1585

1587

1588

This thread took a turn. But I’m game!

image

1589

Hey now, this is not the GIF thread


1590

1591

I don’t have room for the Anova oven, and baking bread in my Le Creuset dutch oven is slowly making it look like crap (putting it in a 500Âș oven bakes in any oil soap didn’t remove, and it leaves smoke stains). I was going to get a dutch oven just for making bread, but then I saw the Challenger bread pan and figured, why not? Basically an upside down 22 lb dutch oven. Have dough ready to go for tomorrow with it.

1592

Wow, that’s crazy expensive for an upside-down unenameled cast-iron dutch oven.

1593

Still cheaper than what I was going to buy. I am not recommending it (yet), just saying it is interesting idea.

1594

I’m sure it’s great, the design makes a ton of sense, just expensive for what it is.

1595

It would seem that getting an inexpensive, un-enameled Dutch oven would solve the staining issue.

1596

It would. I am not smart or good with money. See the coffee thread.

Edit: The selling points to me were that is lot heavier than most ovens, so better heat retention. And that steam will not leak out of of it since there is no where to go as it rises.

1597

Interesting. I haven’t really noticed staining on my Lodge, but I keep it at 450 for bread. Too much smoke at 500. 20 minutes covered; 25~ uncovered.

1598

I have a Lodge cast iron dutch oven, I think the 5qt. They are round, which limits the bread shapes that would fit well in them. They have one larger model but mine is about 10 inches across on the bottom, so mostly a round bread loaf as far as fits.

But let me prepare you for heavy. They are very much so. And after I take mine out from cooking something it can retain heat for a LONG time. You’ll need to know to most likely warm it up with your oven when baking.

The one you linked is quite a bit more expensive but tasked just for breads, with quite a bit more room along the bottom for longer breads, etc. The one I have is high sided and I (usually) braise or make chili in it. I also sometimes take it camping, and there is even this, which lets me turn it into a heavy frying vessel, should I want to. I haven’t bought this, but at less than $25, it’s not a bad means of adding additional use for the dutch oven:

image
image670×670 48.5 KB

That being said, my wife hates how heavy it is. I’d much rather have an thinner enameled one.

If you think you’ll only task yours for making bread, go for it. It’s not cheap though, I’d make sure they have lifetime replacement coverage on that thing. You’re up into Le Creuset pricing range.

1599

I was going to buy a black oval Le Creuset for the sole purpose of making bread. So close to $400. This Challenger pan was only $250, so I saved money! (I know there are much cheaper options.)

I was using a 7qt round Le Creuset, but it’s outside was gradually going black from smoke. It also lost its shine. Now that I am no longer using it for bread I need to see if I can find something to clean it up. Not that it really matters, I can still use it fine, it’s just not as pretty. :-)

I made bread in the Challenger Pan today. I wouldn’t say it was a lot easier to use than a dutch oven, but the big handles were nice. Also getting it in and out was easier. The bread did cook quicker than it did in the dutch oven and came out quite good, but besides being quicker, it was about the same quality as when I made it in a dutch oven.

My problem is still that it is denser then it should be. I am using Kenji Lopez-Alt’s no-knead recipe and when he made it on Youtube, his crumb his very airy and even. Mine is not. No idea what I am doing wrong. Still tastes great though.

1600

You probably need higher hydration in the dough.

1601

Also possible it needs a longer rise time. Lots of variance in how long to let bread rise due to temp, humidity, the phase of the moon, etc
 Same with how much water to use, as stusser mentions.

1602

I got a molcajete :) I think I might eat nothing but salsa and guacamole for the next month.

1603

Rise time, and warmer while doing so. I used to make what I called half-bread because it was so damn dense it was like a loaf of bread in half the size/height. Same issue, rise time.

1604

Flip side of that, I always tended to over-proof my bread, so it would rise beautifully for a few minutes, then collapse into a brick. “Catch it on the rise” is good advice.

1605

Makes me wonder if any of mine were due to that. Yeast is so finicky.

What’s funny is that when brewing, I only rarely had yeast or low fermentation issues. Bread is just in it’s own ballgame as far as that goes.