When you go shopping online or offline for the best bread cloche reviews, you probably see that they come in all shapes, sizes, and forms. It’s very easy to think they are just another piece of bakeware set. Once you’ve seen one bread pan, you’d probably automatically assume that you’ve seen all bread pans. The same applies to cookie sheets, baking trays, so on and so forth but not so fast with bread cloches. Bread cloches have a very specialized role. Their role is to contain the dough in such a way that they trap the moisture released by the dough in the form of steam. When you create a bowl of dough, you often use milk and water. These include moisture since they are wet. That moisture is going to be released by the tremendous amount of heat inside the oven.
Depending on the bread recipe you are using, you may need a nice and thick crusty exterior. If you use a typical bread pan that is not covered, this is a hit-or-miss affair. You can have a nice thick crust in some areas of your bread, but you can bet that other parts of your bread don’t have that nice thick crust. This is especially true for certain crust-heavy bread recipes. This is where bread cloches enter the picture. They provide a self-contained dome for the steam. You place the dough inside a bread cloche, and the steam would rise, thanks to the tremendous amount of heat outside the bread’s chamber. Once enough steam has been expelled by the dough, it softens the outer layer of the bread dough. After a few short minutes, the tremendous heat makes its way to the bread chamber and bakes the bread thoroughly. This process leaves a very nice and even crust for your bread – even more even than from a bread machine!
The most important job a bread cloche does is generate the right amount of steam. The steam has to be there for the crust to turn out the right way. This may seem automatic. After all, there are tons of bread cloches out there. It may seem that this happens naturally and automatically. This is not quite. It all depends upon the design. You have to look at the bread cloches you’re considering for your purchase. Make sure that they handle the steam the right way. On top of all of these, the complete piece must be able to withstand the heat.
We’re talking about baking bread and a tremendous amount of heat both inside and outside the chamber. If this isn’t demanding enough, you have to understand that you are going to be handling your bread cloches. Of course, you are going to use baking mitts in handling the bread cloches. Accordingly, they have to be light enough for you to be able to put them into the oven and then take them out. You have to make it easier on yourself. That is why you have to look for bread cloches that not only produce the right steam and able to withstand the heat, but they must be light enough to handle easily. This sounds like a tall order, right? Wait, there’s one more. There’s another qualification you need to keep in mind if you’re looking for bread cloches.
While it’s true that the most important feature of bread cloches is its steam handling capability, this piece of bakeware must be durable enough. You have to look at the overall durability of the piece because of the tremendous amount of heat it is going to withstand. Compounding all of these is the huge amount of steam it generates in the chamber. When steam is heated, it can get really hot. This can produce all sorts of reactions within the chamber. A properly designed bread cloche can withstand punishment both inside and outside of its baking chamber. Keep this discussion in mind when looking for bread cloches for your next baking project. Keep in mind the most important feature of this particular type of baking equipment.
Keep in mind that although steam production and handling are the most important features of bread cloches, you also have to pay attention to secondary concerns. While producing steam is crucial, the bake ware you use to do this job must be also easy to handle. It must be light enough to handle. It shouldn’t be heavy. Can you imagine having to lug around a very heavy piece of bakeware right after you take it out of the oven? That’s a sure recipe for safety hazards like burns. You need to find the right shape, the right cloche size, and yes, the right weight.
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