December 6, 2011 - 10:49am
Where to find long narrow (2" square) bread or pullman pans?
Hi,
Has anyone here seen long narrow pullman pans of the sort that produce 2" x 2" by about 12" (or longer) loaves available anywhere? You see loaves like this for european rye breads at the store, so I know somebody makes them! I just can't seem to find them online anywhere...
Thanks,
Brian
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but you might take a look at the gluten-free loaf pans at King Arthur Flour's catalog. Because of the fragility of the structure of gluten-free doughs the pans tend to be long and narrow. I've not paid a great deal of attention to the details as I have no need of them (today anyway), but I have noticed them in the catalogs that have been coming in the mail. Also, fantes.com has about the most complete collection of baking pans I've found online, and might be worth a try if you have not already looked there.
Best of luck in your search
OldWoodenSpoon
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/three-channel-loaf-pan
Pretty close ...Didn't quite see what I want at KA. Mini Oven's choice was just a tad bigger than I'd prefer but not bad. At Fantes, I did find one that is very close ...I'd prefer square in cross-section like a true Pullman pan, but beggars can't be choosers I guess:
See product #7148 (About halfway down the page)
If I don't find a true square cross-section version, then I'll probably pick up a couple of these.
Brian
they got all the folding and crimping machines and can make you any length you desire. ...and thickness.
I've seen the loaves you describe in some of the "gourmet" food shops. They appear to me to be Pullman loaves (4×4×13in) that have been trimmed of the crust, quartered, sliced and wrapped in cellophane.
cheers,
gary
Google 'mini pate mould' and there's lots of choices depending on the size you're looking for.
-Mark
http://TheBackHomeBakery.com
Thanks Everyone ...I think we have a few solutions here: fantes.com, maybe the local roofer or sheet metal shop with a press brake, and the wide selection of mini pate molds online (I didn't even know they existed!)!
Brian
PS: I think it would be fun to make a few with a metal shop using mild steel, then go down to Sportsman's Warehouse and buy a gun bluing kit ...I love the crust that blued steel pans produce ...I don't know of anything else that works quite the same.
the pans inside and out? Or just the outside?
Paul
You would blue both the inside and outside in order to give the metal a proper finish. Just in case someone here doesn't know, iron has (at least) two naturally occurring ionizations, Fe^{2+} and Fe^{3+}, that when oxidized (bonded with oxygen) form two different versions of iron oxide... the first is the orange crusty stuff we all know and love, and the second is the black/dark-blue version that is smooth, shiny, and helps protect the metal from the first form of oxidation ...noting that with enough effort however, you can get the orange rust to form anyway (like on a gun that I left in a gun case for toooo loooong... sigh). Anyway, the bottom line is that the bluing is not some kind of chemical coating, but just an oxidation of the iron in the steel ...it's food safe. The bluing kits are 'cold bluing' kits and they contain a degreaser and either a liquid or paste type bluing agent (causes the right form of oxidation). Once blued, you just rinse/wash the chemicals off, dry well, and lightly oil ...it's good to go from then on. I have some bread pans that are blued steel and I've had them since the mid-70s (I've seen DIRT younger than me!) and they are still in very good condition. Once, a long time ago, a certain cranberry-nut loaf managed to etch the metal a little but I re-blued it and it's been great since. Wild cranberries in Alaska can be pretty acidic. In any case, the crust you get from blued-steel pans is the best that I've seen when it comes to matching the top (exposed to air in the oven) crust in both color and thickness... lighter pans such as aluminum tend to produce lighter crusts (compared to the top crust) and heat-holding materials like glass and ceramic tend to produce a thicker crust on the bottoms and sides. For whatever reason though, the silver non-stick finish on USA Pans loaf pans seems to work very nearly like blued steel and I like those too. I haven't experimented with plain silver-bright pans or stainless steel pans... or cheap non-stick pans either for that matter.
Brian
PS: CORRECTION! I just googled it and found that only the HOT bluing results in the black iron oxide. The COLD bluing process above merely puts a coating of selenium dioxide on the metal. I didn't know that! My suggestion then would be to find a shop in town that does HOT bluing and to get your homemade pans hot blued instead of cold blued. Selenium dioxide is considered to be food-safe as well BTW. It's also not as tough as black iron oxide ...
