A beautifully crafted British made hand-spun black iron cloche, with brass rivets and cast iron knob on the top, sitting on a 12" rimmed baking tray, which can be used separately.
Most domestic ovens are less than ideal when it comes to a beautiful loaf with maximum oven spring. What baking dough needs is immediate, even heat and steam. The heat provides the rise and the steam keeps the crust soft throughout the time it is rising. The result is bread that reaches its full potential giving an evenly baked, golden open-crumbed sourdough. The perfect way to achieve this is with a cloche.
The Spun Iron Cloche, handmade on a lathe and combining elegance with robustness and efficacy, it is ideally sized for a 1kg round boule. Pre-seasoned with flax oil for immediate use, it can be re-seasoned as or when needed to last and last.
Use: Pre-heat the cloche to the desired baking temperature, usually around 220C. Dust the base of the cloche with a sprinkling of flour or a BreadMat and place your dough onto that. Score the dough, replace the lid and slide into the oven to bake for about 30 minutes after which time remove the lid and continue to bake the loaf until it is done, and with a dark, crusty crust.
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Specification:
- Cloche bell and tray made with 99.1% pure iron with brass rivets.
- Perfect for range stoves, electric, gas & wood fired ovens.
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MaintenanceÂ
Using for the first time.
You can use the cloche immediately.
Just rinse in hot water - don’t use soap or detergent and dry thoroughly.
Re-seasoning at home.
This is easy to do and quickly returns your cloche to a smooth, black, easy to clean finish. Important, if the tin has any rust spots simply remove these with fine sand paper or steel wool. Wash tin in very hot soapy water, you may need to scrub with a scouring pad or stiff brush and dry thoroughly. Cover all surfaces of the cloche with a very thin coating of flax oil using kitchen towel. A thin coating gives best results. Place cloche in the oven. Place a baking tray under the cloche to catch any dripping oil. Heat oven to MAX (approx 250ºC/400F, Gas Mark 8). Once the oven is up to temperature, maintain for one hour. Then switch off the oven, allow the tin to cool slowly and store in an airy dry place.
Which oils can I use for re-seasoning?
For best results use flax oil (edible linseed oil). Olive and nut oils are not effective seasoning oils.
Do not use boiled linseed oil, this is not edible.
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Baking every day
To get bread loaves to release perfectly every time we recommend giving the inside of the cloche a very thin wipe of vegetable oil such as flax oil just before use, lightly sprinkled with flour.
Sweet breads & Cheese Sourdough
Additional care is required when you cook recipes containing sugar (e.g. sweet sourdough, sourdough with inclusions such as cheese fruit breads). To prevent bread from sticking, we recommend lining the loaf tin with baking parchment, butter papers or using a tin liner.
Cleaning the pre-seasoned cloche
After most baking uses your cloche will not require washing, just dust off, this preserves the seasoning.
If you do need to wash, never clean the cloche in a dishwasher.
Don't ever place a hot iron tin into very cold water, this will cause it to warp!
After use, clean the base of the cloche tin with a stiff natural bristle brush and hot water. Do not use soap & definitely do not ever use detergents.
If you find that some mixture has stuck, try boiling some water in the tin to soften it. Dry immediately. Never allow the iron tin to stand damp or wet as this will encourage rusting.
Storing the cloche.
Store in a dry airy place. Don't cover as this can trap moisture and encourage rust (which will then require re-seasoning).
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Warning
Remember that hot iron retains heat, so always pick up the cloche using oven glovesÂ
