BREADMAKING
TOOLS
ELECTRONIC KITCHEN SCALE
In my opinion, this is really the only "must-have" sourdough making tool. It is really helpful to have a kitchen scale. The King Arthur site gives measurements in both cups and grams; but bread baking is somewhat of an exact science so an inexpensive kitchen scale with a “tare” feature that can measure in grams is really useful. This also allows you to measure out your feeds and dough without dirtying several implements.
DUTCH OVEN
Dutch ovens are super helpful in baking bread because they create the perfect high heat and humidity necessary for a great bake. If you don’t have one, you can bake your loaf on a pizza stone or a cast iron skillet. But I use my Dutch oven all the time for soups, casseroles, etc so it’s definitely a worthwhile piece of equipment if you are looking to make an investment
DOUGH SCRAPER
Dough scrapers are curved flat plastic or metal devices that allow you to get under your dough while mixing and shaping with minimal damage to the important gluten structure of the bread, You may, of course, use a spatula if you don’t have one of these, but I find it really helpful in making my dough. They are very inexpensive, so pick up a dough scraper if you can!
BANNETONS
These are the ringed bread baskets that bakers use to proof their dough. They are cool because they help you get that neat-o circular patterns on your loaves but they are not essential. If you don’t have these, you can proof your dough in a non-reactive (read: ceramic or plastic) bowl.
FLOUR SACK-STYLE KITCHEN TOWELS
I find it useful to line my bread baskets with these and coat them in flour. That way, when I put the dough in to proof, it doesn’t stick when I pop it out to bake it. I also wrap just-baked loves in these towels to keep them fresh.
PARCHMENT PAPER
I’ve found it helpful to turn my dough out on to parchment paper once proofed. I can score it easily and then plop my scored dough on the parchment paper into my Dutch oven for baking. Makes it easier to get the bread out after baking.
LAME
This is the special scoring razor holder that bakers use to make precision scores on their bread before baking. Scoring is important because as your bread rises in the oven you want to give specific spaces for your crust to break to accommodate the rise. Plus it is super pretty! You don’t need a lame to score your bread – you can use a straight razor or a very sharp paring knife. I do have this lame and I really like it because it allows me to do some pretty fun, detailed scoring. These are super sharp, though, so be careful!! If you’d like to see a few how-to’s on how to score your bread, this is a great video.