This Little Luxury Is Surprisingly the Best Thing I Bought for My Kitchen in Years
Imagine, if you will, a wheel of Camembert. The top is lightly scored and drizzled with honey. You add flaky salt and a generous sprinkle of chili flakes before slipping the cheese into the oven, baking until it’s oozing and fragrant.
You could achieve this in any oven-safe dish, it’s true. But what if a special vessel existed — one designed expressly for the purpose of baking and serving cheese? What if you could carry your bubbling concoction to the table and lift the lid with a flourish, impressing your dining companion not only with your hot cheese prowess, but also with your exquisite cookware, too?
You can! If you have the Emile Henry Cheese Baker. Also known as my favorite pandemic purchase, the Cheese Baker’s compact .55-liter (.6-quart) size promises to not take up too much of your valuable kitchen space. It will, however, provide enough room to top your cheese of choice with whatever you can dream up. Feta with leek, tomato, dill, and olive oil? Done. Squeaky-soft Halloumi, sticky with pomegranate molasses and jammy red onion? No problem.
The domed lid creates a steamy interior, infusing the cheese with flavor (have I mentioned the merits of Brie with diced apples and fresh thyme?) while mitigating the risk of drying out. Of course, if you do want a broiled, golden finish, simply remove the lid for a few minutes at the end of your baking time — et voila! Then just bring the whole thing straight to the table, because the Cheese Baker is made with Emile Henry’s signature High Resistance ceramic, which means it can stand up to serving utensils with no worries of damage.
Emile Henry has been producing high-quality ceramic cookware in France since 1850 and backs their products with a 10-year warranty; Cheese Baker included.
If you’re still on the fence — thinking that maybe this is one of those not-really-necessary, single-use-only kitchen items — just think of the Cheese Baker as a personal-sized portal to all things creamy, melty, stretchy, and saucy. Totally worth it!
Do you have a cheese baker? Let us know in the comments!