The Proof is in the Box.

Meet the new Challenger Proofing Box: Improve your dough, improve your bread.

Bake bread like you’ve
never baked before

The Challenger Bread Pan: now just $224.95

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New & Improved Starter Jars: In stock and ready to ship.

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Challenger Breadware is proud to introduce our newest resource for bakers everywhere.

Coil Fold

A coil fold is a simple method of building dough strength that relies on surface tension and gravity.

Inclusions: The Squeeze in Method

Here's how to add larger inclusions to your dough.

Inclusions: The Lamination Method

The lamination method of adding inclusions is a great way to evenly disperse small add-ins to your dough mix.

Inclusions: Porridge

Porridge is a great way to add extra flavor and tenderness to your loaf.

Mixed Seed Topping

Adding toppings to your bread is an easy way to add flavor, nutrition, and a decorative flair to your loaf.

Identifying Proofing Levels in Baked Bread

Here's how to check your baked loaf to understand if you are proofing your dough for the correct amount of…

Identifying Proofing Levels in Dough

Here are a few simple ways to check for the correct proofing level in dough.

Autolyse

Here's an in-depth look on what happens during an autolyse.

Sourdough Baking at High Altitudes

Here's how to adjust your sourdough baking to suit a high-altitude.

Why Chef Matthew James Duffy Swears by The Challenger Bread Pan

Batard Shaping

A batard is one of the most iconic oval sourdough shapes. Here’s two easy shaping methods.

Boule Shaping

A boule is a traditional round loaf, and is a great shape for beginning bakers to try.

Pre-Shape & Bench Rest

Pre-shaping helps tighten the dough up before the final shaping and bake.

Sourdough Starter Basics

Understanding starters, and the role they play as the leavening agent in bread.

Maintaining a Sourdough Starter

The most important part for sourdough bakers.

When Is My Starter Ready to Use?

When you add starter to your dough affects the flavor of your bread.

When Is My Starter Ready to Feed?

Learn to know when your starter is at its peak and ready to feed.

Storing Starter in the Refrigerator

Why should I keep a back-up starter on hand?

Scoring Tools and Technique

Why to score dough and the tools you need to get started.

Batard Scoring

Greg Wade demonstrates the best ways to score a batard.

Boule Scoring

Learn the best techniques for scoring your boules.

Spotting Scoring Mistakes

Why isn't my scoring coming out the way I want it to?

Bread Stenciling

The extra step to make your bread look even more beautiful.

RECIPE: sourdough cornbread

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Jim Challenger Baker, Founder & President

BAKE BETTER BREAD EVERY TIME WITH THE
CHALLENGER BREAD PAN

You spend hours making dough—don’t leave that last step to chance. The Challenger Bread Pan gives you the right amount of heat and steam to help you bake the perfect loaf, each and every time.

The Challenger Bread Pan is a revolutionary cast iron bread pan designed and crafted to bake boules, bâtards, baguettes, and other baker’s favorites.

Bring on the Heat

The Challenger’s thick, black cast iron delivers powerful radiant heat to the bottom and the top of your dough. Our pan’s design—shaped like a loaf of bread—ensures your dough gets the heat it needs right where it needs it. Learn more.

The Perfect Amount of Steam

The Challenger forms a tight seal between the cover and the base, trapping the perfect amount of steam you need for bread with crackling crust, rich colors, open scores, and full volume—each and every time. See the pan.

Versatility Matters

Bâtards, Boules, Baguettes. Ciabatta, Focaccia, Pizza. Cinnamon rolls, Dinner rolls, Fougasse. The Challenger bakes them all to perfection. Let’s bake.

OUR PLACE FOR LEARNING

BAKE WITH US

Calling all bakers! Beginner? Hello. Seasoned? Why yes. Obsessed? We’re with you. We can’t wait to bake with all of you. Behind the scenes, we’re hard at work on The How of Learning—our community resource for baking techniques and process. In the meantime, browse our Ingredient Directory and Bakers’ Glossary.

Ingredient
Directory

Baker's
Glossary

Can’t Bake Without

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Challenger Bread Pan™

US$224.95

Small Oven Gloves

US$22.95

Large Oven Gloves

US$22.95

This is a beautifully designed pan! It won’t chip or scratch like my enameled Dutch ovens have and the walls are significantly thicker as well. The heavy domed lid and low profile bottom make a great seal keeping the steam right where you want it. I am looking forward to baking with these pans for many years to come.

Mike Hilburn, The Sourdough Podcast, @thesourdoughpodcast

The handles are at the right spot, keeping my hands safe when grabbing the pan in and out of the oven. It’s large enough so I can bake 1.2 kg doughs and still get a great oven kick. It really traps the steam and the heat, and it’s pretty easy to bake two loaves one after the other, re-heating the pan just for 15 minutes between bakes. Deep, golden crust, thin and crispy, with light yellowish-brown colors, to black ears, the loaves come out of the oven with a remarkable charisma and rusticity.

François Thibeault, Bread Magazine, @breadmag

Baking one own’s bread has become more and more of a habit and now I have decided to make time to adopt that habit in my household. Where I once made my own baguettes and my own croissants because there were no great bakeries, now @balthazarbakery and @bakednyc and @petrossiannyc and @biencuit provide us with great product but now I have the urge to do my own again — using my niece @sophieslaterwellness sourdough starter and a fabulous new @challengerbreadware iron pan.

We Ship Worldwide

We Ship Worldwide

BAKE BETTER BREAD EVERY TIME WITH THE CHALLENGER BREAD PAN

Bring on the Heat

The Perfect Amount of Steam

Versatility Matters

OUR PLACE FOR LEARNING

BAKE WITH US

Can’t Bake Without

SHOP OUR BAKER’S TOOLS

LET’S BAKE TOGETHER

Baker Resources

Let’s bake the world a better place.

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About the Bread Pan

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Join the Challenger Breadware community

Join the Challenger Breadware community

BAKE BETTER BREAD EVERY TIME WITH THE
CHALLENGER BREAD PAN

Let’s bake the world
a better place.