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

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.

For most of my sourdough journey, I’ve used my Dutch oven, but unfortunately, that is a circle sheep and I haven’t been able to make batards in. Seeing as I have a baking Steel, I figured the Brod & Taylor lid would let me bake oval shaped loaves. I was not disappointed. I think I made arguably my best looking loaf of bread using this lid (see video). Can’t wait to use it again soon

This is a useful, well-designed, lightweight addition to my bread baking equipment. Definitely functions as expected and makes baking bread with a nice crust easy. Love that it is so lightweight and doesn't need preheating. Taking one star off for the price which fits seem too high for an aluminum product.

I bought the betard shape and liked it so much, I got the boule shape later as well so I can bake two loaves at a time. Really well constructed. Very light. Immediate heat transference. No need to preheat for an hour. Just heat with oven as it pre- heats. So much easier than lugging around heavy 500 degree Dutch ovens. Huge oven spring with these and some steam from an ice cube. The only difference I’ve noticed is maybe a less gnarly, robust crust than I get with the Dutch oven, but I prefer that myself. Highly recommend. Worth the money.

It’s light enough to bake with ease and removes the heavy DO lifting, but it truly is not wide enough. I’ve not yet had a batard loaf (cold proof in the B&T batard banneton) not stick to the sides. When I use my heavy cast iron Dutch oven, zero problems with touching the sides. But this is not wide enough, so I end up pulling out my loaf from the baking steel and it is always stuck to the sides of the cover. I then have to use a knife to cut the long edges free before I can put my loaf on the cooling rack. This has happened every single time for me. I’m quite disappointed, if I’m being honest. I was looking forward to being able to forego my heavy cast iron to bake in this with my B&T baking steel. It just needs to have some kinks worked out and made a couple of inches wider to accommodate batard loaves better. Great concept, just not a super great experience for me.

For the past year or so, I've been regularly (at least once a week) making sourdough bread. When I was using a Dutch oven, my loaves came out great, but the Dutch oven is cast iron and heavy and I can only bake one loaf at a time, when most of the recipes I make are for 2 loaves. So then, I graduated to a baking stone and a steam system. I had hit or miss results with that method, unfortunately. Getting the right amount of water in the tray and keeping the steam from escaping worked sometimes, but I could not often get it just right. Then I saw this baking shell. I have several Brod & Taylor baking and sourdough tools and they are quality. I measured and 2 of these baking shells easily fit side by side on my baking stone. Problem solved. Every loaf I have made since getting 2 of these baking shells has been perfect, or pretty near it. I get a lot of oven spring and the interior crumb is just right. I only wish I would have tried them sooner.

I bought the whole set-backing shell, bread steel max and bread peel. First time using it, I was AMAZED when I took the bread shell off after 30 minutes. Super duper rise and the best ever ear on my sourdough bread. After another 15 minutes with the shell off it was beautifully browned. I have been baking sourdough bread weekly for one year. I use the same recipe with 450gr bread flour and 50gr white spelt flour. The only thing is the price. Certainly the baking shell is way over priced at $85. Also the Brod and Taylor Co. is a family-owned business in North Adams, MA USA. The products I bought say, MADE IN CHINA. For the price I paid, made in the USA would have been much preferred by me.

My sourdough bread gets better oven spring without having to utilize a heavy dutch oven. I am happy with my purchase.

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.

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

It's better than a dutch oven,it's safer because of the weight difference much lighter,works great with the brod & Taylor steel aswell