May sound odd, but one of my regular baking tools when needing my dough to rise, is an old-fashioned heating pad. I bake on stoneware so while I’m prepping everything, the stone sits on the warm pad, slowly warming up. Dough rises great.
Challenger Bread Pan! And, cambros, dough whisks, baking steel. I've collected a lot of different tools since I started baking bread, it's been a lot of fun!! And I just got some of the baguette specific tools so once I watch the video I'll be trying them!
Jan 24, 2022·edited Jan 24, 2022Liked by Andrew Janjigian
My hands (groan 😉). But the cheap white plastic bowl scrapers are something I use constantly. I have 4 of them just so I don’t run out when I’m on a baking marathon. I use them for scraping dough and batter but also for cleaning work surfaces, picking up stuff off my cutting board and even folding dough.
I also recently splurged on a Brod and Taylor proofer (got it from King Arthur). This thing has been a game changer for my breads in a cool drafty old home.
For a less "investment" tool, seconding those that have said a bench scraper. Between being able to measure with it (which I love for laminating) and dividing/shaping dough for loaves, it really elevated my game. I am a new Challenger user and still getting used to it (I wish we had sturdier oven racks...any suggestions there?), but the way it has helped with oven spring is tremendous. I feel like I'm only scratching the surface of what I can do with it so far.
Jan 24, 2022·edited Jan 24, 2022Liked by Andrew Janjigian
I saw you using that tool in one of your classes and was glad when someone asked about it. I now have two and have purchased another to send to a sourdough bread making friend. Would be lost without it! I'd also be lost without my Brod & Taylor proofing box. There is absolutely no place in my home in the winter that is warm enough to get bread to rise in a reasonable amount of time. In the proofing box set at 78F, I get thru bulk fermentation in four hours almost every time.
USA Pullman pans, 9" and 13" - non-stick (without PTFE, etc.), straight sides help dough rise evenly; there is nothing not to like.
Round Cambro buckets, all sizes: cheap; cannot be beat for bulk fermenting; no-knead dough storage; freezer safe (for yeast); translucent (rising dough can be monitored).
Happy Monday! My favorite tools when I bake are my dough whisk (which I always use to start the dough...and then move to the hands) and my long, skinny silicone spatula (which I learned from Maurizio at TPL). The spatula is my go-to tool for mixing and feeding my starter. I do also love my baking steel (which I never thought I needed until I cracked my 4th pizza stone and decided it was time to give in). Lastly, I use plastic shower caps (the ones you get at a hotel) to cover my bowls while the dough is rising in my oven with the light on....my makeshift proofing box ;)
I love my dough whisk, for sure, but my favorite "upgrade" that I purchased since starting to bake sourdough (and now baguettes!) regularly has been a reversible lipped-edge reversible pastry board/cutting board. Not only is it much better than the granite countertop for working with dough at all stages, I flip it over in the evening to the cutting board side and it has made my prep work for every meal much easier!
I have an oval dutch oven that I got at IKEA a long time ago that lets me bake batard-shaped loaves, so I haven't been able to justify the Challenger pan (yet!).
And recently my Breville toaster oven died, and the newer fancier model I replaced it with has a "proof" setting that has made life easier.
My dough board is a hollow-core drawing board that I got at michaels I think? A tip from the book “flatbreads and flavors”. It’s very big and very light, so sometimes it wiggles around on the table but usually I’m happy that it doesn’t throw my back out to move around the kitchen and that it covers so much table area.
My number one tool is the Escali scale in lime green. 2nd tool is an old cracked Coleman cooler with a seed starting mat in the bottom - for fermenting dough. 3rd would be thermometers, especially inside the fridge and freezer.
Need a tool to get a big blob of dough out of the mixing bowl into the plastic fermenting container. How do others do this? That dough blob has a mind of it's own!
I agree with others on the plastic bowl scraper- I have an old King Arthur one that I love so much, it is an extension of my hand when I’m mixing.
I have a challenger (and it is indeed a great tool!) but usually bake 2 loaves at a time: one in the challenger and one in my trusty old lodge combo cooker, and can not tell a difference between the breads once baked. That being said, I like a smaller sized loaf (750-800g) and the lodge nicely handles that size batard.
Also, I use my thermapen a ton and although there are cheaper versions, I’ve come to be very fond of my yellow thermometer.💛
May sound odd, but one of my regular baking tools when needing my dough to rise, is an old-fashioned heating pad. I bake on stoneware so while I’m prepping everything, the stone sits on the warm pad, slowly warming up. Dough rises great.
