Have just tried baking my loaf inside a caserole dish (cast iron) I am pretty happy with the result. The particular benefit seems to be that the base of the loaf is better cooked than I can normally achieve. I have a fan assisted domestic oven and normally bake on a metal baking sheet. Having watched a video clip on this website "Replicating a professional baking environment" I thought I would give it a try. The loaf in the photo is not sourdough but was made using Fast Acting dried yeast. Tomorrow I am going to try and use the same technique with a sourdough loaf and see whether I have any success.
Chris
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Very nice loaf! The process will produce a great sourdough loaf for you. When you try it on sourdough, try misting some water on the dough before you place the lid on.
Thanks for your comments Shasta. Tried the sourdough using this method and got a fantastic result. Also tried spraying a mist of water onto the loaf prior to baking - I am not sure of the theory but I assume that the water prevents the crust from forming too quickly thereby allowing the dough to rise fully prior to the crust hardening ? Anyway the results are great. I must also thank Davo and Hugo for their observations - I have used their suggestions re stretching the dough a couple of times during bulk fermentation etc I was going to post a picture of the sourdough but seem to be having one or two problems with the website at the moment (not sure why)
Interestingly, I went into "Whole Food" on Regent Street in London and they were selling Sourdough loaves at £6 each !! My loaves now look (and I suspect taste- couldn't bring myself to spend £6 on one !!)) almost identical to those being sold. I am a happy man.