Why so pricey? The PR line is that unlike the traditional Dutch oven, which was merely adopted by bakers, the Challenger was made for them. Similar to my go-to bread pan, the Lodge Combo Cooker, the Challenger is made of preseasoned bare cast iron and has an inverted Dutch oven design that functions like a bread cloche, with a tall, domed top and a low-sided bottom that makes dough easier to load. But it differs from the Combo Cooker in some key ways: First, the Challenger’s cast iron is thicker than the Lodge’s, in theory capable of absorbing and retaining more heat during the bake. Second, the Bread Pan’s shape is rectangular rather than circular, so it can accommodate batards and demi baguettes as well as boules. And finally, the Challenger has handles on both sides of the base, plus two on the lid, making it easier to maneuver in a hot oven.
For me—an experienced but inexpert home baker who’s always looking to improve the end product—the real question was whether the extra $180 or so would actually give me noticeably better bread. And if not, was there a cheaper option that might provide some of the same ergonomic benefits?
Researching competitors, I came to realize that the Challenger Bread Pan has carved out its own niche as a purely bread-focused cast-iron baking vessel. In the end, I was able to find only one other pan that offered anything like its combination of features: the 12-quart Golden Spike Oval Roaster from Camp Chef. Although it’s really designed to roast chickens or cook casseroles over a campfire, the Golden Spike Oval Roaster has a flat, shallow lid that you can invert to use as a baking surface, just as on the Challenger Bread Pan and the Lodge Combo Cooker.
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August 05, 2021 at 10:28PM
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The Challenger Bread Pan Aced Our Bake Tests, but Most Novices Don’t Need It - The New York Times
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