The Le Creuset Bread Oven offers a new way to bake loaves
We tried the brand’s new cookware to learn how it optimizes the bread baking process.
Inspired by a bakery steam oven, the Bread Oven boasts a domed lid to trap and circulate steam. Le Creuset says this helps create a crispy crust and tender interior, which I found to be true when I baked a loaf. I first put the Bread Oven in the oven to bake my bread, and then I took the lid off and baked it for a few more minutes in the base so the crust could brown. Select editor Morgan Greenwald, who also received a Bread Oven from Le Creuset to try out, had a similar experience using the Bread Oven. “I’ve been trying to perfect my loaves for a while, and this is the first time I’ve been able to achieve a moist center with a crispy crust,” she said.
My favorite feature of the Bread Oven is its low-profile base. Dutch ovens have tall walls that you have to reach into to add your dough or remove cooked loaves, but the Bread Oven’s low-profile base is much easier to work with. The base also features raised interior ridges to evenly brown bread without using parchment paper, solving one of my pet peeves about baking bread in a Dutch oven: how much parchment paper you have to throw out afterward. The raised ridges imprint “Le Creuset” and three rings into the bottom of your bread as it bakes, giving each loaf a custom detail you won’t get with another piece of cookware.
Additionally, Le Creuset says the Bread Oven is dishwasher-safe. However, I found it convenient to hand-wash my Bread Oven since the interior is constructed with the brand’s matte black satin enamel, a surface Le Creuset says reduces sticking — I’ve made bread, cornbread and scones in my Le Creuset Dutch oven, and each came right off of the base.
To help you move the Bread Oven from your cooking surface to the oven, the cookware sports Le Creuset’s Signature loop handles. The handles are large enough to grasp tightly while using oven mitts, as it is the knob on top of the lid.
The Bread Oven is unique to Le Creuset — it’s not a piece of cookware multiple brands offer, making it one of a kind. But if you’re looking to explore other products to use while baking bread, we previously covered Dutch ovens and bread machines that will do the trick.
In our guide to Dutch ovens, Stefano Velia, a chef with more than 30 years of experience and the owner of Pala Pizza, recommended this option from Lodge. He noted that it’s a more affordable alternative to the Le Creuset options, and said the heavy lid helps keep heat and liquids inside. The Dutch oven also has a flat bottom, which Velia told us means it will work on gas or glass-top electric stoves.
if you’d rather let an appliance automate some steps of the bread baking process, turn to a bread machine like CRUXGG’s The BRED. Featured in our guide to bread machines, you can bake 1 ½- or 2-pound loaves in The BREAD and it has 15 preset cooking functions. You can choose from three crust colors, and the bread maker’s Express cycle bakes a loaf in under two hours, according to the brand. The machine can keep food warm for up to 60 minutes after it’s done cooking.
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