Customer Reviews

Chicago Metallic 69609 Professional Nonstick Perforated Baguette Pan

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've been working on making the perfect French bread baguette. (It's delicious with goat cheese and some artichoke-lemon spread, but that's another review.) I have an excellent bread machine recipe for the dough but letting the bread proof on my pizza stone before cooking it resulted in slightly "squashed" loaves that were more like narrow ellipses than circles. Although I love my stone's effect on a loaf's crisp crust, I finally ordered this baguette pan.

Mindful of the recommendations in other reviews, I sprayed the pan with cooking oil before using it. I also tossed some corn meal on it. (What can I say? I like its effect on the crust.) I laid the dough in the pan's "troughs," let it rise, then moved it to a preheated oven to bake. Unable to part with the stone entirely, I placed the pan on top of it. The loaves turned out beautifully. They're almost perfectly round, about 2" in diameter; the crust was even crispier than when I used my stone, and it's fairly even all around--slightly more brown on top than on the bottom, perhaps because of the stone being underneath.

Since my kids ate them all, I had to make more the next day. This time, I didn't stretch the dough as much so they came out as 3" baguettes. I also reduced the heat a little, as the pan's instructions recommend. The loaves touched when they rose, so I pulled them apart after about ten minutes of baking. That wasn't a problem though, and they came out even better than before.

Cleanup is easy, especially if you spray the pan, but the perforations are a bit harsh on a sponge, so you might want to use the recommended nylon scrub or a paper towel instead. (Cleaning corn meal out of those holes is a little difficult, however, so I'm reconsidering using corn meal.)

If you bake baguettes frequently, I heartily recommend this pan! (No offense to my pizza stone.)

This has to be my favorite pan for making the outside crust on the bread very crisp. It seems that the heat flows better through this pan with the perforation. While the pan is very sturdy and of a heavy gauge, it should provide you with wonderful bread in the years to come. Be sure to give the pan a quick spray of non-stick spray before cooking, but you would do this when making any kind of bread. The three loaves gives you just enough bread so that there won't be any major dicussions of who is getting the last piece of hot bread. If you are a bread maker and haven't given bagettes a try, this would be the idea pan to do this with.

I purchased this product about a year ago, when I was trying to make my own sub buns but couldn't quite get the height I wanted making them free-form. This is perfect for that! I get 6 large sub buns or 9 smaller ones. Nothing is better for your lunchmeat or chicken breasts than putting them on a fresh bun from your oven! I have since made the baguettes and use the pot of boiling water and spraying the inside of the oven mentioned in previous reviews, and they turn out wonderful! I have NEVER had a problem with the bread going thru the holes as mentioned previously, and all I do is spray lightly with Pam. This is a wonderful addition to the bread baker's kitchen and for the price you can't beat it.

I owned another perforated pan from Chicago but it was bought years ago;the construction of the older model is of heavy aluminum and very sturdy. Since I was so happy with my previous purchase, I bought this one thinking it was of the same quality. Needless to say, I was disappointed. The construction of the nonstick version is flimsy compare to the older one, and its length was an inch shorter. I don't know why they added the nonstick feature. Dough sticking to the pan has never been a problem with the other one.

BTW, if you really want crispy crust, throw in about 1/4 cup water at the bottom or sides of oven when you put the dough in to bake. Then do the same thing again 2-3 min.later. The steam does something to the gluten that creates a very crunchy crust. Professional bakeries have a device that delivers steam into their ovens to achieve the same result.

I have never had any problems using this pan. The key is to use a recipe for French bread or baguettes, not just any bread recipe. I use a bread machine dough cycle to prepare the dough, because I'm just not talented at breadmaking. The French bread recipe in the machine's owner's manual worked fine, and so did a French bread recipe in a bread machine cookbook. I think other doughs are too soft and get into the holes, as other reviewers have noted. They didn't prepare the right kind of bread dough.

I'm a whiz at using the bread machine dough cycle, then finishing baking rustic breads in a baguette or French bread pan. It's no fail! It makes me look like an expert bread baker.

Trust me, I'm not...if I try making bread without the machine's help, I end up with bricks. LOL The Chicago Metallic baguette pan is easy to use and results in a crusty, chewy bread. Lovely!

I started making French bread using this pan about a year ago. I tried several other brands first, but got by far the best results with this pan. I've made hundreds of loaves over the past year using this pan and the results have always been terrific. People ask me to bring the bread to parties, and I even supplied a friend's wedding last summer. I use a recipe from a book called, "The Best Bread Ever," by Chales Van Over, with great results. A French and a Belgian friend have told me my bread is as good or better than anything they've ever had in Paris.

Finally got around to making some baguettes on Sunday and using my new baguette pan. Modified a recipe from Bernard Clayton's Breads of France and went to town. Some hours later when I formed three loaves (instead of the 4 called for in the recipe) I let them rise in the baguette pan under a tea towel, and lo, they rose well. The loaves were a little fat and touched, which worried me a bit. But once the bread had spent a half hour in a 450 oven with a little steam, they looked good. I separated, rotated each 90 degrees and put them back in for 5. We ate of one for dinner. The crust was a beautiful golden brown, and the knife skipped over it for a bit before finally biting. The bread itself was beautifully done. My wife was impressed. The pan did its job quite nicely. I wiped it off with a towel and put it away for the next time.

I use this to make the Best Bread Ever by Charlie VanOver (baguettes using a food processor). He recommends not putting it on the stone if using a convection oven. Very good results.

I read some other reviewers complaining that the dough gets stuck in the holes or the new model is too short or that the loaves "might" turn out too flat (reviewer hadn't yet bought the pan). If the dough gets stuck in the holes, your dough is way too wet. Not long enough? Most pizza stones aren't deep enough for normal size baguettes (I have to put my loaves on at an angle, and I have a large stone).

I also use this to proof my loaves with a canvas couche on top of it to make beautiful French loaves.

My next experiment is to make some rustic Italian loaves with it.

For the money, it can't be beat.

I USED THE BAGUETTE PAN FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY AND WAS A BIT APPREHENSIVE AFTER READING THE REVIEW ABOUT DOUGH GETTING STUCK IN THE PERFORATION HOLES, BUT THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. IT REALLY DID A BEAUTIFULL JOB ON MY BREAD! BEFORE PLACING THE DOUGH IN THE PAN I SPRAYED IT WITH A NON STICK COOKING SPRAY AND THEN DUSTED IT WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF FLOUR. AFTER THE BREAD WAS DONE IT SLIPPED RIGHT OUT OF THE PAN. I BELIEVE THIS IS A REALLY GREAT PRODUCT.

BEV BAKER

I purchased this baguette pan along with its brother, the french bread pan. Makes perfectly shaped loaves with nice crispy crust, just like your local bakery. Teflon coating makes cleanup a whiz. Would make a nice addition to anyones kitchen arsenal. Very happy with the purchase. Cant beat the amazon price.