Cast Iron Dutch Oven – 5QT Bread Baking Pan

Perfect for a beginner
This was a gift for my wife as she embarked on her sour dough journey. Great value for the money. Durable and timeless cast iron design make the Dutch oven easy to clean and the heat distribution is spot on to give that golden brown crust.

Love this set
I love this pan. I own a bread machine but I bought this pan because I wanted to achieve the crispy crust on my bread and this pan is great for that. When I got the pan I washed and seasoned it like the packaging stated. It’s a heavy cast iron pan. Very beautiful. Very durable. It’s easy to clean as long as you keep it seasoned well. The size is perfect for a long loaf of bread. I feel it heats evenly. My bread has come out so perfect in this pan. Soft inside. Crusty outside!! It also came with a basket to let dough rise it. A mixer. And knife to cut top of bread. I feel this set was a good value. I would recommend.

Great value in a kit
Note: the kit does not include a bread sling, although it is mentioned in the enclosed booklet. A sling is Not mentioned in the webpage description. It was an error in booklet that will be corrected. In nearly 15 years of baking sourdough bread, I have never used a sling nor parchment paper, just preferring to gently dump the loaf into the preheated pan, then scoring and misting. IMHO, it is not a necessary tool.I purchased this because my Le Creuset stoneware oval baker cracked after many years of use. I have only used this one time. I did not want to spend $$$$$ for a new Le Creuset after the old one cracked.I did follow instructions to re-season the pan before fist use. And I did thoroughly “season” the basket liner with rice flour before first use.I had a lot of difficulty finding something with specific bottom, inside dimensions in the website descriptions to ensure it would long enough to accommodate the oval proofing baskets that I already own.Fortunately, this comes as a very complete kit with a basket. My former basket appears too long to me to use in this dutch oven.I used the same 78%-80% hydration 2 pound loaf+ recipe, 700g of fresh organic, stone ground spelt flour, water, 30% ripe, sourdough culture inoculation and minimal salt for the first attempt. The bread came out perfectly–no significant difference other than shape than what I got using the Le Creuset. And I really prefer the shape of this loaf.I have increased my standard recipe 20% for future loaves. The website claims the basket can hold 4 pounds of dough, and I believe that it can.Finally, I had reason to contact the seller via email through Amazon. The response was prompt, professional, courteous and they were eager to assist me to ensure customer satisfaction. I think you will be very pleased with this product and customer service care should it be needed.

Not tall enough and burns bottoms
While there are some things I like about this, I have used every type of dutch oven and know what works etc. I bought this one for to bake a longer loaf in and if it does not rise too tall then it will work. I score mine and even a 750gram loaf burned the score on top. This is NOT a deal breaker but will not use it for that lof again. That was a 400 gram flour loaf and most of mine at 500 and will rise higher so nope. The bottom gets too dark even with two or three pieces of paper under the dough. It is not overly expensive but not cheap either and some cost much more. The handles are a good point and the overall pot size is good. But If I win the lottery I will buy the Challenger.