I Reviewed 3 Cast Iron Bread Ovens and Recommend All of Them

Dutch ovens are fantastic tools for baking bread. They're usually big enough to fit a hefty boule, and their lids trap steam—a necessary component for bread with an open crumb and a shiny, shattering crust. The best part: If you're reading this, chances are high that you already have one. They're ideal for amateur bakers and those who only whip up the occasional loaf. But, if you're a frequent bread baker, a specialized tool like a bread oven (also called a bread cloche) can minimize hassle and make shapes like oblong bâtards possible.

Bread cloches are typically made from enameled or seasoned cast iron. While the former works well—see my review of the Le Creuset Bread Oven here—this review focuses on the latter. To find the best ones, I tested two purpose-built cast iron bread ovens, plus a bonus pot that I think is the best cast iron Dutch oven for bread. Spoiler: I recommend them all.

Why Bake Bread in a Bread Oven (Instead of a Dutch Oven) 

A Dutch oven is a pot (obviously), which means you bake the loaf inside of a deep cavity. This is problematic in two ways. For starters, there's always a risk of burning hands or wrists on the rim of the blazing hot pot as you load the loaf; using oven gloves and/or a long parchment sling can help avoid this. More crucially, once the lid comes off and it comes time for the loaf to brown, the sides of the pot shield it from the oven's heat, which produces uneven browning and a potentially too-long bake (which can result in a too-thick crust). You can take the loaf out of the pot at this stage and bake it "naked,” though I have found it helpful to set it on a small baking stone or pan to shield it from the lower oven element and prevent burning.

But, a Dutch oven is also round. This is fine if you are happy making round loaves for the rest of your days, but it's a serious bummer when you want to branch out shape-wise, or if you are like me and prefer a long, rectangular loaf, aka a bâtard. (I like my slices more or less identically sized, sue me!) You can make long loaves in a round pot if you scale them down to fit, but not if you want a full-size loaf. Large, long ones crammed into a round pot will inevitably conform to the shape of the pot, ending up as a blob midway between round and oblong (bloblong?). I can live with the occasional singed wrist, but I need my bâtards, which is why I prefer a dedicated bread-baking pot.

The great news about cast iron bread ovens is that they work wonderfully since they have plenty of heat-retaining mass for a good oven spring and are sufficiently airtight to jacket the loaf with steam when it's needed. That said, each of the three I tested—the Challenger Breadware Bread Pan, the Fourneau Bread Oven, and the Lodge Double Dutch Oven—has advantages and disadvantages worth considering before you decide to invest in one. 

Our Favorite Cast Iron Bread Ovens

The Best Cast Iron Bread Oven

Challenger Breadware Challenger Bread Pan

$299 at Amazon View on Challengerbreadware.com

What we liked: The seasoned cast iron Challenger Bread Pan looks and functions a whole lot like a larger, rectangular Lodge Double Dutch Oven. At five times the price, it’s way more of an investment, but if you are serious about bread baking, it's likely money well spent. (Full disclosure: Of the three pots I cover here, the Challenger is one I have the most experience with, having owned and used one regularly for more than three years now.) The inner dimensions of the base are 11 1/4- by 8 3/4-inches at their widest, which leaves plenty of room for the sorts of hefty, 1-kilogram-ish loaves I bake all the time, whether it's a long bâtard or rotund boule. And though it's shorter than the Lodge on the inside (a little over five inches, top to bottom), it's still plenty tall enough to accommodate any loaf you set in it.

While the fact that I can make loaves of any shape and size (aside from a baguette, that is) is excuse enough for me to splurge on a Challenger pan, there is another reason I like the extra space it offers: there's room to pull off the "ice cube” trick. Allow me to explain.

While it is true that Dutch-oven-baked loaves contain enough moisture to steam themselves during the start of the bake, it turns out you can improve the texture of the crust further with an extra burst of steam early on. I’m not sure who first figured it out, but the best way to do this in a Challenger is to drop a small ice cube or two into the open corners of the pan right before you set the lid on it. The heat stored up in the base will quickly melt the cubes and fill the cavity of the oven with steam. Loaves steamed this way will spring tall and proud with a beautiful gloss. (The one downside to adding ice and water to the base is that you’ll need to re-season the pan a bit more often than you otherwise might.)

