Challenger Bread Pan Cast Iron Loaf Pan with Lid for Homemade Breadmaking Sealed Bread Cloche Inverted Dutch Oven Set for Baking - Made In The USA

I hemmed and hawed about buying this pan because I have been using both the biggest Le Creuset Dutch oven as well as their cast iron bread cloche with success…I think the TikTok sourdough influencers got to me. I thought hey, maybe I’ll make beautiful flower petaled boules if I have this pan. Sadly it doesn’t improve your scoring skills however, it does make a great boule. The one thing I’d say is that your bake time is shorter in this pan so you have to watch that. The other thing I’d share is that it’s very heavy and it’s awkward to maneuver doing the 7 minute deep score. I hope my telescopic oven rack holds out under the weight of it (Thermador circa 2008) because it seems precarious. It’s also not easy putting the lid under the pan for the second stage of the bake while trying to move quickly to keep your oven within the temperature range. Ideally you have someone else opening and closing the oven quickly while you handle the pan. But it does indeed produce a wonderful crust. Is it orders of magnitude better than the Le Creuset pieces I’ve used? I wouldn’t go that far. But if you want to do 1000g loaves or multiple mini boules it’s a better option. Just mind your bake time.

This thing is a beast but it makes amazing bread in a home oven. It weighs quite a bit so consider that before buying. You'll be reaching into a hot oven to remove it while it's extremely hot. That being said the handles are conveniently shaped and placed. The seasoning it came with was mostly enough and we only bake bread so it's held up well. I have rubbed it down with oil two or three times before preheating to give it a bit more seasoning. I bake loaves on it with a bit of parchment under them which I find helps prevent an overdone bottom crust and prevents having to use excess flour/cornmeal which can burn.

This is the one to get. The handles on the sides of the lid make removing the lid halfway through the bake so much easier.It's much better than using Dutch oven than can not be used inverted. And it's better than an inverted Dutch oven because it's rectangular in shape, this can make small baguettes. It can handle a 10" Batard.The oven spring is incredible, I couldn't be happier as I've used more than a dozen different Dutch ovens and this is so much easier to handle!

This pan is FABULOUS!! A true game changer! Produces the most beautiful crusts and oven spring! It is heavy but I love it because it has consistent results every time!

Pricey but I am happy with the results. First time using. Crispy exterior. Golden brown.

This is a great bread pan but very heavy

I bought this for my wife because she’s getting really into sourdough. It works fantastic and creates amazing loaves of bread. The only downside is that it’s a little bit heavy.

This gift to my son has yielded many beautiful loaves of sourdough bread. He makes one perfectly browned loaf in it and it is delicious every time. This is a great purchase if you love making sourdough bread.