The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Steam Baking Master French Bread Pan

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

Steam Baking Master French Bread Pan

I found this pan on ebay - it makes pretty darn good french bread.

Here's the loaf:

Not a very good picture of the crumb here...no natural light today (it's cold and cloudy here).

 Trish

susanfnp's picture
susanfnp

Trish, I got one of these on eBay too, a while ago, but I haven't gotten around to trying it yet. It looks like it makes a killer crunchy crust! Now I'm inspired to pull mine out give it a whirl.

Susanfnp

http://www.wildyeastblog.com

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

The crackling is so loud you can hear it just by standing next to the bread. The flavor of the bread could use some work, so I'll try tweaking it a bit the next time I make some of this. Other than that, this is almost as easy as making no-knead and requires very little "hands on" time.

Trish

Larry Clark's picture
Larry Clark

 

I've been searching on line for an hour and have yet to find one of these pans. I'd love to put one on my wish list. Do you have any contact info for the manufacturer?

 

Larry 

Larry Clark's picture
Larry Clark

 

on Ebay. Baporama did the trick but  holey ciabatta! Sixteen dollars for shipping!!

 

Larry 

Dave W's picture
Dave W

Ive never seen one of these how does it work ?

Cheers

dave W

alconnell's picture
alconnell

You put some water in the base, your dough goes on the platter on top of that and then you put the lid on.  You actually start with a cold oven this way.  I have one and they work great.  Got mine on ebay also, but with better shipping than mentioned.  I think it was around 20 bucks all told. 

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

It's a sturdy little gizmo that comes in three parts. You can start with a warm or cold oven. It comes with a decent french bread recipe but now that I've got the hang of how it works, I think I'll experient a little with recipes. I agree regarding shipping - mine didn't cost way that much to ship. I just looked on EBay and the $16.00 shipping charge is for a set of two. Wish I'd gotten that instead of the single pan - then I could bake two loaves at once. Maybe you could go halves on the set with someone.

Trish

sitzhaki's picture
sitzhaki

Hi Trish,

 

Can you please share the recipe of the sliced bread in the picture.

It looks great.

 

Thanks,

 

Shai 

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

Shai:

Here's the product manual and it contains two similar recipes for the bread. One is mixed, proofed and baked right away. The other uses a pre-fermement 2 step method. Since these pans are hard to find, I'm thinking of using the turkey roaster idea that Jolly suggested in an earlier post.

Trish

TableBread's picture
TableBread

WOW!  I have been looking around for a way to make the huge french bread loaves like the ones in the store!  I am so getting one of these now!

I do have a quick question for everyone, is this the same as a La Cloche baker?  I know that the La Cloche is made out of ceramic material and not steel.  Does anyone know?

 

TableBread

http://tablebread.blogspot.com

 

JERSK's picture
JERSK

   i have a La Cloche and it's not the same. It's a large heavy ceramic bell shaped thing with a bottom piece that's like a heavy ceramic pie pan. It's only suitable for baking boule shaped breads, one at a time as it takes up most of the oven . It works great and is meant to replicate a masonry hearth oven.

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

They also make an oblong La Cloche now and it works very nicely. It can be ordered from Eric at Breadtopia.com. Here's the link:

http://www.breadtopia.com/store/bread-baking-supplies.html

He sells them for $10.00 less than at Amazon or any other online source I've seen. I found out yesterday from KA Flour customer service department that Baparoma, the company who produced the Steam Maker, no longer manufactures them so, at the risk of not getting another one (;-o) at a good price (since I'd love to have two) the only source for these pans now is e-bay.

Everyone have a wonderful Merry Christmas!

Trish

TableBread's picture
TableBread

Eric does have a lot of good items at great prices!  As soon as I get the cabinet space I am going to grab some of those proofing bowls.

I did an interview with him a while back:

http://tablebread.blogspot.com/2007/12/late-night-at-table-with-eric-of.html

He was a really nice guy and offers personalized service.  Pretty cools stuff.

 

Also, I was doing a search on Ebay and I couldn't find the metal bakers.  Could anyone post a link of the search they used?

 

~TableBread 

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

There are none available on e-bay right now. I know because I got outbid on a set of two a few days ago and they were the only ones available. E-bay has a function that will let you know when one becomes available. I hope to get a notification soon...Let's hope we don't all end up bidding against each other ;-). They only show up every now and again. Search for Steam Baker Steam Baking Master for French Bread - that's on e-bay of course. I've googled the term as well and nothing for sale comes up.

Trish

sitzhaki's picture
sitzhaki

Hi Trish,

 

Can you please check the link to the recipe in PDF?

Each time I try to open it, it bring me back to this thread.

 

Thanks,

 

Shai 

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

If you will send me your e-mail address, I will send you the pdf document. Email me at this address

trishinomahaATgmailDOTcom.

 

Too early in the morning I guess. The above is the correct address for the manual pdf document.

subfuscpersona's picture
subfuscpersona

here's a link where the baker uses perforated french bread pans in a home made steam contraption for perfect baking in a cold start oven - very detailed instructions and photos too - also includes recipe

http://www.geocities.com/ritashanty/recipes/rec-bake-a-bag.html 

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

I'd love to see this but Yahoo gives a "page not found" message.

Trish

subfuscpersona's picture
subfuscpersona

Try this

http://www.geocities.com/ritashanty/recipes/rec-bake-a-bag.html

(for some reason, the link in the prior posting ended with %C2%A0 which resulted in file not found)

or just copy and paste

audra36274's picture
audra36274

I don't know how much they sell for regularly, but I just saw one on ebay express for $69.95 plus shipping. I'm just saying,.?? I had to type in the whole thing Baparoma steam Baking Master. Oh, did I mention it was in a sealed package?

