Is it advisable to oil or grease the Römertopf prior to putting in the dough?
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It is if you’re doing the “cold start” method where the dough goes into the room temp romertopf and then into the oven (hot or cold). But if you fully preheat the romertopf and then put the dough in (as I do), then greasing is not necessary to prevent the dough from sticking.
Thanks for your advice, Eric.
How do you put the cold dough into the hot Römertopf without hurting yourself?
To answer both questions use parchment paper big enough to cradle the dough in and drop it into the Dutch oven, pot , baker. The dough expands to the shape of the container so don’t worry about it being ruffled. Not a good idea to use oil on clay pots.
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I have a Romertopf but I never thought about putting my sourdough into it to bake.
What temperature and how long do you preheat before adding the dough?
Also how long would you bake the loaf in there? I assume the top stays on while baking.
I bake at 500 f. I put the empty, un-greased Romertopf into the oven when I turn it on to pre-heat so it pre-heats for as long as it takes the oven to come up to temp - maybe around 20 - 30 minutes. You don’t want to leave the top on for the whole bake; I typically leave it on for 20 - 30 minutes and then leave it off for 15 - 25 minutes (depending on what kind of crust I am going for).
Those gloves I linked to above really make working with the hot Romertopf very simple. You can just turn the dough out into the hot baker without worrying about burning yourself at all. Also easy to just reach into the oven and take the hot top off when it’s time for that. I couldn’t imagine working with a cloche or dutch oven without those gloves.
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Robert,
As Paul noted: Pre-heat the top and bottom of the Romertopf to 500 F.
I add corn meal to the bottom before pre-heating to help avoid sticking ( I never actually tried baking the dough without adding corn meal so this step might not be necessary.)
I carefully roll the dough into the hot Romertopf, score the dough surface and place the top to create a ‘sealed’ baking chamber. I bake for 15 minutes at 500 F.
Then reduce the oven temperature to 450 F - keeping the top in place. After 15 minutes remove the top and continue baking at 450 F until the bread reaches approx. 205 F. This takes about another 15 minutes. Then remove the bread and allow it to cool.
Good luck.
I have a dozen Romertopf’s, I use exclusively for baking bread. I DO NOT preheat…I do my final rise in the clay lidded pots themselves, which I have lined with parchment paper,then when fully risen, I soak just the lids in warm water for 10 min. at end of the ten min. I slash my loaves, put the wet lids on, put them the oven rack, placed in the middle of the cold oven, (I bake three at a time), turn the oven on to 450°, set my timer for one hour ( it can vary from 55 as high as 70 min. depending on the oven). Check one loaf at the end of an hour, by sticking a thermometer into center of loaf, I’m looking for a temp. of around 200°. If OK, I dump them out on cooling rack, let sit until room temp in middle, then put them in heavy 2 mil plastic bags. Place any left over loaves in the freezer to use later.
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Well, I baked my first bread in the Römertopf. All my breads are 50/50 rye/spelt sourdough. I followed Eric’s advice and let the dough rise in a basket at room temperature, preheated the oven and the Römertopf to 500 F, put the dough into the ungreased hot pot protected by a Breadtopia glove and baked it for 20 minutes with the lid on. I then reduced the heat to 475 F and baked for another 20 minutes with the lid on, then reduced the heat further to 425 F, removed the lid and baked again for 20 minutes. I removed the Römertopf from the oven and let it cool. I then removed the loaf from the pot, which was surprisingly easy. The bread weighing about 2.5 lbs was good. I sliced it the day after baking and stored it in the freezer.
Great way to go. Great bread!
I am considering buying a romertopf or two but read that some people had their romertopfs crack after they dropped the “cold” dough into the preheated romertopf. So far I used a dutch pot, preheated it and baked my bread. I love the result but I find it is a bit rough on the pot. Anybody had their romertopf crack using the preheat method?!? Thanks
I’ve baked countless loaves in a couple different Romertopfs, always preheating them to 450-500º F before dropping in room temp dough. Never had one crack or even heard of it from anyone we’ve sold to. I think I might be a little reluctant to take cold dough straight from the fridge to a fully preheated Romertopf though.
My Romertoph just cracked. Two days ago noticed the lid was cracked badly. Today I used a lid from another one I had and my original bottom and noticed the bottom was cracked as well. My oven was at 500 and dough was room temp. Says this one was made in Germany. I have been baking at 500 for a while now. The only thing I did differently was I left the empty pot in a bit longer to wait for the oven temp to come up to 500. Before I would leave it in for the 30 minutes and put in dough regardless. Very disappointed and wondering if I should buy another one. Not to be found in stores around here. I would have to order on line and wait. I live in the Vancouver area BC.