PullmanPans, 1 pound or 8 1/2 inch

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