Bread Baking Equipment

You can make perfectly good bread without much in the way of special equipment. That said, once you’re hooked on bread baking getting your hands on the right tools will make everything quite a bit easier.

The key to a great crust and a nice “spring” is to bake your bread in a very wet environment. For home bakers, this is accomplished by baking your loaf in an enclosed pot. A Dutch oven works nicely, but because your pot needs to be preheated, placing your loaf into such a deep container can be difficult. Fortunately, there are special pots with a shallow bottom (sort of like a skillet) and deep tops that can be used instead. If you get into bread baking, the modest investment is worth it.

You’ll also benefit from a good dough scraper, as well as a “lame” for slashing the loaves just before putting them in the oven. This slashing helps the dough to rise in the oven without tearing.

Finally, having a couple of banneton bowls and some flour sack dish towels for the final rise is a good way to ensure that your loaves are nicely shaped and can be easily transferred to your pot.

Here’s the stuff I use, along with alternatives that you may already have. (Note: if you buy anything by clicking on the links below, Amazon will give our friends a small commission. You won’t pay any more than if you’d found the stuff on your own, but I thought you should know.)

Cast iron combo cooking pot — The combo cooking pot makes it much easier to manage the dough when transferring it to the pot… and for slashing the top of the dough without burning yourself. A 10″ Dutch oven with lid will also work.

Pastry bench knife / scraper — This doodad isn’t absolutely critical, but once you start baking bread you’ll find that it makes managing the dough and getting loose flour and bits of dough up of your counter a real snap.

Lame — This tool is used to slashing the top of your loaves. Slashing is critical for allowing the bread to rise more freely, and without tearing. A sharp knife or an old-fashioned straight edge disposable blade will work too.

Two Bannetons for the second rise — This is what your shaped loaves will rest in while undergoing their last rise prior to baking. These bannetons are light and a bit of a throw back. A couple of 8″ bowls will also work.

Flour sack dishtowels (you’ll need a couple of dishtowels to line the bannetons / bowls; it’s critical that these dishtowels don’t have any nap)