The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

PullmanPans, 1 pound or 8 1/2 inch

leanna's picture
leanna

PullmanPans, 1 pound or 8 1/2 inch

I'm looking for an outlet for a one-pound or 8 1/2 inch pullman pan.  Any ideas?  Would prefer as inexpensive as possible.

Thanks!

Leanna

baltochef's picture
baltochef

The 4" x 4" x 8.5" Pullman pans are no lonnger manufactured..I purchased the two that I have from the K.A. Baker's Catalog at least 4-5 years ago..I thought that I had kept all of my reciepts from KA, but I canmnot find the Packing List for the two 8.5" Pullman pans..After joining this forum I contacted KA to ask them who had manufactured the 8.5" Pullman pans for them..I was sure that I recalled that in their printed catalogs they had stated that Chicago Metallic was making the 8.5" pans exclusively for KA Flour, and that they were the same high quality as the CM Professional line of bakeware....However, neither KA, nor CM would confirm this..KA stated in an interactive e-mail to me that they could find no record of who had manufactured the 8.5" Pullman pans that they had sold in their catalog..Furthermore, I could barely get the Customer Service representative that I corresponded with to admit that they had ever even sold the damn things in the first place..Very frustrating!!..A subsequent e-mail to CM elicited only the information that KA was only purchasing the 13" Pullman pans currently from them to sell through their catalog..

These unproductive communications with KA and CM led me to do some research through Google..Google revealed the the only thing close to the professional-grade CM 8.5" pans that I own that I purchased through KA are some 4" x 4" x 7.875" pans made by Paderno in Italy..These pans are sold through the Paderno World Cuisine label..They are a dark blue aluminized steel construction, as opposed to the bright aluminized steel construction of the CM pans.These are professional-grade bakeware..The average price for a single one of these pans is in the neighborhood of $33.00 to $40.00..As I recall the 8.5" pans from KA were $25.00 each, and $45.00 for a pair..Those prices are indicative, however, of prices that existed from 4-5 years ago..

I would suggest that you Google the Paderno pans to find an internet source for them..It is unfortunate that KA quit purchasing them from CM..In my opinion the 8.5" Pullman makes more sense for home bakers than do the larger 13" and 16" pans..The larger pans are really designed for commercial use to bake large loaves of sandwich bread for restaurants..

I put 24-26 oz. of bread dough in my 8.5" pans..This is especially true of homemade doughs, which are not nearly as light as commercial white bread doughs..After making roughly 75 loaves of bread in the single 13", and two 8.5" Pullman pans that I own, I have come to the conclusion that I get better crumb, and far more consistent results, with a greater amount of dough in either size Pullman pan, than is recommended in most recipes, to include the recipes sent to me by KA when I purchased the pans from them..

Bruce

Edit--I decided to provide one of the few links here in the USA for the Paderno pans..They have the following professional-grade 4" x 4" square bread pans..

7.875" w/ Lid-- 11.875" w/o Lid-- 13.75" w & w/o Lid-- 15.75" w & w/o Lid--19.625" w/o Lid..I can only speculate that Overstock.com does not have lids for the 11.875" and 19.625" pans..It makes no sense that the pans would not be available with lids, as in every other respect other than length, the 5 pans are identical..Completely square pans are traditionally used for baking breads where the size is strictly controlled for sandwiches and toast..

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Paderno-Aluminized-Steel-7.875-inch-Bread-Pan-with-Lid/3447111/product.html

suave's picture
suave

Since you are so knowledgeable on this matter, perhaps you know who makes 5x8" Pullmans, the kind more expensive commercial breads are baked in?

Mike

smaxson's picture
smaxson

Lockwood in Canada, http://www.lockwoodmfg.ca/stockproducts/breadpans.php, used to make a huge line of square cross section bread pans. Much smaller selection now, but still indicates 8-1/2 x 5-3/4 x 3 pans in linked sets (top measure, with a bit of taper), but not in single pans. About 30 years ago I got my 4 x 13 Pullman pans and wish that I had gotten a set of 4 x 12's (fit current bread bags), 4 x 10's, 5 x 8's, etc. They are excellent quality (probably better than the Chicago Metallic's made overseas now). But, alas, no square cross section like the Pullman pans in sizes other than 4 x 13 and 4 x 16. They have a lot of single pans that might be of interest, but not necessarily in the exact sizes you want.

The pro bakers don't as a rule use single pans anymore, so the home baker simply cannot buy the equivalent of the pans used by commercial bakeries like they could in the past. You might try walking into a commercial restaurant supply, that is how I got my pans years ago (pre-Williams Sonoma, Sur la Table, etc.) They may have some old stock???