Maison Fare encourages beginning with simplicity. You’ve already invested in our product; now, use what you have at hand to get started and bake your first bread. We promise that once you take the first warm, golden loaf out of the oven, you will be hooked. And as your passion grows, you can gradually enhance your baking toolkit with our suggestions below.
Some tools on this list link to products our team has personally vetted & recommends. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. This commission does not influence our recommendations.
Without this minimal list of items that you likely already have in your kitchen, our products won’t rise to the occasion.
This could be your wall thermostat (ex: Nest) or one that sits on the table, as close to the dough as possible, to ensure the daytime temperature is within our required window of 68°-85°F. This tool also helps bakers plan and predict their rise times.
To accurately weigh out our flour mixes, water, and culture we recommend a scale that has a precision of .01 gram up to at least 500 grams, but if you already have a basic kitchen scale, use it to start.
Required for using our starter culture, unless you have a precision scale with .1 gram accuracy
3 quarts/liters or more, ideally made of polypropylene or stainless steel to minimize dough sticking to the container
Silicone spatulas are great, but even a spoon or fork could be used in an absolute pinch
If you don't have one, your neighbor or family member likely does. Borrow one and get your own later on.
There are many great options so we are not recommending specific ones for purchase. Look for 6.5qt or higher capacity in the shape you want to bake in (round or oval).
If investing for baking only, consider a cloche (see premium section). Less chance to burn your hands getting the loaf in/out.
Should be in the same shape as your dutch oven (round or oval). If your dutch oven is round, you could also use your mixing bowl.
Helps insert/remove the dough into/from the dutch oven
Lid not required. Minimum size is 9x5, but longer is even better. We recommend steel or stoneware over aluminum.
Only required if loaf pan doesn't have a lid
* Required for Dutch Oven / Artisan Loaf
** Required for Pan Loaf
These tools streamline the process and can significantly enhance your baking experience
Often referred to as “the baker’s other hand”. Look for something made of plastic, not silicone, that's sturdy but slightly flexible that’s dishwasher friendly. We like the ones sold by King Arthur and Breadtopia.
Bakers have kneaded dough by hand for centuries, and we encourage starting out this way, but a mixer certainly makes this step easier. If just starting out, a simple stand mixer will do fine. We recommend Bosch’s Universal Mixer. KitchenAid mixers tend to overheat when kneading dough for 15-20 minutes, as we recommend (and their instructions say to stop after 5 minutes, which is not ideal for bread dough)
Even small changes in temperature can affect the timing significantly. Having a thermometer right next to where you’re working is ideal, to know the ambient temperature and get a more precise timing prediction. We recommend the Govee H5075 thermometer which allows you to download temperature history over bluetooth to your phone.
If you're using a dutch oven, a loaf sling makes it easy to insert the dough and take it out without burning your hands. No more baker's tattoos!
This tool can help you dial in the water temperature for dough, and check whether your bread is done baking in the oven.
Pronounced lahm, French for “blade”. Bakers use this tool, usually a handle that holds a razor, to “score”/slash the loaf so that it rises well, and some even add fanciful decorations to their loaves. You can use a knife to accomplish this when just starting out.
Indulge in these sophisticated upgrades for a truly elevated baking journey—perfect for those deeply passionate about their craft.
Leaving a thermometer in the dough itself will better help assess how long it will take to rise. To our knowledge, there aren’t thermometers made specifically for dough but you could use products like Meater or Chef IQ or Hanna Halo which measures pH (acidity, sourness) and temperature.
This solves a major pain point for home bakers by making the rising time of the dough rising extremely predictable. Some people make their own by combining an insulated box/cooler and a product like the Raisenne or a seed heating mat. For the ultimate upgrade, Brod & Taylor sells a popular “Folding Proofer”.
This is what professional bakeries use around the world to knead larger batches of dough at various levels of hydration and inclusions efficiently.
Caution: these are NOT cheap and not really necessary unless you're making a lot of dough at once. For 1-2 loaves our stand mixer pick will work just fine.
A clay or stone cloche or a Challenger pan makes it easier to get your dough in and out. Nothing ruins a bake like dropping the loaf or burning your hand while trying to lower your dough into your dutch oven!
This is a personal choice so we don't have any specific recommendations but generally, go for a heavy material like cast iron or stoneware.
If you have a steam oven, you can bake without a vessel at all. Those without a steam oven can try to emulate this by putting their loaf in a large cast iron pan or on top of a baking steel with moistened towels in the bottom rack of their oven. Make sure you check your oven manual to see if this is acceptable. Not recommended for electric ovens.
