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Romertopf Bread: The easiest loaf of bread you'll ever make.

Romertopf White Bread:  The easiest loaf of bread you'll ever make!

Clay pots or earthen-ware may be the oldest type of cookware ever found.  In fact, they've been unearthed by archaeologists at historic sites all over the world!  We know that these ancient civilizations put these clay pots in the glowing embers of fires, and used them to bake, roast, poach, and braise all sorts of meals.  

I admit that I'm new to clay pot cooking.  My mother-in-law gave me a beautiful covered Romertopf roaster for Christmas and when I started learning about how to use it, all I could think about was bread.  I make a lot of bread in my oven, but I was incredibly excited to try it in a clay pot!  After all, I reasoned, this would have to be as close to an authentic brick oven as I was likely to get, and I couldn't wait to get started.

The basic bread recipe, which was included with my cookware, was the first one I tried.  Because you soak both pieces of the clay pot prior to putting it in the oven, it holds a lot of moisture in the pores of the clay.  This must make a lot of steam which I imagine keeps the bread moist.  The high cooking temperature keeps the crust crisp without burning it.   The end result was this amazing loaf of bread with a shiny crackled crust and incredibly tender crumb.   My children and husband loved it so much, that I've repeated this recipe many times over the past few weeks.  I even doubled the ingredients listed below with perfect results.  

Now I'm trying to learn all I can about cooking in clay pots.  If you have any recipes you can share with me, I'd love to see them!  Respond in the comments if you can share any of your favorite Romertopf recipes.

Basic Romertopf Bread Recipe

*This recipe is adapted from the Romertopf insert included with my cookware

Ingredients

1 cup lukewarm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cups all purpose flour

Ingredients

1.  Add lukewarm water to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.

2.  Sprinkle yeast on top of the water and let stand for around 5 minutes, until yeast is visibly softened.

3.  Stir in salt, sugar, and oil.

4.  Add 2 cups of the flour and mix until fully incorporated.

5.  Add the final cup of flour slowly and allow the machine to knead the dough until the it pulls away from the sides cleanly and begins to appear softer.  This may take 10-15 minutes.

6.  Roll the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, rotating to fully coat the dough ball.  Cover, and let stand for 1 hour in a draft-free area.

7.  Soak bottom and top of clay Romertopf for (at least) 15 minutes, by fully immersing in water.

8.  When dough has doubled in size, after about an hour, drain the bottom of the clay cooker, and pat dry.  Coat the bottom of the cooker with oil and sprinkle with corn meal to prevent sticking.

9.  Punch the dough down, shape into a loaf, and put in the bottom of the clay cooker.  Cover and let stand for 45 minutes in a draft-free area.

10.  Cut 1/2" deep slashes in the loaf of bread with a razor or sharp knife.

11.  Remove the top of the clay cooker from the water and pat dry.  Place cover on the bottom of cooker.

12.  Placed covered clay cooker in a cold oven.  Set the temperature to 475F.  Bake for 45 minutes.

13.  Remove cover and continue to cook until top is brown, which will be anywhere from 5 to 15 more minutes.  Do not put clay cooker on a cold surface when removing it from oven.  I use a large wood cutting board as a trivet.

14.  Allow to cool for a few minutes then remove bread from cooker and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Comments

Anonymous said…
This sounds wonderful! What size roaster did you use for this recipe?
Hello Anonymous,

My Romertopf roaster is "Extra-large" in size, and holds 7.3 qts. The measurements are 16.7 x 12.8 x 8.5". Hope this helps!

-Elizabeth
Tasty said…
I love that rich brown color.
tj said…
A clay pot? Hmmm
Unknown said…
Is the 45 minute bake time from the time you turn the oven on or from the time it reaches the 450 degrees? Thank you
Mommie Dearest said…
What do you do if you have the glazed lining bottom and clay top. Do you oil the bottom and soak only the top?


Unknown said…
I think you may have your roaster upside down. The. Glazed interior istge bottom of the pot. They used to be 100% unglazed, but to make them easier to clean, they started glazing the half holding the food.
Lynda said…
I made this but I did double it and used 2 cups white whole wheat. It is a great place of bread. I left it in the oven(turned off)after baking for ten minutes to get the top crispy. So light and fluffy and good flavor. Will be making this recipe regularly!
RhondaC said…
When you double the recipe, how do you adjust the bake time?
Anonymous said…
Years ago, in my early 20s, I made french bread in a Romertopf. It was a beautiful loaf but hard as a rock - couldn't cut it at all!! To this day I don't know what went wrong.
I'm now in my early 60s and I recently purchased a mini Romertopf (model 107) at a local flea market with intentions of giving it another go. Your recipe sounds great but I wonder if you know how to adjust the cooking time for the mini model?? I can't find any recipes online for the mini model so I have no idea how long to bake it. Thanks for your help! Patty in Atlanta
Anonymous said…
Small Rōmer ? it should take approximately same time - but you might have to adjust down i. 5 or 10 minute increments. I had the same issue with trying to make sourdough baguette in clay baker, snd it came out like a rock. I sm having good luck with cast iron . Today just now trying it again - The bread is in the oven as we speak .

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