Why the Challenger Bread Pan is the BEST Pan for Home Bakers
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- Опубліковано 5 чер 2024
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I teach sourdough bread at a local university. I give the class a start from the Boudin Bakery in San Fransisco and the pans to cook the bread and for a cover while baking. The 4 stainless steel pans for the 2 loaf recipe cost $1.30 each.
You have an image example of the pans?
+1 for an example please. I'm all for being frugal.
This is perfect!! I’ve been debating on getting a challenger for awhile and this is such a great comparison! I usually use an enameled Dutch oven!
what size bannetons are used when baking two loaves?
Charlie, great review. I own both the Lodge combo cooker and Dutch oven. I have considered the Challenger pan. I’m glad you showed your side by side comparison. I think this pan is going on my birthday wish list. Thanks for your content 😊
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! That sounds like a great plan
I started baking with a regular ceramic Dutch Oven, but I have always loved cooking with cast iron, so I soon added a Lodge Combo cooker to the arsenal. I hadn't even heard of or seen the Challenger Bread pan at that time, but it seemed pretty obvious to me that the ability to invert the Combo Cooker was a tremendous advantage over a regular Dutch Oven. In January, I upgraded to the Challenger Bread Pan, and I do perceive a definite advantage over the Lodge Combo cooker, which I would mainly attribute to a better seal. I also get better bottom crusts by using the top of the pan inverted and placed under the bottom for the uncovered part of the bake (learned this from Jim's videos). And finally, it's a much better shape for cooking large batards (mine are usually 1KG dough or more with inclusions), which ended up looking like boules when crammed into a round Dutch Oven.
But function aside, the Challenger Bread Pan is a piece of art! Masterfully crafted, ergonomically designed, even at it's current price of $225, it's actually a bargain for the "ultimate bread pan". Any amateur baker that is spending all the time it takes to master sourdough, shouldn't think twice about making the investment. It's relatively small compared to the hundreds of hours spent making better bread, and the return is exponential.
Thanks for the insight! Yeah, I didn't even realize that you could invert the top and place it over the bottom until after I had filmed and edited this video! So all of my testing has been done without that method, but I'll definitely have to give it a try. I can imagine that would provide an even nicer crust on things like focaccia and pizza.
And thank you for the insight on loaf size as well. I generally don't bake loaves larger than 750g, but that's a good point that if you like to bake batards, you may not be able to go any larger than ~900g in the combo cooker.
Like I mentioned in the video, I'm a big fan of high-quality equipment, so I agree that it's a must-have for the dedicated home baker!
I like the idea that its made in U.S.A. looks like it would last a lifetime and more. I am seriously looking at buying one in the near future. Nice Video, enjoy watching your channel and I just started sourdough baking 3 months ago from scratch, didn't know a thing about it. Now I am baking some pretty nice loaves and bagettes thanks to your videos.
I’m glad to hear it, thanks for watching!
It's definitely out of my price range at the moment, but it's the kind of thing that would make a great combined birthday and Christmas gift from a couple of my family members. I like the size of it - I really want a big cast iron all-rounder that, it'll be great for cooking in for big celebrations and stuff too. And, of course, since it's cast iron it'll be a one-time purchase that'll last lifetimes.
Yeah I think that's a great way to think about it! It's not 100% necessary in order to bake great bread, but it does have a lot of advantages if you can afford it. And like you said, it should essentially last forever if maintained properly.
I'd like to try the challenger but I fell in love with this Japanese cast iron pan from a company called Oigen. It's really a Dutch oven but is also a Bundt pan and is designed to bake a loaf on the stovetop. I used it alongside the Lodge cast iron bread pan with the same recipe and the one cooked in the Oigen was more moist. In fact, I'm baking one right now on this rainy Arkansas January. You should really get your hands on some Nanbu Tekki! It's amazing.
Great review. Which size Lodge Combo Cooker is best?
I’d like to see how it works upside down used as a normal Dutch oven because if it works that way it’s a great allrounder worth the investment.
