bread in a clay pot

I had read about baking in a clay pot, but never tried it until now.

I let the artisan bread dough rise for a few hours to ensure the better texture inside the bread. About 15 minutes before baking, I placed a Japanese clay pot (nabe... it was all I have in hand) inside the oven, and preheat it to about 450 F.

When the oven and clay pot were heated, I floured and placed the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper, and carefully removed the lid of the pot (with an oven mitt, of course), drop the parchment paper and dough into the pot, and re-placed the lid. I baked the bread on convection for about 15 minutes, and then removed the lid of the pot and continue baking for another 5 minutes or so.

**The clay pot was super hot. Oven mitts must be present the whole time when handling the heated pot.**


My first clay-pot baked artisan bread.


Since I let the dough rise for hours, it almost had some sourdough characteristics.


Interesting enough, Ginger wanted some.


"Gimme da bread."

The crust was light and delicious, and the inside of the bread (the crumb) was soft and slightly chewy. I liked it. I'm going to bake another loaf in the clay pot soon.