My Highly Curated Baking Tools

This list of my favorite bread making tools results from countless tests to find the best tools to help you make sourdough bread at home. If you’re new to baking, start with the tools listed below in Sourdough Starter Creation & Management and The Beginning Baker. Once you become more serious about baking, head down to the Increase Baking Consistency section to build your toolset.

If you’re looking for more tools, check out my Amazon storefront, where I have all my favorite tools (and baking books!) on one page.

TPL Members receive additional discounts with select baking hardware partners. Join the TPL community →

Your Sourdough Starter

These are the best tools to help create and maintain your sourdough starter.

weck jars

My starter lives in these wonderful glass jars. See why I love them.

baker's scale

A good scale is essential in baking. See why I love this scale.

silicone spatula

The best spatula for mixing your starter: easy to clean and durable.

whole rye flour

Whole grain rye flour is key to making an active sourdough starter.

sourdough home

Keep your starter strong and healthy at the perfect temperature. See my guide, here.

The Beginning Baker

A list of a few tools to help you get started baking sourdough bread at home.

lodge combo cooker

Cast iron and built to last. This pot traps steam to encourage optimal dough rise.

bench knife

A must-have. Used to cut, lift & move your dough. I have both the 6″ and 8″ versions.

bowl scraper

These scrapers easily remove sticky dough from containers, the bench, and off your fingers.

ambient thermometer

Temperature is incredibly important in baking.

rice flour

Dust your proofing baskets with this to help your dough remove cleanly.

bread lame

Score your dough just before baking to encourage maximum rise.

wide mixing bowl

A wide bowl makes hand mixing dough much more manageable.

bulk fermentation container

Clear sides let you see fermentation first-hand.

digital thermometer

Monitoring dough temperature is critical in baking.

Increase Your Baking Consistency

Use these baking tools to help you increase your baking consistency in your home kitchen.

dough proofer

Keeps my starter, levain, and dough at the perfect temperature. (See my guide.)

10" banneton (boule)

Holds proofing (rising) dough to make round loaves.

oval banneton

For making oval loaves. A smaller basket will let your dough fit in the Lodge Combo cooker.

Challenger bread pan

A well-designed cast iron pan for baking batards (oval) and larger loaves.

flour scoop

I keep these in my flour canisters, they make transferring and measuring super easy.

bread knife

The best, and most cost-effective, bread knife I have yet to use. For more knives, see my bread knife guide.

basket towels

Cut these to fit your proofing baskets for easy dough removal.

reusable bowl covers

Reusable bowl covers to prevent a skin from forming on dough.

bread box

Keep your bread fresh for up to a week in this well-made box.

large bulk tub

The perfect rectangular tub (14″x15″x5″) for 4kg+ batches of dough. It even fits in the B&T Proofer.

baking steel

Very efficient at transfering heat. Great for bread, even better for pizza.

flour sifter

Some recipes here call for “high extraction flour,” this helps sift out some bran/germ to get there.

Flour

The list below are my most-used flours here at home, but look local first! There are many great farmers and millers scattered all over with incredible flour options.

cairnspring mills trailblazer type-85

A flavorful and strong flour perfect for bread-making

The Perfect Loaf heritage flour

A custom flour blend I created for any sourdough recipe (here’s mine)!

central milling artisan baker's craft plus

CM has some incredible flour; this is a workhorse flour for any bread

Pans & Storage

These tools will help you bake pan loaves and are a collection of excellent storage options for flour and grain.

usa pan pullman 9x4"

I use these for rye bread, banana bread, and other sandwich loaves.

cambro storage 18-qt.

Great for storing large quantities of grain or flour.

oxo storage 4-qt.

I use these to store all my flour (they hold 5 pounds). They are airtight, light, and solid—just the best.

Grain Mills

Below is a list of my favorite grain mills used to mill fresh flour in my home kitchen regularly. They are all built extremely well and are capable of producing excellent flour.