Challenger Bread Pan! And, cambros, dough whisks, baking steel. I've collected a lot of different tools since I started baking bread, it's been a lot of fun!! And I just got some of the baguette specific tools so once I watch the video I'll be trying them!
Do you have have a beginners list of equipment I should have ? I’ve got none! I’m on square zero
My bench knife. Hands down.
My hands (groan 😉). But the cheap white plastic bowl scrapers are something I use constantly. I have 4 of them just so I don’t run out when I’m on a baking marathon. I use them for scraping dough and batter but also for cleaning work surfaces, picking up stuff off my cutting board and even folding dough.
I also recently splurged on a Brod and Taylor proofer (got it from King Arthur). This thing has been a game changer for my breads in a cool drafty old home.
For a less "investment" tool, seconding those that have said a bench scraper. Between being able to measure with it (which I love for laminating) and dividing/shaping dough for loaves, it really elevated my game. I am a new Challenger user and still getting used to it (I wish we had sturdier oven racks...any suggestions there?), but the way it has helped with oven spring is tremendous. I feel like I'm only scratching the surface of what I can do with it so far.
I saw you using that tool in one of your classes and was glad when someone asked about it. I now have two and have purchased another to send to a sourdough bread making friend. Would be lost without it! I'd also be lost without my Brod & Taylor proofing box. There is absolutely no place in my home in the winter that is warm enough to get bread to rise in a reasonable amount of time. In the proofing box set at 78F, I get thru bulk fermentation in four hours almost every time.
Snap-closing mesh ball tea strainer for sprinkling flour on the bench, dough, baskets etc.
USA Pullman pans, 9" and 13" - non-stick (without PTFE, etc.), straight sides help dough rise evenly; there is nothing not to like.
Round Cambro buckets, all sizes: cheap; cannot be beat for bulk fermenting; no-knead dough storage; freezer safe (for yeast); translucent (rising dough can be monitored).
Scale with metric/ounce modes; calculator.
Pen and scratchpad/journal for notetaking.
Objective tasters who tell the truth!
Happy Monday! My favorite tools when I bake are my dough whisk (which I always use to start the dough...and then move to the hands) and my long, skinny silicone spatula (which I learned from Maurizio at TPL). The spatula is my go-to tool for mixing and feeding my starter. I do also love my baking steel (which I never thought I needed until I cracked my 4th pizza stone and decided it was time to give in). Lastly, I use plastic shower caps (the ones you get at a hotel) to cover my bowls while the dough is rising in my oven with the light on....my makeshift proofing box ;)
I love my dough whisk, for sure, but my favorite "upgrade" that I purchased since starting to bake sourdough (and now baguettes!) regularly has been a reversible lipped-edge reversible pastry board/cutting board. Not only is it much better than the granite countertop for working with dough at all stages, I flip it over in the evening to the cutting board side and it has made my prep work for every meal much easier!
I have an oval dutch oven that I got at IKEA a long time ago that lets me bake batard-shaped loaves, so I haven't been able to justify the Challenger pan (yet!).
And recently my Breville toaster oven died, and the newer fancier model I replaced it with has a "proof" setting that has made life easier.
My dough board is a hollow-core drawing board that I got at michaels I think? A tip from the book “flatbreads and flavors”. It’s very big and very light, so sometimes it wiggles around on the table but usually I’m happy that it doesn’t throw my back out to move around the kitchen and that it covers so much table area.
Parchment paper and shower caps. I get many uses out of each.
My number one tool is the Escali scale in lime green. 2nd tool is an old cracked Coleman cooler with a seed starting mat in the bottom - for fermenting dough. 3rd would be thermometers, especially inside the fridge and freezer.
Need a tool to get a big blob of dough out of the mixing bowl into the plastic fermenting container. How do others do this? That dough blob has a mind of it's own!
I agree with others on the plastic bowl scraper- I have an old King Arthur one that I love so much, it is an extension of my hand when I’m mixing.
I have a challenger (and it is indeed a great tool!) but usually bake 2 loaves at a time: one in the challenger and one in my trusty old lodge combo cooker, and can not tell a difference between the breads once baked. That being said, I like a smaller sized loaf (750-800g) and the lodge nicely handles that size batard.
Also, I use my thermapen a ton and although there are cheaper versions, I’ve come to be very fond of my yellow thermometer.💛
Anyone have recommendations for a good pair of oven mitts??