Bread kloche bisque vs cone 6?

[Biglou13]

B mix clay, with about 10 % grog,  mix of large med fine.  
 

it will be heated in oven to 500F.  Bread dough placed in, covered  so bread will steam.  then baked at lower temp..  then after time cover removed to finish baking. 
 

thinking  that at bisque temp vs  unglazed cone 6  will have better thermal shock properties? What say ye.  

[Min]

I think it would be safer to use a claybody with a higher thermal shock resistance like a flameware body or even a raku clay fired higher than bisque for durability.

[neilestrick]

Hi @Biglou13 A flameware body would be your best bet for this. 500F is pretty hot for a clay dish, especially since you'll be dropping wet, room temp dough onto a hot, flat surface. It's a lot to ask of any clay body besides flameware. The other option is to just buy a cheap cast iron dutch oven on Amazon. It works great, and you don't have to worry about it cracking. My dutch oven is preheating in my oven as I type this! 

My loaf from last week. 25% whole wheat, 80% hydration:

[Roberta12]

@Biglou13I started seriously making sourdough bread 6 weeks ago. Sooooo much fun.  I took a class and learned what I had been doing wrong!  I use cast iron skillets, aka dutch oven.  I would recommend that as well.  

[Babs]

Now sounding like, in my brain, " what's on your table" topic at start of Covid lockdowns.

Amazing bread, Neil. Wouldn't last long around here

[neilestrick]

Thanks @Babs! My bread game drastically improved during Covid lockdown. My 2 teenage boys and I were home every day for 3 months, and we went through 3 loaves a week. I figured out a lot with all that practice.

[Kelly in AK]

Damn @neilestrick!!!

Best low fire work I’ve seen in a long time. So good I could eat it.

To @Biglou13, bisque anything will tolerate that kind of abuse better than a clay close to maturity. Lots of grog, kyanite, or even spodumene (gotten a bit expensive lately) will help. Unglazed flameware sounds better than any other clay body, but I haven’t tried that.

It can be done in the studio, ordinary clay products that handle the extreme temperature swings of cooking, but that’s far from saying it should be. I’ve made several earthenware pots that survive the stovetop, experimenting with clay formulations and bisque temperatures. Though I used them regularly, the maintenance was unforgiving (mold will not be denied if given a habitat to grow), and sooner or later they will fall apart despite all best practices. You didn’t bring this up, but I would never try to sell such a thing. Too complicated. 

Pottery used for cooking is largely disposable, in places it’s actually used. Manufacturers like Le Creuset and Wiliams-Sonoma create ceramic ware that’s functional in a contemporary kitchen, but they are carefully engineered first world conveniences. If people can afford to use metal they do. 

I’ll confess, I’ve never had better beans than those I cooked in clay pots. I don’t want to discourage anybody, I just think they should know what they’re in for. 

[Rae Reich]

 

Edited April 20 by Rae Reich
?

[Mark C.]

Laguna now sells a flameware body so you can get a 25# at Laguna/Aftosa location in Fl