I have a couple different clay bakers from Breadtopia, but I admit to having “baker’s envy” so I periodically look to see if there are new gadgets here that I might think I “need.”
Today I spotted this, which I have never seen before:
Is it new? Will it be replacing this?
I have Breadtopia’s oblong baker, and Breadtopia’s boule baker, which I don’t see on the website any more.
I have been tempted several times to get the medium Romertopf listed here, since I often bake smaller loaves, and then I think about the Batard baker… and now this new combo bread baker has appeared.
I am having so much fun baking bread after about a 20-year hiatus! Recommendations, anyone?
@joesterreicher Hi Jennie! I actually own and exclusively use only one clay baker, the Breadtopia Country Loaf baker, which I think has now morphed into the Batard baker. I purchased mine over 2-1/2 years ago so I don’t even think it’s offered anymore. The Batard baker would be as close to it as possible. Keep in mind, these new clay bakers are not glazed so they canONLYbe used for baking bread, not for cooking anything else in them. From what I can determine, the Combo Baker can be used either as a round cloche-style baker where you place the dough on the “lid” and cover the dough with the “bottom” portion for baking or as in Dutch over style baking mode where you put the dough into the bottom portion so the sides are shored up and cover with the lid. That’s the understanding I get from reading the descriptions. The important thing to remember is that these items are not glazed at all and can only be used for baking bread.
I have no idea if they’d be replacing or stop producing the original round cloche baker as I think that style is still extremely popular among artisan bakers. I chose the country loaf (batard-type) clay baker originally because I only wanted one and that shape offered me more of what I was looking for. My clay baker, being older, is glazed so technically I could use it to cook things other than bread. But I ONLY use it for baking bread.
I’m hoping some of our other bakers will chime in about the pros and cons of different shapes and sizes for you as I’ve only got the one clay baker.
Thanks, Leah! I only plan to use mine for bread making, so I am fine with unglazed for anything else I may purchase. (The Breadtopia boule baker I bought previously is glazed so I have that as an option, if I should need it.)
I am finding the recipes I make tend to be on the smaller side, up to 400 grams of flour, and since I pretty much stick to whole grains, they aren’t filling either the oblong or the boule baker I already have. I probably don’t “need” either the batard or the new cloche baker. But I wanted to raise the question, since there could be instances when those might be good to have.
@joesterreicher Jennie, I never really thought about the size breads I was baking. As I think about it and look at the recipes I bake most often, I tend to use about 500 grams flour in my bakes. I love whole grains but since my husband has different dietary needs than I do I have to compromise a bit more on my breads. I do end up using more bread flour than I would personally like to and when I add whole grains I need to keep them around 30% of the total. I make an exception for my rye breads. Those have been 50% rye. I’ve toyed with the idea of reducing the rye to 25-30% but that almost seems sacrilegious to me.
If you’re really interested in getting a different clay baker you might think about getting one that closer matches the size loaves you tend to make. Perhaps one covered clay baker that is designed to accommodate a smaller 400 gram loaf of bread would be ideal to add to your collection. If a round loaf is your preferred shape, perhaps the medium Romertopf would be an ideal choice. It would be the same shape as your Breadtopia boule baker in the smaller size you may be looking for. I have a funny feeling the new combo baker and most of the others are designed to handle the bigger loaves.
Thanks Leah! I think your reasoning is very sound. I do think the smaller Romertopf would be good for me to add to my collection. It looks like the new combo baker will work for larger batard style loaves, so I think I can pass on the batard baker, and still think about the combo. I would happily make larger loaves, by the way. It just seems the recipes I have tried so far all seem to be on the smaller side. So if you have any favorite, larger recipes to share, I would love to see what you have been enjoying making!
Jennie, did you ever get the combo baker? I just broke my round Römertopf and am looking to replace it. I saw the combo bread baker and thought it would be a lot more flexible. I’d especially like to make more bread shaped for sandwiches. Does anyone know whether this one allows for the more oblong shape of sandwich bread? I also am confused about the description. In the dutch oven mode, the description implies that the bread will eventually climb up (they use the term shore up) the sides of the vessel. My bread is never as big as the pot and I’m thinking I may have been using the Dutch oven technique incorrectly. I like to make smaller bread, since there are only two of us eating it. I usually halve every recipe. If that’s the case, is the combo not a good choice given that the dough never touches the side walls? Any advice from any of you out there would be much appreciated.
I think the oblong baker is ideal for sandwiches and relatively even size slices. The combo baker is good for flexibility to switch shapes, though I don’t think you would be able to fit quite as long a loaf as the oblong baker allows.
I ended up getting the batard baker, and have used it a couple times so far. I really like it! Some day I might also get the combo baker, but right now I am not baking such large loaves that I would make much use of the combo baker. But maybe someday! The batard offers a nice middle of the road size.