Hi Charlie...I am 74 and have been baking yeast bread since I was 15. I also have a several sourdough starters...two I have had about 14 years and one I have had and been using for 46 years continuously. I use my antique round, cast iron Dutch Oven for baking artisan loaves and have been very pleased with how they turn out but I would love to be able to bake two smaller long loaves at one time like you baked in this video. My main problem is the high cost of this Challenger pan. When you are my age buying something that expensive is a major investment. My husband retired 3 years ago...me?...I didn’t get to retire because I have mostly been a homemaker and stay at home mom to my 7 children and 2 stepchildren. The few years that I worked outside the home have not ended up giving me a very large Social Security check every month and I am the “birthday” and Christmas gift provider to my children and 20 grandchildren all through the year so it will take me a while to save the money for this pan. Now, I do have a round stoneware baker with a lid and a longer stoneware baker with a lid. But I have never used them for baking preheated like I do my cast iron Dutch Oven and am not even sure that I can use them in the same way that I use my cast iron pan. I thought it might cause them to crack or break if I preheated them and then put a cold or room temperature loaf in them...? I was wondering if you thought that I might appeal to Challenger for a baking pan to use like you did? I started baking all of my family’s bread, both sourdough and regular whole grain yeast bread about 1970. After much saving I was able to buy a Bosch Universal bread machine and a grain grinder in 1980. I used to be able to buy a bushel, about 50 lbs. of hard red wheat for $6.00...is that amazing or what? I loved it. Today I buy hard white wheat like Prairie Gold through Amazon and I still use my grain grinder, which is a stone grinder. Mine was bought used and is a 1974 Magic Mill that is still going strong. (I think I definitely got my $100.00 dollars worth on it.). I also still use my wonderful Bosch Universal....the best mixer ever made in my opinion. Have you ever used a stoneware cloche to bake bread? I would be interested to see your review of one and also of using a Bennington (sp?) basket for rising.
I think you did a stand-up job on your review of the Challenger cast iron bread pan...you sure made me want one but I sure would love it if they would send one to me to try out for them. I would be happy to review it. It is just my husband and myself at home now but I just cannot give up making my own bread. I am so proud that so many youngsters like yourself have started doing so many things I love and have done for most of my life...like making homemade bread, using sourdough, cooking from scratch, and raising a backyard flock of chickens...keep up the good work! Many thanks....Nancy
I wish I still had a grandma now that I know what questions to ask and maybe even have stuff about life I want to figure. Kids don’t have those thoughts and maybe it’s better that way, nice to think about the optimism of youth instead of the cold realities of adulthood wishing there was a link to the past to anchor us in these changing times.
I love my Challenger, got two! How different is your Baguette recipe when using the challenger?
The only change I make is that I multiply the recipe by 2/3 to make the baguettes a bit smaller, but everything else stays the same!
I would be perfect for me if it was three inches longer. I like baking free standing sandwich loaves that run about thirteen to fourteen inches long which is a flour weight of 800 grams. The biggest loaf I can get in the Challenger is 600 grams of flour and that has to go in at an angle because it is still 12 inches long and the interior of the Challenger is about 11.5 inches. The biggest problem I have with any cast iron cooker is burning the bottom of the loaf (I'm baking loaves that are 40 percent rye flour). So, after the first 20 minutes of using the Challenger I put the bottom on a cold inverted aluminum cookie sheet. So, the challenger works for boule shapes but not regular bakery sandwich loaves.
The challenger pan is also not in my budget. I have the Lodge Cooker which does a great job with my bread. I also use a cloche which in my opinion makes a marvelous bread too.Purchasing both of these still don't come up to the cost of the challenger..but whatever. I think you can't go wrong with either but if your pocketbook dictates otherwise, the Lodge and the unglazed cloche by sassafras is something any bread baker would be happy to have.
One other Challenger plus: You can add an ice cube when placing the bread in to get some additional steam.
I'm also asking about what size banneton you used to bake the two loaves in the Challenger. I get the weight, but need to know which banneton to buy. Please?
The Challenger is so worth the money. You will never need to buy another bread Pan.
How does it compare to Le Creuset
Love to have one I advertise can’t sleep or challenger that is my dream pan I really hope the produce and I can afford to have one I have a question does it fit in the Breville oven
Hello, thanks for you channel and great videos. I am considering in investing in a proper dutch oven and note that the link for the smaller pan takes me to the cuisinel brand equivalent of the lodge combo. Which have you had sucess with before the challenger, and do you know if there is any difference between the lodge combo and cuisinel? Many thanks, Peter
Hi, thanks for the heads-up. The Lodge pan is the one I've been using, so I've switched the link in the description now. I had switched my links to the Cuisinel pan because the Lodge was out of stock for a while, but it appears to be back now (at least through third-party sellers on Amazon). So I don't think you could go wrong with either one, but between the two, I would recommend the Lodge pan because that's the one I had been using.