It's not that hard to use a homemade bluing. Thoroughly degrease the pan first, then evenly wipe on vinegar (mixed with salt, if you like), and let stand in a humid environment for 3 or 4 hours. Use a course cloth (denim, burlap, or cotton or linen tow sacking, e.g.) to wipe/polish off the fuzzy rust, and repeat. Wear gloves to prevent any oil's getting on the metal. Each iteration will reinforce the thin layer of rust on the metal. When the metal is evenly as dark as you want it, neutralize the acid (baking soda), wash, or even boil in clean water. Dry and apply oil. Voilà, cold blue steel; well, brown steel.
The microscopic pitting causes the metal to hold more oil which protects from further rust, and it acts more like seasoned cast iron; non-stick.
cheers,
gary
Seems like I remember a friend doing that with an old black powder gun kit that he had and he called it 'browning' I think, but the process sounded like what you are describing. It's all fun ...I'll build one of those kits some day.
Brian
:)
Just thinking out of the box... what if one was to drop a divider or insert into a regular Pullman pan? A folded piece of metal shaped like + as seen from the end. Four loaves could be baked at the same time. The metal insert would transport heat into the center of the + to heat the center of the tin more than if it was solid dough. Whatcha think?
I think I'm not man enough to want to try loading four gloops of rye paste into such a contraption, then getting the proof and spring to come out right. Is there an emoticon for wide-eyed screaming with hands waving uselessly in the air? That would be me.
I think I'd go with quartering the loaf after baking.
cheers,
gary
I still think it doable. The paste could be scraped into the lower chambers (now doesn't that sound sophisticated?) and then lowered to stand into the bottom. Scrape dough onto the divider of the top two chambers and cover. The air would escape up the outsides and end of pan as dough swells to fill in the spaces. I can see it happening! It might be easier than creating new pans and steam trapped in a larger space would tend to help the loaves. I'm sure I could come up with some kind of mass dynamic theory to back it up. The insert could also be a pull apart style, 3 plates that lie flat when not in use.
Quartering the loaf leaves the slice with two cut edges instead of a swirl of crumb, the reason for wanting smaller pans. I bet I could even get them seeded all around before putting them into the chambers. Where's your sense of adventure? (Did I read somewhere that running around with arms in the air is a great way to get oxygen into lethargic brain cells?) Sun is out, I gotta go collect my D-vitamins. Later...
I would think that with dividers, as mentioned, that you'd have difficulty obtaining the same crust color and thickness on the inner faces of the loaves. So far, those mini-pate pans come the closest but don't have a Pullman type lid on them. The one pan at Fantes is pretty close, but not square in cross-section (not a big deal to me) and has a lid that just sits on the pan rather than sliding on ...it would need wiring shut if baking something that might press the lid up. My intent is to make small square sour whole-kernal german breads (vollkornbrot) for the family in a similar size/shape to those you see in the store ...And maybe the loaves in the store ARE sliced from a larger, say 4x4 cross section, loaf? I'd have to go look to see...
Brian
and they vary from aprox. 3" x 6" to 2" x 4" in small packages, no cut edges other than to cut into slices. The one that looked even wider than a normal bread pan surprised me. I checked the crust going around and could see that the sides were not cut... yet. But if these were served as appetisers they certainly would be cut smaller and I don't think it would make a difference as long as the knife was sharp. So, you can cut them yourself or let your customers cut them. The larger bread face does give room for a more informative package.
Another off the wall idea would be to fill the Pullman about 2/5 full and lay double parchment on top of the paste, then add another 2/5 leaving 1/5 head space. (or whatever your dough requires) Then separate the loaves when finished baking. Wonder how even a bake that would be.
When I rolled my rye paste strands in seeds and tried to braid them, it was a flop. But the seeded areas did separate from each other if I wasn't careful when cutting. (!!!) Four long pasty rolls rolled in seeds and lain together could yield four breads that separate into four 2x2 breads. Can't guarantee the shape would be square but it might be interesting.
What if the paste was spooned or extruded onto parchment, loosely rolled up and then stacked into the pullman? or laid into a cake pan and covered with foil?
I think metal dividers work like potato nails bring heat into the potato to cook faster. If they touch the bottom, they conduct heat into the middle to brown. I think it would work better with a longer bake than a short one. Typical of that kind of bread. Up to you...