inside a cloche for baking.
      By: vimart
      Bread dough is placed inside a cloche for baking.