Which sac to choose

A sac is chosen by three things: how much food you bake at once, where you set it, and how much you can lift. The usual family size is 35 to 40 cm, 30 cm is for smaller portions and 45 to 50 cm for larger quantities and catering. The diameter is only half the answer — the other half is the height of the dome and the place you bake in.

The three sizes and what they are for

• 30 cm — smaller portions and smaller households. Less clay means it lifts more easily and heats sooner
• 35–40 cm — the most common family size. If you do not know which to take, start here
• 45–50 cm — larger quantities, gatherings and catering. It wants more embers, more room and two firm hands

Measure the place first, then the vessel

A sac is not chosen from a catalogue but from the place it will stand. On a hearth or an open fire there has to be room to heap the embers over the dome and around the rim; a sac that fills the whole hearth has nowhere to take them.

In an oven you measure more than you expect. Alongside the diameter counts the height of the dome, because the sac stands over the crepulja and together they must fit beneath the top element. The vessel must touch neither the element nor the walls: a point of contact heats far faster than the rest, and that is exactly what breaks earthenware. Measure the inner width, depth and height of the oven, and ask the workshop not only for the diameter but for the height. Whether a sac makes sense in an oven at all is set out in the comparison of the sac and the oven.

The sac and the crepulja are chosen as a pair

The sac is a lid lowered over the crepulja, so it has to cover it — the crepulja is as a rule smaller than the sac. So do not pick one diameter and guess the other: ask the workshop for both, the sac and the crepulja that goes with it.

Bigger is not always better

A bigger sac has more clay to heat: it wants more embers, takes longer to warm up and weighs more. Someone who mostly bakes for a few people will not get better baking from a 50 cm sac than from a 40 — only a heavier object and a bigger appetite for wood. It is wiser to choose by the largest piece you will really bake, a whole flatbread or a large cut of meat, than by the one you picture once a year.

Weight and handling

A clay sac is brittle, so its weight counts twice: on the way up and on the way down. A cold sac of 45 to 50 cm is lifted with both hands, and a hot one is touched only with a tool. If you often move or carry the sac, a smaller diameter is also a smaller risk of dropping it — and one fall is enough to keep the vessel off the fire for good.

What to ask the workshop before you buy

• The diameter and the height of the sac, not just one of the two
• The diameter of the crepulja that goes with it
• The weight of the empty sac
• Whether it fits your oven, if you will use it there, and what the workshop recommends for your hearth

The workshops and how to find them are on the makers page, and how to tell that the piece on offer is genuine is in the guide to the three stamps.

Most common for a family

35–40 cm

Smaller portions

30 cm

Larger quantities, catering

45–50 cm

Crepulja

as a rule smaller than the sac — the sac covers it

In an oven

measure the diameter, the dome height and the gap to the element

When in doubt

35–40 cm and the workshop's advice