Ultralight Baking Shell for Sourdough Bread (Batard) – No Preheating Needed for Crispy Crust and Even Baking

Awesome. Made two Batard loaf's this weekend and didn't have to worry about adding any water to a preheated cast iron skillet. Slide the bread onto the preheated baking steel and covered with the baking shell. Easy to remove after the first 20-25min, nice and light. Bread turned out beautiful

The Brod & Taylor Ultralight Baking Shell has been a game-changer for my steam oven baking. It is impressively lightweight, making it easy to insert and remove even when hot, yet it feels very durable and solid. The flat, smooth surface ensures even heat distribution, which gives consistent browning and a nice crisp crust on bread, pizza, and pastries. I also appreciate that the edges are slightly raised, helping to keep dough or batter in place without spilling. Cleanup is simple since nothing sticks, and the non-reactive surface maintains its quality over time. The shell is slightly larger than I expected, so storage requires a bit of planning, but the quality, performance, and versatility make it an excellent tool for any serious home baker.

I have two of these batard shaped shells, and one boule. I use these frequently on a large stone in the oven, that fits two shells side by side (also purchased on Amazon), and they are lightweight, and do not require preheating. They seal in the steam so that the loaves have the appropriate amount for proper baking, and I highly recommend them.

First loaf of bread had great oven spring and the bottom crust was thinner and easier to cut through than with the preheated cast iron dutch oven I have been using. I baked it on a stone with parchment underneath and launched it with a peel. It was so much easier than using the heavy and hot dutch oven. The boule size is plenty big for a batard and check the dimensions of your stone or steel to make sure it will fit. I took one star off because I think it is overpriced for what it is, but I am very happy with the function so far.

Works great for baking my sourdough bread. I put the cast iron griddle I use for cooking tortillas on the stove to heat it up to about 450F, then put griddle in my oven I'm preheating to 450F. This speeds up the preheating on my electric oven so it's ready to bake in about 20 minutes instead of 50 - 60 minutes with a dutch oven. Place the dough on parchment, then put the parchment with dough on the griddle and cover it with the baking shell. The cook times for the loaf both coverered and uncovered to browning the crust are about the same as with the dutch oven. It works well for artisan loaves and you can also use it when baking with a bread pan to keep the steam in for a better top crust. I have not tried it with my pizza steel as that would not be easy to transfer the heavy flat steel to the oven at 400+ F. The cast iron griddle has handles and making it easy to move.

This item is very lightweight and easy to use. It does not require preheating. I thought it would be easier to manage than an heavy dutch oven, and while that is true I am still trying to fully decide if it bakes my sourdough as well as my Dutch oven. It’s a minimal difference I’m sure but to use this you do need a baking steel or pizza stone to put the bread on. I keep one in my oven so that’s not a problem for me. The baking shell can also serve as a lid over your grilled items so it is multi purposed.

I bought the batard and discovered my 840g batards were rising into the ceiling of the shell. In 2 pictures you can see the darker patches on top if my batards. You can also see how the top is flattened in the crumb shots of two of them. Now, could I have made a 650g batard and gotten away with it? Sure, but I don’t want to. I want to make my recipes. I bought the Boule shell and baked a horribly overproofed 840g dough. The thing was absolutely massive. As you can see in the pictures, the top did not rise into the ceiling of the shell and from the crumb photo there is no longer a flat spot. While they are both advertised as 5.5” tall, the Batard shell comes to a point in the middle and is overall shorter than 5.5”. The Boule shell is a gentle curve where more of its height is 5.5”. No need to buy the Batard shell or both shells, buy the Boule shell and be done with it. It works great and much easier than a heavy Challenger pan or dealing with an upside down hotel pan (shoutout Modernist Bread).

I am really really happy with this. Baked a loaf of caraway rye and it came out just right. Really expensive on my budget but I already had the Brod & Taylor Baking Steel, and together they contributed to a really well baked loaf with a mildly crunchy top and a golden bottom. Glad I purchased this. Big enough to bake both a large round loaf or two smaller oblong loaves.

I’m new to sourdough baking and after a ton of research I came across this shell after seeing it on TikTok and thought what a great and light alternative to a super heavy Dutch oven. I’ve baked a few times with a Dutch oven and was getting annoyed at how heavy it was, it was also not yielding me the desired results in terms of bread structure etc. I used this just once and I was blown away by how light it is and how easy it is to use!! Highly recommend.

I bought the boule and the batard. I would suggest the batard for making bread rolls ( and they are amazing) the boule for making full loaves of bread. Little tip spray both with water before placing over dough and grease the inner rim to avoid dough sticking. Other than that, perfect.

Worked as advertised.

Normalerweise gibt man das Brot in den vorgeheizten Ofen, gibt heißes Wasser in den Ofen, damit das Wasser am kalten Teig kondensiert und so verhindert, dass sich eine Haut bildet, die das Brot am Aufgehen hindert. Dann geht das Brot im Ofen besser auf, man nimmt dafür Ober/Unterhitze, damit die Übertragung nicht zu schnell ist. Oder man bäckt im Topf, macht diesen heiß und die kleine Backkammer sorgt dafür, dass das verdunstende Wasser ebenfalls im Topf bleibt und so dafür sorgt, dass die Verhautung später stattfindet. Führt ebenfalls zu grandios aufgegangenen Broten. Die Backschale nutzt beide Prinzipien auf geniale Weise, wie ich finde. Die Feuchtigkeit vom Brot wird genutzt und die Oberhitze wird abgeblockt, was ein schnelles Verhauten ebenfalls verhindert, die Unterhitze kommt ungehindert ran. Das Ergebnis spricht m.E., für sich. Die beiden Bilder zeigen das obere Brot mit Backschale gebacken, das untere mit kräftig Dampf ohne Dampf. Auf dem ersten Bild ist das Ergebnis. Die beiden Teiglinge sind genau gleich schwer.

I bought this alongside the baking steel works brilliantly for my sourdough no heavy lifting, light to hold great handle excellent quality, my bread turns out great