What we didn't like: The extra real estate of the Challenger comes at a cost, though, and not just on your wallet. The two halves of the Challenger weigh a combined 21 pounds, 13 3/8 ounces. I like to think I’m a pretty strong person, and even I find the Challenger a, well, challenge to move around, especially when it's ripping hot. It's doable, but it requires hand protection that still lets you solidly grip—Challenger sells heatproof gloves that work nicely—as well as your full concentration. (It also helps to have oven racks that slide in and out easily, something mine definitely do not do.) 

There is one other flaw in the Challenger. Because the base is heavy cast iron (and dark in color), it pumps heat rapidly into the loaf. This is a good thing when it comes to the initial oven spring, but it can be a problem later on in the bake since the underside of the loaf can burn before the top and sides are sufficiently browned. If you find this to be the case, one solution is to move the loaf to a small baking sheet or cake pan and finish it outside of the Challenger entirely. (Pro tip: doing so lets you bake multiple loaves in a staggered way, steaming the next loaf while the first one browns.)

Key Specs

• Materials: Cast iron
• Weight: 21 lbs, 13 3/8 ounces
• Dimensions: 15.4 x 12.5 x 5.4 inches
  
• Oven-safe temperature: 500°F
• Care instructions: Season with oil lightly before or after each use

The Best Steam-Powered Bread Oven

Fourneau Bread Oven

View on Fourneauoven.com View on Food52

What we liked: Or maybe consider the Fourneau Bread Oven instead, which, while nearly as hefty as the Challenger (the Fourneau's about 20 pounds), does not need to be moved around during use since it stays in the oven the entire time. Unlike Dutch oven-style bread pots, the Fourneau is more like an oven oven in design. It consists of an ovoid cast iron dome, open on one end, a cast iron door that fits snugly over the opening, and a grooved cordierite (ceramic) base into which the dome sits. 

The Fourneau ships with three additional essential parts: an aluminum tray that fits inside the oven (with an angled lip along its front edge), a silicone mat that sits between the loaf and the tray, and a notched steel bar that fits into a slot along the front edge of the tray as a handle. Loading works as you’d expect: you invert the loaf onto the mat-lined tray, score it, use the bar to grab the tray and slide it into the oven, then set the door in place. 

You still need a hot mitt or oven glove to protect your hands as you grip the oven door, but at about three pounds, it’s much easier to manipulate than the Challenger Pan is. And because the Fourneau doesn’t need to be moved around during use, it can stand to be much roomier than a bread pot: the tray is 11 3/4 by 8 3/4 inches at its narrowest and the dome is about 5 1/2 inches tall. (It is still too short to fit a 14-inch-long demi-baguette, but you can make very respectable semi-demi-baguettes in one.)

Because the baking tray fills the oven cavity nearly completely, you can’t perform the ice cube trick in a Fourneau oven, but you don’t need to. That's because it’s got another trick up its sleeve: a second groove that runs around the inside of the cordierite stone, into which you can pour water that turns to steam once it comes to a boil. You’ll need a gooseneck kettle or the pitcher that Fourneau sells as an add-on to get the water into the groove, but it works just as well as ice cubes in the Challenger.

Unlike either the Challenger or the Lodge Double Dutch, you can’t uncover the loaf completely for the latter half of the bake in a Fourneau. Though they suggest just taking the door off, you definitely get faster and more even browning by moving the loaf out of the oven and setting it (on its tray) on the bare oven rack alongside it. (If you order a second baking tray and mat or transfer the loaf to another pan, you can do staggered baking this way too.) 