                                                                        Audra

                                                                                     Audra

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

It's fun to have just a little fun baker that gives pretty good bread, eh? I hadn't visited this thread in ages till you commented. Then I noticed the bad rating...two stars...yikes! Guess the topic and content wasn't that great. I'll be hesitant to share anything on this site again...who needs that? anyway, enjoy your bake pans - I guess not many people think they're worthwhile

 

Trish

susanfnp's picture
susanfnp

Trish, I hope you're not serious about not sharing again. I really appreciated your photos because it showed how crackly you were able to get the crust on this bread. I never pay attention to the stars anyway, and I certainly don't understand why anyone would go to the trouble to give low stars to a post just because it didn't necessarily "speak" to them. I'm not even sure why have ratings. We're not in a competition

Susanfnp

http://www.wildyeastblog.com

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

Seeing the rating last night was just a "perfect end to a *perfect* day" if you get my drift. Usually this stuff doesn't bother me and I'll just keep on posting and reading because I love this site and most of the people on it. Thanks for your support and also you Annie! People should be aware that low ratings can be hurtful to some people though. I usually never even think about ranking something unless it's a truly amazing yeasty masterpiece. We have a great baking week-end coming up. After 60 degree weather for the past few days, we're expecting more snow. Guess the flip flops will go back in the closet and the the KA will come back off the shelf =).

 

Trish

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

They come up from time to time. I bought a set of two (after getting my first one) and got them for around $50 and that included shipping. They are very well built so at $25 each I thought they were pretty reasonable. I just set up a search on ebay that notified me when one was for sale.

T.

AnnieT's picture
AnnieT

Trish and Susan, I guess ignorance is bliss - I have never noticed ( or cared ) what rating any of my posts got. Why exactly do we need ratings? Please stay with us, Trish, I enjoy reading your posts, A.

swtgran's picture
swtgran

Trish, because of your post I now own and regularly use these pans.  I use my own recipes and have even thought about buying a second set for large baking days.  I think these pans will save the life of my oven as I will not be spraying and risking glass breakage as much.  The bread turns out great!

I do use the bagel recipe from the book and have found them to serve the purpose when in a rush and I don't want to mess around with the whole boiling thing.  Thanks for your post. 

I didn't even notice the star business.  Sites are so busy half the stuff escapes me.  Thanks for the info. 

audra36274's picture
audra36274

None of the rest of us do. And if your computer is anything like mine, it is hard to rate anything anyway. When I try to click on a star, they start jumping around and it has accidently registered the wrong star. I don't know what causes the jumping around, but I have seen other people mention it too. But seriously, don't let it bother you. I liked the pan thread....the price I found and posted I thought was a little steep by the way everyone had been talking. Please keep posting . I had a guy (who floyd banned from this site back last summer) just ridicule me over a question I had posted. It really hurt my feelings, and for a long time I wouldn't post either. But I came back and I'm glad I did. I really enjoy the questions and answers by everybody. You can learn more here than going to bakery school!

   I think it is a neat pan, and I have joined the ebay list of "if it comes available" people. If ya'll loved it that well, thats good enough for me.Without you, I wouldn't have even known about the pan. Well gotta go, but we'll be looking forward to hearing from you again!

                                                                                 Audra 

swtgran's picture
swtgran

I do as the instructions say and start with a cold oven and remove the lid at the recommended times and it sings and crackles like a campfire, only it smells better.

swtgran's picture
swtgran

Michael, yes, I just put the pan in the cold oven, set it to 400 and let it do its thing until it is time to remove the lid.  Sometimes when I remove the lid, depending on loaf size, I can tell it seems to need more time, so I put the lid back on a bit then remove it and let it bake the remainder of the recommended time.  Terry

mattie405's picture
mattie405

I got 2 of these in about 2002 on EBAY for $24, which at that time also included shipping. The guy who was selling them back then had been listing them for awhile and nobody was bidding on them back then, he's probably be shocked to see all the interest in them now. I love them and also use them to roast veggies and chicken, Mine are starting to show their age now but they've given me great service for the past few years.

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

I bought one of the pans several months ago and liked it so well. I bought a set of two when they became available. When the set came it had an expanded recipe book for all kinds of interesting things including roasted veggies. The second pans also had an extra tray that my first one didn't. I have been meaning to try the roasted vegetables. I'll try that next week. Thanks for reminding me!

Trish

dig2dye's picture
dig2dye

So here I am in 2019 just learning about this amazing pan.  I found a four piece set at the thrift store but noticed the fifth piece (yes these originally were five piece sets in the enameled version) is missing!  I only need the solid base pan (I believe the bottom tray would have zero holes, correct?) 

 

Does anyone have just the bottom pan and an instruction book in a  pdf? 

shortybiscuit's picture
shortybiscuit

I got one of these at a thrift store today. I'm looking forward to trying it.

Here is the recipe book: http://www.megaheart.com/pdf/baparoma.pdf

Christine53's picture
Christine53

While cleaning out a closet in a long-unused park kitchen, I found this pan.  Thinking it was a pan to steam whole fish, I googled the embossed name and it led me to this site. It was not boxed and there was no instruction manual or recipe book, I attempted to open the links on the previous comments, but none would open.  Can you or someone please provide me with the instruction manual and/or recipes.  Thank you!  Christine53

Seastwold's picture
Seastwold

Saw a 3 piece pan in original box with owners manual googled it and saw the prices they were getting for them it looked like it was never used missing the measuring cup payed only $6.99! 
does anybody have a link for the recipes that came with the 5 piece?