Do You Have a Le Creuset Bread Oven? - Page 3

Othereeeen · ‎03-13-2010

Darn!! I was in Aldi today and didn't see this item...but now you mention it, there were a lot of people in the non-food aisle looking at stuff....so I didn't go up that aisle...

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

Okay, I went to Aldi today and got the blue. It was the last blue one they had...there were three white ones on the shelf.

I unpacked it at home. It was packed well and was in perfect shape. The finish was applied evenly. The lid fit tight. The blue color is more of a gray blue...pretty.

I will try it this weekend. It looks promising.

MG Chris · ‎09-10-2020

@Othereeeen wrote:
@MG Chris

Darn!! I was in Aldi today and didn't see this item...but now you mention it, there were a lot of people in the non-food aisle looking at stuff....so I didn't go up that aisle...

They are going fast! Most stores on got a limited amount from what I have been reading. I have three stores and found it at the first one I went to and they had 12.

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

@Othereeeen wrote:
@Sooner

I have one...I collect unusual shaped Cast iron ware...Mine is Caribbean blue, very pretty, never used it...BUT...you sure could use it for other things beside bread, albeit small cuts..

I also have a Staub cast iron vertical chicken roaster....that thing is the bomb...makes the BEST vertical juicy chicken or cornish hens.....( You can see them on E bay)....

I got the black finish, but wish I'd gotten the gray ceramic finish.

But no matter, it works like it should. I got mine on E-bay, new, for way less than Staub sells on thier site....

It's a lot heavier and bigger than it looks in pictures!!!

Instructions how to use it on You Tube.!

@Othereeeen I've just looked at these and they look great. I am wondering if you could use a big Le Creuset brasier pan and put a chicken holder in the middle? We have one of those for the BBQ grill

Does this splatter up the oven a lot? I am on a lazy-girl campaign against oven spatters at the moment.

MG Chris · ‎09-10-2020

@phoenixbrd wrote:
@Sooner Yes, they are cast iron. As soon as I read this post, I called Ali to see if they were in stock. The manager checked inventory and there were only in three stores in the state that had them and there were less than10 in each store (none near me). He told me that this type of inventory is usually a one time purchase.😏

they are an Aldi Finds...here today, gone tomorrow.

Shihtzursqmom · ‎06-02-2023

I make homemade bread , just not often we just don’t need the calories
I’ve looked at the Emile Henry bread bakers at WS numerous times I just never have committed to buying one I didn’t know if I’d use it
I have baked bread in a round LC pot with lid using the bread recipe online it turned out ok
I’m assuming that would work the same as the bread baker
I haven’t looked at LC in years I didn’t even know they had the bread bakers

Othereeeen · ‎03-13-2010

@Sooner

No splatter in the oven....but one thing I learned is if you want to put spices on the skin of your whole chicken, you do it first, in a ziploc bag, because once it's on the vertical position on the device, it's really hard to shake spices onto the skin!!! I coat the chicken with a light film of olive oil or butter to allow the spices to stick.

Chicken cooks a little faster too. Best part...ALL the skin gets nice and crispy cause it's all exposed to the oven heat. And the chicken will cook a little faster too.

I used it for cornish hen first....and it was perfect! You could put veggies around the bottom of the stake too ...the chicken juice will run down into that section and give them flavor..

If anything sticks to the surface, I fill the bottom with water, baking soda and vinegar and boil it on the top of the stove....gets it brand new. A tablespoon of each dry item and fill the bottom with water and boil. Amazing cleaning trick I learned on You Tube too!!

I followed the cooking ideas on You Tube....legs up, and tie the ends of the legs together with string.

REALLY good!!! Staub makes such beautiful cast iron cookware..!

When it's not in use, I store it on one of my kitchen chairs that I don't use (live alone)...I hope I remember to remove it if I have guests cause it looks like it'd make a gruesome mess if someone sat on it!!! (Joking of course!!!!)

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

Just some information for those who don't know how these work. They're designed to trap the escaping steam from the bread in the early stages of the baking process to help the bread rise more fully (oven spring). After ten to fifteen minutes, you remove the dome top and let the bread finish baking uncovered.

You need to preheat the whole pan, top and bottom, then quickly set aside the top slide the loaf onto the bottom then quickly cover it with the lid and set it all back in the oven. After ten to fifteen minutes, you remove the cover and let the bread finish baking on the pan bottom.

There are endless alternative ways of getting the same, or a similar result. If you have a baking stone already, you can preheat that then slide the loaf onto the stone and cover it with with a large tinfoil pan like the disposable ones people use for turkeys at Thanksgiving. (This is called the "tinfoil hat" method.) Once again you leave the cover on for the first ten to fifteen minutes to trap the escaping steam and get optimal oven spring then remove it to finish baking.

Dutch ovens can be used in the same manner, but getting the bread in and out can be trickier due to the high sides. Parchment paper slings can be an effective way to get the bread into and out of a Dutch oven.

You want extra humidity in the oven at the start of the bread-making process and professional bakeries use steam injectors to achieve that. I tend to just use an old cake pan with some boiling water in it on a lower shelf when I'm baking bread and a misting bottle for a spritz or two and get good results.

Handling the large, heavy, very hot pots and lids isn't a lot of fun. Getting the bread into and out of a hot Dutch oven isn't a lot of fun. The tinfoil hat method works pretty well and the foil pans are lightweight and easier to deal with. And with the cast-iron pans (Dutch ovens or Aldi/Le Creuset bread bakers) you're limited in the shape of the loaves to essentially just a boule (round loaf.)

The tinfoil hat method gives you more options as the disposable foil pans come in a variety of shapes. The boiling water and misting method gives you unlimited shaping options. As long as a loaf will fit in your oven and on your baking stone it's able to be baked.

If you're comfortable handling large, very hot, and heavy cast iron fresh out of the oven and you only bake round loaves/boules, then those pans are great for you. But you don't "need" one. You can get similar results in a wide variety of other ways. They're a neat little gadget, but they're far from perfect for everyone and you don't need one to make great bread.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!