OT: Challenger Bread Pan

Corv

Foolishly, I bought a new cast iron bread pan from https://challengerbreadware.com/. Foolishly, because the thing is bloody heavy and far too expensive. This isn't something I would have done in a more thoughtful moment.

Then I baked a loaf of bread in it. Wow! Sure wish I'd taken a photo before I gave it away. That changed my thinking from "send it back" to "I'll learn how to live with it."

Without the sides of a Dutch oven to support the bread and help force its shape, this is large enough to accommodate two batards or one large boule. This load was a normal-size boule and held its shape just fine. But any loaf baked in this will need to be sturdy enough that it doesn't flatten out by itself.

In this photo, I was trying out the bottom to use as a smallish griddle, since it's larger than the biggest cast iron skillet that I have. I found that it takes quite a while to heat up at all evenly, and when the heat's shut down, it'll heat the kitchen for a while, too. For reference, my stove is 30" wide.

The lid, that big dome thing, has handles on the ends that match the bottom. The handles on the top are very handy for lifting it around when it's dome-side up.

Besides being very heavy, about 23 pounds all up, add in the weight of the bread and you're looking at a 25 pound hunk of bread tool. That's what I used to call "nontrivial." Drop this thing on a tile floor and you'll be facing some tile work. And with it's bulk, I need to plan just where I'm putting it.

Storage was an issue too, fitting this into a kitchen that really is mostly full. Turns out that the top and bottom, side by side, fit into the stove's bottom drawer. There's not room for much else, but they do fit.

Bottom line, all in all, yeah, I suppose it's a keeper. Wish it weighed less and was cheaper, though.

I haven't tried to see how it fits my medium BGE, that's pending.

RRP

Corv said:

I haven't tried to see how it fits my medium BGE, that's pending.

Thanks for your write up, but if I were you I wouldn’t even think of bringing that 23 pounder even close to my medium BGE. A mere slip of the wrist and you’ll have a moon shaped chunk of BGE laying on your deck/patio! 

caliking

That thing is indeed a beast. @NPHuskerFL has one, and seems to really like it too.

Corv

Thanks for your write up, but if I were you I wouldn’t even think of bringing that 23 pounder even close to my medium BGE. A mere slip of the wrist and you’ll have a moon shaped chunk of BGE laying on your deck/patio! 

Ah, you're right. And that thing is heavy enough that it could slip, too. Thanks!

Corv

Here's a photo of the bread that I baked. It's a multigrain loaf, with rye, whole wheat, bulgur wheat, flax seeds and flax seed meal. It has a few other minor things, too, so it's usually fairly dense.

Corv

Quick update... they dropped their price after my purchase and last night I requested a refund. Today they told me they sent it.

Outstanding service!