@@TheRegularChef Thanks. I did notice the lodge combo out of stock at a few places and wondered if that was the reason. They look very similar👍
Hey Charlie, thanks for you great videos. My combo cooker lid "teeters" a little. Does yours sit PERFECTLY flat and do you think it matters?
No problem, I'm glad you enjoy! Hmm, yes mine does seem to sit perfectly flat. If it teeters to the point where a gap forms that steam can escape from, then it might be making a difference. A good seal on your pan is quite important for trapping steam in order to give you a better oven spring.
Could it have warped from rapidly cooking? That has happened to me running a pan under cold water
I have a Dutch oven related question. I usually bake my sourdoughs 20-25 with the lid on and the rest with the lid off. Although I get nice browning on top I usually get insufficient browning around the edges of my loaves.... So I'm wondering, would it be better to take off the lid and then plop the loaf on my oven rack itself? Or maybe to wait a bit longer for the crust to harden some before removing to the rack? I'm just trying to mimic a combo cooker in a sense, my lodge cooker has weird points on the inside of the lid which is also curvy so I can't bake it upside down unfortunately.
Rachel's Foodventures hi Rachel. Are you sure your oven temperature is hitting the 500* mark? I’m using the same pan that you are (sounds like) and I preheat for a minimum of 45 minutes at 500, then bake my loaf for 20 minutes at this temp before I remove the lid and reduce temp to 450 for the last 18 minutes. I’m not sure this could help but I have two ovens (different houses) and was surprised that there was a difference in the temp even though the dial was set to 500.
@@staceyvaas1210 That's a good point! I don't own an oven thermometer and the oven I use is kinda old. The highest it can go to is 500 but yeah, I'm not sure if it actually gets that high. I do bake (ideally anyway) under the same temperatures and times that you do. Recently I started placing a small cast iron over the back left burner which lets out steam and that helps some, just hoping I don't overheat the oven 😅. I should invest in an oven thermometer soon.
@@rachelsfoodventures54 good luck to you. One of my ovens is really old too. I’m grateful that it will make it to the high temp. Happy baking 😊
Yes, I would second what stacey said! It'll definitely help to verify your oven temp, but I'd also recommend baking the loaf on a lower rack in your oven, if possible, so that the top doesn't brown as quickly.
tysm
Charlie, I don't bake loafs, I bake baguettes in my old gas oven dumping ice water in a pan below my stone, this method is not that effective in gas ovens and sometimes I spill water on the bottom shelf which is dangerous, the bottom of the oven will eventually fail, I think Jim (in his interview with Hendrik) mentioned how he broke 3 ovens in the past. So thank you for your review talking about how you use it for your demi baguettes. For me it's either this Challenger pan or a new oven. The choice is clear.
New steam oven?
Can you bake two boules ?
Unfortunately probably not, unless they are pretty small. I would guess that about 500g each would be the maximum size if you want to bake two boules at once.
@@TheRegularChef yeah mine are 1000-1100 grams each. And the Challenger is probably the only thing that will fit in an oven right ?
Where I am it's 6x the price of the lodge, is it 600% better?
Well no, but as I talked about in the review, that's not the point of it. If you're just baking basic loaves, one at a time, the lodge combo cooker should be just fine. But there are certain things that the challenger can do that the lodge simply can't do due to its size. So the reason to buy it would be for those advantages, not necessarily just to improve your basic loaves.
None of your links are working for Amazon.
Stp écris en bas en français mon fils et du Maroc et merci 🙏
While it may be nice vessel there is no reason to justify their recent $225, which was already very expensive, to $299 price hike. Take a look at the Deli&Co pan from a Brazilian company sells for under $150 and is every bit as good as the challenger and has the same internal length for batards. Hopefully competition will make this company check their pricing model.
Brazilian though I want america baby. You don’t get to pick your family so you have to go down swinging with them
A bit to expensive to my like.
That bread is overcooked