Conference turris::cooks

    I get great crusty bread by baking it in my La Cloche, which I got 
    through the BreadBasket, which is now King Arthur's.  Somebody just
    posted their number in another note - the one about buying in bulk.
    
    I didn't see it offered in their latest catalogue, but they may still
    have some.
    
    --Sharon
    
    P.S.  It used to cost around $35, but when they moved from Washington
    to Vermont, the shipping from the potter in Washington to VT brought
    the price to $50.  It may be that they found this price to be too high,
    and have discontinued selling it.
    

    You might try William Sonoma, either mail order or through a local
    store, there was one at Colony Square.
    
    The only other method I know of is spraying the top of the loaf with
    water while baking....
    
    
    						Cynthia

    Two techniques:
    
    1. Bake the bread on an oven stone
    
    2. Put the empty broiler pan in the oven under the rack where you have
       the stone while you preheat the oven.  A few minutes before you
       put the bread in to bake, put boiling water in the broiler pan.
       Do this with a long-handled pot to avoid being scalded.

Thanks for all your help! I live in the UK so postage from
Washington probably would be quite expensive :-)

Can anyone explain what an oven stone is? Is it like the kind
of flat terracota plates that you can buy to cook pizza on?


Thanks


Aly

        Aly,
        
        	Have a look at note 994, there is a very good discussion
        on oven stones there...

    
    WOW!  I never knew my mom's crusty bread was such a rare thing....
    I thought everyone did it this way...
    
    You won't believe what we do...after baking the loaf, let it cool.
    
    When you want your crusty bread, put it in a small brown paper bag 
    (the kind you get from the grocery store) in a preheated oven at
    325 for about 15-20 minutes. (Just roll the end of the bag and make 
    sure the bag doesn't touch the burners) VOILA!  crusty bread and real 
    tender inside.  We leave it in the bag until ready to serve so that
    it stays warm.
    
    We usually cut the bread once it's cool the first time...but not
    all the way through so the pieces stay together.  Butter both
    sides and put garlic salt on both sides.  Put it in a brown paper
    bag for 15-20 minutes and you have great crunchy garlic bread 
    (just the outside)  You can also sprinkle parmesan/ramano cheese
    on the slices...
    
    Yum...Kristen

	As noted in .2 if you use a spray bottle and spray the bread
	every 10 min or so while baking it should come out real crusty
	on the outside and soft on the inside.

	-kg

My husband tosses a couple of ice cubes in the bottom of the oven.  It's easier
than trying to find our spray bottle.

Ruth