Baking mold for sandwich loaf
Hi all,
I am about to buy a baking mold for sandwich loaf bread. I am considering three different types of mold:
1) a perforated mold
https://www.amazon.de/Kaiser-Inspiration-Brotbackform-antihaftbeschichtet-sauerteigbest%C3%A4ndig/dp/B06VT2D5HD/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=brotform+perforier...
2) a silicon mold
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07JVQJMXR/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?smid=A2QEO2ZVL4MEY8&psc=1
3) a mold with lid
https://www.amazon.de/CAN_Deal-Advanced-Bakeware-Backformen-Toastbrot/dp/B0742M7XQD/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=brotform+deckel&qid=1557133400&s=gateway&sr=8-1
I want to bake batches of about 2 pounds. I typically prefer a crunchier crust, but I need to bake sandwich bread to bring to the office, so for me it is also important that it doesn't get dry too fast.
My oven is a fan oven (there is no way to turn the fan off) but I usually bake with a iron cast dutch oven with lid. So I was considering buying a mold that can fit inside the dutch oven, or by 3) and remove the lid halfway baking. I also have a pizza stone.
Do you have any experience with these molds? What would be your advice for mold type and baking method?
Thanks in advance!
Hi SimonaPandera,
I have used a pullman pan (the last one, with the lid). My idea was to use it with the lid on to create a humid environment, like inside a Dutch oven, but it isn't really tall enough for that even though it is taller than a regular loaf pan. More recently I picked up a loaf pan to use inside a Dutch oven, as you're thinking of doing. I haven't used it yet but I imagine the sides will be a little softer. I would stay away from that silicon mold. Those things are meant to keep the crust soft. Maybe the perforated one, baked inside your Dutch oven, would give you what you are looking for.
Another idea: have you thought about using a cloth-lined loaf pan or an oval banneton as a pre-bake/final-rise support, then turn the loaf out onto parchment and lowering it into your Dutch oven? That way you would still have slices of approximately equal size, good for sandwiches, and you would also get to keep using your Dutch oven method which is giving you the crust quality that you like. https://www.amazon.de/JINGMEI-Jingmei-G%C3%A4rk%C3%B6rbchen-Zwischenlage-Abdeckung-Brotgabel/dp/B06XFTQ6MX/ref=sr_1_4?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=oval+banneton&qid=1557159798&s=kitchen&sr=1-4
I suggest that you go to the top of the page, and enter
Pullman
into the search box. You'll find a lot of information about the last item on your list, including lots of pictures of good bread made with it, and detailed discussions of how to get the best results when using it.
The basic plan with that pan is you make your loaf large enough so that on the final rise it grows to completely fill the container touching the lid, creating a nice neat rectangle.