Baking Bread help

[DPSinPA]

I want to start baking sourdough bread.

I need to get a bread pan

I'm considering one made of silicon
Amazon.com: Silicone Zone Bread Loaf Pan - Red: Sports & Outdoors

and one made of cast iron
Amazon.com: Cast Iron Bread Pan: Home & Garden

I've never baked any bread in my life so any suggestions, recipes, etc... would be appreciated.

Will the bread be better using an electric mixer (I plan on getting a KitchenAid mixer in the next few weeks anyway) or just mix it by hand.



Dave

[fulenn]

Here is what worked for me: try getting a pizza stone, mix the bread by hand, and drop it on the hot stone to bake it. You can look on websites that talk about baking with a La Cloche if you want to. A cloche is just a stoneware cover and base to cook your bread in. I think it was originally for flowers, but you can buy them for food. I handmix my sourdough, sprinkle wheat germ and then put the dough on it to let it rise, then form into a ball, let it rise once more, and gently turn it onto a hot pizza stone. I like to put a hot stoneware pot over it while it cooks.

Good Luck!