I've always preheated the cooker, dumped in the bread, spritz with water, slash, cover, bake. Does the cold oven and soaked cooker lid trick work better, or do you still spritz? I've been making sourdough from the whole wheat cookbook and will try the final rise in my cold stoneware baker lined with lightly-greased parchment paper. Mmm... now I want to go finish off the last loaf - pain au levain with dark chocolate chips! Hi Laura - We changed our method due to people having trouble trying to use pans that would crack/break when preheated empty. It's OK for cast iron, but some stoneware can't take the heat. As for "better," give the soaked lid a try (if you have a cooker with an unglazed clay lid) - see what you think. Pain au levain with dark chocolate chips, eh? Sounds yummy... PJH

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