LékuéBread silicone Mold, Brown, 600 ml

Works really well and ended up with a really lovely loaf, made almost effortlessly. I tried the recipe based on 250g of flour but the loaf was too small for the effort I felt, so decided to try a larger quantity based on 500g flour and first attempt worked really well!Used the Lekue as a bowl to briefly mix a white bread dough based on 500g flour/375 water ( per Sandy's recipe/review on Amazon.com) until just combined, and left on the counter over night in the open position with a dinner plate over the top. Next morning between a cup of tea and breakfast, I removed the the very sticky mixture from the Lekue with the aid of a plastic spatula, - it came out clean - and I shaped the dough by hand in to a ball and dropped it back in to the lekue for a 1.5 hour rise. The rise wasn't significant over this time but I brushed over some water and put mixed seeds over the top before cooking in a fan oven at 200 degrees for 50 minutes in total - carefully opening it up after the first 25 minutes. Really pleased with the results... the bread had the nice hollow sound when knocked after backing, and the result was a chewy crust and nice open textured crumb. I find the rugby ball shape really appealing.I like the fact the Lekue acts both as a bowl and a dutch oven type baking container all in one, saving on washing up. I think the no knead bread recipe works well in this container - wetter doughs can be so hard to handle and transfer to the oven, and the Lekue helps as rising and baking happen all in one container. Plan to use this a lot more, and experiment with some speciality bread recipes.

Review and Recipe for the Large Lekue BowlI have a full baking kit at home, but I’m staying at a temporary location for a few months and didn’t really have what I needed to bake. In my search I found this ‘all in one’ silicon bowl that turns into a vessel for baking. I didn’t have super high expectations. It finally arrived the other day and I used it for my next bake. Have to say, it worked great! I’m really surprised how nice the crust came out. One challenge is the maximum temperature is only 220c, and I normally bake at 250c, so I’ll need to extend my baking times. This baking toy is certainly not a necessity. But for someone in a temporary or holiday home, or with a super small kitchen with limited storage, it’s a quite handy bit of gear!Sourdough Recipe for the LekueThis recipe works with a variety of flours, try it with whatever you have at hand. Happily getting good results. Recipe and steps below. .Bowl One (the Lekue bowl)Starter 100gWater 375gMixed seeds 50g (hemp, sesame, quinoa, etc...)Salt 10g.Bowl Two (470g flour - I did the below)Rye flour 10gMalthouse Flour 90gStrong white 370g.Mix the wet ingredients first in the Lekue bowl, then add the flour to the Lekue bowl..Then I follow the Breadtopia method -Mix20 minutes later some folds20 minutes later some folds20 minutes later some folds.Then roll it in a ball and coat it with some olive oil.Let ferment on counter for 6-10 hours and pop in fridge overnight 12-15 hours. .Put a tray of water in the bottom of your oven to generate steamPreheat oven to 250.Take bowl out of fridge and coil fold it in the Lekue and score it..Close the container to keep the steam in.Then proof around 60 minutes on the counter, I’ve done less and it’s been fine. .Put in oven and lower heat to 220c (the maximum allowed for the Lekue)Bake for 40-60 minutes - my oven is very very slow. Adjust time for your oven!.I wanted a bit more of a crispy crust, so I did an additional 10 minutes after I unwrapped it. .If the bottom is still soft. Just put it back in the (still on!) oven on the rack upside down for 5-10 minutes. Should crisp right up!.It came out with a very crispy crust and very soft inside.

I'm a sucker for gadgets and have my fair share of unused paraphernalia stacked away in various cupboards, so I was half expecting this to be another one destined never to see the light of day.I was pleasantly surprised though, and I did find if vey helpful, particularly in the shaping of bread.I prefer to shape by hand, but had kept resorting back to a loaf tin, because my hand shaped attempts spread out sideways too much instead of upwards.I tried the Dan Lepard easy white loaf recipe to try the Lekue and it worked really well. I mixed the ingredients by hand in the Leuke (inside another bowl for a bit of extra stability until the liquid was mixed in). Using the Dan Lepard recipe i even did the 10 second kneading method in the bowl, but it would have been just as easy to turn it out on to the worktop.Where I found the Leuke worked a treat was shaping the loaf to a since oval oblong. Using a 400g flour/300ml liquid it was the perfect size and proved beautifully inside the closed Leuke.When it was ready for the oven, i opened the Leuke, dusted the loaf with flour, slashed the top, closed the Leuke and baked for 25mins. Then opened oven and unclipped the Leuke for another 5 mins. Then i took it completely out of the Leuke (very hot, be careful), and popped back in oven for another 10 mins. It turned out a lovely shape, really crusty and delicious in taste.So i recommend it, especially if you are having difficulty shaping the loaf for proving. If not, then you can probably do without it, but it does keep everything contained, so much less mess and really does work.I highly recommend checking out Dan Lepard White and wholemeal loaves. There is a good video of the white loaf on the Guardian website, although when you click through to the recipe it is slightly different to the video with the proving method and times.http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/australia-food-blog/video/2013/aug/06/baking-dan-lepard-bread-videoHe doesn't use the Leuke, but his recipe and method are really easy.For my delicious loaf I used the method with the two lots of 45 mins resting (not shown in the video), but other than that I did it just like the video but in the Leuke and it was really easy.Four stars rather than five cos it's a bit on the pricey side and not an absolute necessity, but a nice addition to have in your baking repertoire!