On A Serious Note
Before you start worrying about terra cotta bakers, or replacing stoves, it is important that you read (and, if possible, own):
"The Bread Baker's Apprentice," by Peter Reinhart.
"Local Breads," by Dan Leader.
While there are numerous others dealing with artisan bread baking, these two will serve as instructors for you into the whole world of delayed and retarded fermentation; steam injection (and it's home equivilent), hearth-style baking, etc.
If nothing else, until you're familiar with the techniques and methods they discuss, you can't really do whole-grain breads successfully.
You'll also discover the reasons for things like steam-injection, and can then decide whether spritizing is something you want to do, facing the negligible risk of stove-damage.
The point is, knowing how bread happens allows you to make informed decisions about the steps you will and will not take.
A lot of this, of course, goes way beyond throwing some flour, salt, yeast and water in a bowl, then popping it in the oven after shaping and a short rise (yes, 1-2 hours is considered short). For instance, cooling on the rack now, calling me to break-off a piece, are two loaves of Reinhart's Pane Siciliano---a wonderful bread made with semolina flour.
Sorry for the pause. I couln't resist, and am chewing a piece even as we speak.
To get to this point I started three days ago, when I mixed the pre-ferment and let it sit overnight. Yesterday I made the main dough, let it proof, shaped the loaves, and let them sit in the fridge overnight. This morning I baked the bread.
Not everyone is willing to go through this sort of thing. But once you do, and discover the incredible difference artisan baking makes, the trip is worthwhile.