I liked the NY rye recipe when I made it in my round cast iron baker. I wanted to try an oblong baker to get a better shape for sandwiches, so I got an oblong ceramic baker and proofing basket from Breadtopia. The first time I tried it, the loaf was pretty dense like it didn’t rise enough. The score marks self erased during baking. But the loaf came out of the baker just fine. Today I tired the recipe again, and this time the loaf was really stuck. So here am I trying to figure out what went wrong by looking at the site videos, site explanations, and the forum. I thought I fully preheated the baker for about a half hour. Didn’t see anything stuck in the baker before I put my dough in it. Don’t think any glaze got under the loaf. I soaked the stuck bread then scrubbed it out with a nylon scrubber. Maybe I shouldn’t have soaked the baker. Next time I’ll try to preheat fully. Looking for other hints.
Stuck bread is so frustrating especially after all the work of getting to that finished loaf.
There’s no need to soak the baker. The amount of steam that comes off the dough is more than enough. (I also think that soaking slows down how hot the baker gets in that half hour preheat.)
To be safe, next time I would flour the dough before putting it in the baker, or use parchment paper.
Here’s an FAQ on how to get the stuck bread out, if it were to happen again.
I agree never scrub a clay baker treat it like cast iron once it seasoned just wipe it out. Nothing will stick to it and nothing is growing on it that will survive 500+°F