Want to do more bread baking? These are the all basic tools we think you'll need to get started baking bread at home. You might not use all of them for your first loaf of white sandwich bread, but as you learn and grow, you'll be using them soon enough! Here's what they are...
Essential Kitchen Tools: Bread Baking
With this list, we're assuming you already have things like measuring cups, spatulas, and long-handled spoons for mixing. For these kinds of things and other baking essentials, check out our round-up of tools for baking prep.
Large Mixing Bowl - A large, even over-sized, bowl is exactly what you need not only for mixing doughs, but also for holding the dough while it rises. With a large bowl, you won't be worried that the dough might spill over the sides! You can certainly find and buy specially-designed rising buckets for this step, but we prefer to keep things simple and just use a big bowl.
Electronic Scale - An accurate electronic scale is absolutely essential once you get into more advanced bread baking and need to maintain ratios of water, flour, and other ingredients. We use ours almost daily for both bread baking and normal cooking.
Bench Scraper - Whether you're just dividing dough into loaves or portioning out individual dinner rolls, a bench scraper makes the job fast and easy. The blade is sharp enough to cut through dough without fuss, but is dulled so you won't risk gouging your counter top.
Standard Loaf Pans - Buy two of these because almost every recipe you'll come across will make two loaves. The standard size is 9x5 inches, and we really like the ones that are made of heavy steel and have nonstick coating.
Proofing Basket - Ok, we suppose this isn't absolutely essential, but they sure are fun to play with! If you want to try your hand at round country loaves, proofing baskets will help the loaves keep their shape and rise higher than they would otherwise.
Peel - You use this long paddle for shuffling round loaves, pizzas, and other breads in and out of the oven. You can find them in made of wood or metal, but look for ones with a handle at least as long as your forearm. The long handle makes the peel easier to work with because you can use both hands to carry and maneuver heavy loaves.
Baking Stone - This is a large, flat tile that sits right on your oven rack and gets heated along with the oven. You can bake loaves (and anything else!) right on top of it. Baking stones are about as close as we home bakers can get to a real hearth oven.
Note that the one thing that we didn't include in this list is a standing mixer. It's certainly convenient to have a standing mixer, but one is only really necessary for a very few kinds of specialty breads, like ciabatta. Don't let not owning a standing mixer be a deterrent for you! Hand mixing and kneading takes some practice, but it's entirely do-able.
Is there any other equipment you like to have handy when you bake bread?
Related: Pantry Basics: Five Essential Ingredients for Baking
(Image: Flickr member grongar licensed under Creative Commons)
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After years of making bread I have just recently added a new baking tool--an instant-read thermometer. I never really knew what that hollow sound was supposed to sound like. Now I know to take the breads temp when the timer rings and feel assured it's ready to come out when it reads 190 to 210 depending on the density of the loaf.
view condopal's profile
if you don't have a baking stone, you can probably use a cast iron pan turned upside down.
view splim's profile
Instant-read thermometer is a definite must have. So many times the crust can appear done, but the insides are not. A thermometer is absolutely indispensable. Proofing baskets, on the other hand, are not. You can proof your bread on a flour-dusted couche or a towel, or in a mixing bowl lined with a towel. I also don't see loaf pans as necessary. Only if all you ever bake is sandwich loaves. Otherwise, free form loaves look a lot better. So my list would be: digital scale, instant-read thermometer, bench scraper, large bowls, and a baking stone. Everything else is optional, although nice to have.
view bubble's profile
That list is far more extensive than must-haves .... I bake bread regularly with a large bowl, a big wooden spoon, some measuring cups/spoons, and some loaf pans (or baking sheet if I'm making a boule, or baking dish if I'm making buns). That's it.
view angorian's profile
Great post about tools for baking. Here's some essential kitchen math that can help anyone to adapt a recipe to fit the baking pans they have already:
http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2008/10/30/bakeware-clutter
view Dana McCauley's profile
I worked at a Great Harvest Bread Company for a little over a year. Before I did that if you'd told me to get a Bench Scraper I would have scoffed. There is nothing better to slice dough with. I don't bake much at home (I still get bread from that same GHBC), but I would highly recommend one for the serious baker.
And I will put in another vote for the instant read thermometer. Way more than a 'Peel'. Maybe if you have a giant oven and massive kitchen space, but seems kinda silly for home cooking. I'd rather have a big wire cooling rack and large wood kneading table any day. Also invest in a decent serrated bread knife. Cutting warm bread with a straight knife will flatten your loaf with the pressure you'll have to apply.
Also a secret I learned, a round loaf will almost always taste better than a sandwich loaf of bread because of the way the flavor bakes in. So if you want your friends and loved ones to be REALLY impressed make a round 'freeform' loaf.
view Rolen the Great's profile
I tend to think of myself as an aspiring bread expert, what with my culinary degree (Baking and Pastry Arts) and my yearlong breadmaking project ( http://www.abreadaday.com ). This list is fairly comprehensive, and well thought-out. But I still don't have a peel, and have no plans to buy one. In lieu of a peel, I have a cheap baking sheet that I use, just a stamped-out piece of sheet metal with one edge turned up for a handle.
To further amend this list, though, I would absolutely second the instant-read thermometer. It's essential to determining whether your liquids are at the proper yeast-activating temperature or not. But one other essential item is parchment paper. I buy it from Amazon in boxes of 100 sheets (20x15 inches), which is far cheaper than the rolls you get at the grocery store. Keep them flat on top of the fridge, and use as often as needed. I never worry about bread sticking to my pans or baking sheets. Perfect!
view eprewitt's profile
i make no-knead sourdough bread with a glass bowl for mixing and rising, a silpat for folding, an old dansk cast iron dutch oven, a bail top glass jar for the starter, measuring cups and spoons, plastic bowl scraper, cooling rack, and a dough whisk. the dough whisk might seem like an indulgence but it's not -- it makes working with extremely hydrated dough much easier.
view campari's profile
I don't know what recipes you're using, but my loaf recipes never make two loaves! They're specifically designed for one loaf of sandwich bread.
view dinosara's profile