Hi Breadit,
I recently bought a chicken brick from Habitat — it’s a lidded stoneware vessel traditionally used for roasting chicken, shaped a bit like a rounded loaf pan. They were apparently a kitchen staple in the UK back in the 60s and 70s, and now I somehow have one sitting in my kitchen.
To be clear, this isn’t “chicken under a brick” — it’s an actual clay/ceramic baking vessel with a lid. Unlike traditional chicken bricks, which are usually unglazed terracotta and require soaking, mine is glazed stoneware, so no soaking necessary.
Naturally, my first thought was: could this be good for sourdough?
I usually bake in a Dutch oven, but I’m curious if this might function as a cloche — trapping steam to get that good oven spring and crust. It looks like it could fit a medium round loaf, and it has a tight-fitting lid.
Has anyone ever tried baking bread in a chicken brick (especially a glazed one)?
- Will it handle higher baking temps (230–250°C / 450–475°F)?
- Any preheating advice? Should I treat it like a DO or go in cold?
- General experiences — successes, failures, or wild experiments?
Would love to hear your thoughts before I try turning retro poultryware into a sourdough chamber.
Thanks!
by Mobile_Remote_9844
7 Comments
I say give it a go.
Cool looking baker. I would definitely try baking bread in this. I’d suggest a cold bake for first time. King Arthur has a recipe for that, bread rises on parchment in baking vessel, when proofed, put it into cold oven, turn on oven and bake. I tried it once, it worked quite well. Good luck.
Unfortunately I have no personal experience, but we do have [Römertöpfe](https://roemertopf.de/Braeter-RUSTICO-3-Liter/pos-77922) (“roman pots”) in Germany, which also are glazed clay roasting pots. They are specifically advertised for bread baking as well.
Their [sourdough recipe](https://roemertopf.de/rezepte/sauerteigbrot-mit-kuemmel/)
– soaks the (unglazed) lid, but not the glazed rest of the vessel — I assume this part won’t work for you
– starts the loaf in a cold oven
– heats up to 230 C
> Carefully score the loaf with a knife, place the form into the cold oven. Bake at 230 C for about 15 minutes, then reduce to 180 C and continue for another 45 minutes. Remove the lid for the final 5 minutes.
While this doesn’t match your chicken brick exactly, maybe its still helpful as a starting point.
I am a child of the 70s and I recall out household had one – it was unglazed eartherware and you soaked it for a day or so before putting in the chicken and whatever veges and you half steamed, half roasted your bird and I recall the results weren’t bad.
As a bread baking vehicle, why not? What do you have to lose? a half a kilo of dough. WOuld love to know how it goes.
I still have one of the original terracotta ones.
For roasting chicken you soak them in cold water for a while, add the chicken, put them in a cold oven and turn it on to around 200C for maybe an hour and 15-30 mins.
I’ve never thought of using it for bread but I don’t see why not, the only problem is the one I have is a bit small.
No. You’re only allowed to make sourdough in a Dutch oven. If you try in anything else, “they” will come and take you away.
Dunno how big it is but bet you could use it like a Pullman pan