What we didn't like: The primary drawback to the Fourneau is the space it occupies when not in use. The Challenger is heavy, but it’s no bigger than any other large pot you might own, while the Fourneau—at 15 by 12 by seven inches in size, about the size of a large roasting pan—requires a lot of real estate. If I had a double wall oven (alas, I do not), I’d just leave it in the lower one the whole time, ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Key Specs

• Materials: Cast iron, cordierite, aluminum
• Weight: 19 lbs, 6 ounces
• Dimensions: 12 x 15 x 6.75 inches
• Oven-safe temperature: 500°F
• Care instructions: Season cast iron cloche with grape seed oil 2-3 times per year

The Best Dutch Oven for Bread

Lodge 5-Quart Cast Iron Double Dutch Oven

$60 at Amazon View on Walmart $83 at Sur La Table

What we liked: The 5-quart Lodge Double Dutch Oven is the least expensive of the three options by a long stretch. While it is a Dutch oven, where it differs from most others is that its lid also doubles as a skillet, allowing the pot to be used in either orientation, lid up or down. This means you can load and unload the bread without fear of burning, and the bread is exposed to the heat of the oven fully once the steaming phase is complete, so you can just remove the “pot” and carry on baking. It is not enamel-coated, but it is pre-seasoned, so there's no fear of sticking if you bake the loaf directly in the pot. (I tend to use a parchment “sling” to load and unload my bread, so this isn't an issue either way.) The heavy-gauge cast iron provides plenty of mass for rapid oven spring and good browning, too. Even so—at 14 pounds, 7 ounces—it’s reasonably lightweight enough to move in and out of the oven without too much effort or brawn.

What we didn't like: But in many ways, you get what you pay for—at least if you are looking for a bread pot with some versatility to it. For starters, as should already be obvious, the Double Dutch Oven is round. And—with a 7-inch-wide base (on the inside)—it is also a little on the snug side. (Width-wise, that is; with more than six inches of headroom top to bottom, the Double Dutch is plenty tall enough for most breads.) This means that those of us who dig long loaves are out of luck. Still, given the price point, the Lodge Double Dutch Oven is a great starter Dutch oven/bread pot for those who don’t have either yet, especially since you also get a nice cast iron skillet out of the deal.

Key Specs

• Materials: Cast iron
• Weight: 14 lbs, 7 ounces
• Dimensions: 11.15 x 5.55 inches
• Oven-safe temperature: 500°F
• Care instructions: Season with oil before or after each use

The Bottom Line

As I’ve already said, all three of these devices can be used to make excellent crusty, crispy, and tall rustic loaves, especially once you understand how to use each of them best. The Lodge Double Dutch is the one I’d recommend to beginners or those with limited budgets, so long as round loaves are your thing. The Challenger is for those who want to bake longer loaves, don’t have a lot of storage space, and do have enough brawn to move the heavy pot around. And the Fourneau is my recommendation for long-loafers who have plenty of storage space—or a second oven to store it in.

FAQs

What's the best bread oven?

If you're looking for a dedicated bread baker, I recommend all three of the models I tested for this review: the Lodge Double Dutch, Challenger, and Fourneau. They're each best suited for different kinds of bread bakers, but all will produce beautiful loaves. If you want a fourth option, we also like the Cast Iron Roaster from Pit Boss.

What's the best vessel to bake sourdough bread?

For baking sourdough bread, you can use a bread cloche, bread oven, or Dutch oven. You should consider the shape you want to make (round, long, oblong), which will also determine which type of baking vessel is right for you.

Can you use a Dutch oven to bake bread?

Yes, you can use a Dutch oven instead of a cloche. There are some disadvantages to using a Dutch oven though (like it being harder to load and unload loaves and lack of airflow during the later baking stages), which we go into more above.

Why We're the Experts

• Andrew Janjigian is a Serious Eats contributor and a former long-time test cook at America's Test Kitchen.
• Andrew has taught baking and pizza classes for more than 10 years. He also writes a bread-specific newsletter called Wordloaf.
• He has written numerous Serious Eats reviews and recipes, including an evaluation of the Le Creuset bread oven and a comparison of baking steels and stones.