Oblong clay baker--unglazed?

Baking Tools
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I just received the Breadtopia Oblong cloche clay baker. The inside bottom is not glazed. My batard clay baker is glazed and nothing sticks. Will bread dough stick badly to unglazed surface? Should I use parchment? Should I flour the surface or put seeds? How about coating with oil?

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I use parchment for maneuverability and have actually not tried it without.

@anon66425146 Do you use the oblong baker without parchment?

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No. I use parchment in the banneton and then lift via parchment into the baker … no flipping.

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Thanks! So two for parchment and no data on bare :slight_smile: Lovely breads

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I have an unglazed baker. when i first used it the bread stuck, then i tried using parchment which was fine. and then… i made sure that the baker was oven pre-heated at cooking temp for 30 minutes, voila… haven’t had a stuck loaf since. no oil, no parchment, no fuss.

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Just line the bottom with parchment paper, that’s what I do and it works great. I have a dozen clay pots and only one of them is glazed. I didn’t care for the way it baked bread and I no longer use it.

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I have multiple unglazed clay bakers and don’t use parchment. The bread doesn’t stick. I have preheated and not preheated them. The bread doesn’t stick. I have a glazed clay baker and the bread sticks. I use parchment on that one.

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Thanks! I’m going to try the parchment the first time, just to make it easier to get the dough into the baker, and see how this oblong baker works out.

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Parchment is key — I’m not sure why the basic “no knead” recipes all omit that option. I used to have trouble with the “death defying flop” into the lava hot pan. Occcassionally it would miss slightly, and wham, bread is misshapen and unsightly. Using the parchment its always perfect — just place dough on parchment and then slowly ease it into the pan, it works every time. I will pull the parchment at the 15 minute lid off phase to add to the bottom crust, but even that is probably unnecessary

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I’m loving all this feedback :slight_smile:

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Thanks everyone! Success using parchment. 2nd rise in the oblong baker and into a preheated oven.

MultigrainSourdough
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@kapalmer7151, Admittedly I always use parchment paper to line my clay bakers since my very first loaf last year. It has thankfully been the perfect solution to keep my bread from ever sticking to my clay baker, simple and effective.

Enjoy your baking!
Leah

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You can season it. https://www.instructables.com/id/Seasoning-stoneware-baking-pans-and-pizza-stones/

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I just sprinkle som coarsely ground corn meal on the bottom. Works like a charm. Parchment paper would be good too, of course.

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I did not use parchment the first time - and my bread stuck terribly to the bottom. But I blame myself because I rinsed the baker after I received it (which I realize now was totally unnecessary), and I don’t think it was completely dry when I heated it to 500 and placed my loaf inside. However I used parchment paper the second time and got beautiful results. Couldn’t be happier - see attached. The recipe is my own modification (adding a small amount of rye and some ancient grains) of Breadtopia’s Artisan Sourdough No Knead Bread

IMG_20200426_112336394
IMG_20200426_1123363941757Ă—1359 548 KB

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That’s a lovely loaf of bread. Congratulations.
(I can relate to the stuck horribly thing. I made pretzels recently without parchment.)

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Thanks for the solidarity ; ) What is your pretzel recipe? I have wanted to try (I love those German Bretzeln), but wasn’t excited about using the lye. Do you use it?
And the latest on the clay baker - After the parchment bake, I took a leap and made another loaf yesterday with no parchment. I made sure I preheated the clay baker really well (to 500 for 15 minutes), and it did not stick!! Maybe the parchment “seasoned” it a bit, or maybe the baker was just thoroughly dried out. But all went well. Whoo hoo!

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That’s great you didn’t get sticking the second time.

I boiled the pretzels in baked baking soda (not a typo lol). You make the baking soda extra alkaline by baking it for at hour at 250F on a baking sheet.

For the dough, I followed this recipe, more or less.

They were really good – the parts I could shear off the baking sheet :smirk:

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I had no idea - Thank you so much!!

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I have made 3 loaves in my unglazed long oblong baker and none have stuck…an artisan white loaf, a light rye, and a pumpernickel. I love the uniformity of the size of the loaf and ultimately the sliced bread.

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