Instructions: If you like to bake bread, you know all about the search for the perfect loaf pan.

Because all bread pans bake just a little bit differently, bakers tend to own at least two types: a metal loaf pan handed down in the family over the years and a Pyrex pan that allows you to see underneath to make sure the bottom crust is baking properly.

But my search ended when I got my first pair of terra-cotta clay pans more than 16 years ago from a friend, who was manager at Williams-Sonoma and set the last two pans aside as a surprise for me. Bread thrives in these heavy stoneware pans with their classic shape.

The first thing I noticed about them was the price: These handsome, red brick pans cost about $12 each. The second thing was their weight: about 2 1/2 pounds each. But the pans were shaped just like a classic Pyrex pan, which made me feel as if I was using something familiar. At home, I set aside the enclosed flier, which identified the pans as Alfred Bakeware, and got to work.

I brushed the pans with vegetable oil and placed them, empty, in a hot oven to season them as directed by the flier. When they were cool, I immediately made a batch of sunflower oatmeal bread that turned out to be my best ever. The bread was earthy, with an enviable, crunch-crisp crust, a higher dome and not a single burn spot.

The terra cotta baked more evenly than my other pans, producing the quality and texture of an artisan loaf made on the stone tiles used by dedicated bakers for their even heat distribution.

The clay pans quickly became my preferred pans until a few months ago, when I noticed a long fracture in one of them. It looked as though King Arthur Bakers Catalog carried them, but when I inquired, owner Brinna Sands said the catalog no longer offered them, despite their popularity. It is a small operation in upstate New York, she said, and their production level varies.

Investigating further

Luckily, I still had the original flier, with its directions for seasoning the pan and the makers name and location: Alfred Bakeware, Tufty Ceramics, Andover, N.Y. A telephone number was provided, and on the second ring Karen Tufty, the creator of the pans, answered. Not only was I able to replace the cracked pan, but I also learned how it was developed.

Alfred Bakeware has been in demand by gourmet bakers since its appearance in the mid-1970s. James Beard discovered the pans back when they were still made at their namesake Alfred University and marketed them under his name as Beard Glaser and Wolfe (BGW) at Bloomingdales as The Brick Oven Bakeware. They were given even wider distribution in Canada and Australia as Country Clay Bakeware.

The pans are made from pure Alfred shale, a mined red clay native to upstate New York that has been used for ceramic roof tiles since the early 1800s because of its ability to withstand extremes in temperature.

The loaf pans were designed, patented and produced at Alfred University, one of the worlds top ceramic colleges, by ceramic engineering students. Shapes are made by ram-pressing at 1,800 pounds per square inch, which creates a pan that is very durable for home baking. This is a clay that is incredibly moldable, said Tufty, who arrived at Alfred University in 1976. Theres something wonderful about it, and I always seem to have my hands in it.

Shape and sealing

The secret to making this pan so wonderful is not just its classic loaf pan shape but the coating sealing the entire pan, which gives it a delightful non-stick surface even though the coating is not a glaze. The terra sigillata coating, which translates as earth seal, simulates the process used by Native Americans, who burnished unfired pottery by rubbing it with a stone. To produce the coating, crushed Alfred pottery is placed in a water formula to dissolve the minute clay platelets. The substance is then sprayed back onto the pottery, filling the microscopic hills and valleys of the unfired clay. After firing, this creates the ultra-smooth, semiporous finish that is the key to the pans even, non-stick baking.

When the university shifted its focus to a more educational setting, the bustling factory was closed. Tufty, who designed the shape of the pan and trained more than 500 students in the bakeware process, bought the patents and equipment from the university in 1985. The land that contained the shale pit was for sale and she, along with her blacksmith husband, settled on the Andover property and started producing the pans, with a partner, under the name Tufty-Swain. My original pans, stamped with TS5 on the bottom, were among the first produced.

Swain left the business in 1991, but Tufty has continued on her own, designing pizza pans, quiche pans, pie pans, a lasagne baker, large and mini bread pans, a 9-by-9 inch square pan, a souffle dish and various roasters. I ordered a 14 inch pizza pan and 10 inch pie pan - and a new set of instructions that told me how to avoid having to search for replacements ever again.

The new flier warned me not to place a hot pan right out of the oven onto the metal element of my stove top, which quickly absorbs the heat in the pan. That difference in temperature had cracked my original pan. These pans need to cool on a wooden surface or folded towel. You can bet Ill be taking good care of these new pans.

The recipes that follow are perfect in my terra cotta pans, but you can make them in your favorite pan and theyll still taste great.

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