Cheap Lee Valley Beginner’s Bread-Making Set

Special buy. Limited stock.

Everything in this set has been specifically chosen with novice bread-makers in mind, intended to help avoid common pitfalls and make it easier to achieve outstanding results when baking homemade bread.

The dough whisk is based on a traditional Danish design that allows dough to pass through three stainless-steel loops. With far less surface area than a typical mixing spoon, it combines ingredients more evenly with less effort and helps avoid overworking the dough. The whisk measures 11 1/2″ long overall and has a sturdy plastic handle with a non-slip coating for a comfortable, cushioned grip.

Made of tough, food-safe plastic, the included scraper has flexible edges that hug the contours of a bowl. Its broad, convex edge works well with most bowls, while the smaller concave edge conforms to rounded surfaces such as rolling pins.

The proofing basket, or banneton, supports the dough during its second rise after the loaf has been shaped, preventing it from flattening as the gluten relaxes. This also allows the surface of the dough to dry slightly, forming a skin that not only yields a crispier crust but also lets you score the bread neatly before baking. The basket is about 12 1/2″ × 4 3/4″ × 2 3/4″ deep and comes with a cotton-blend liner, used with wet dough or when you want a smoother crust.

Named after the French word for blade, a dough lame is used to score the dough surface before baking, creating the distinctive slash marks often seen on artisanal bread. Not just decorative, this helps the loaf keep its shape as it expands in the oven, allowing it to release pressure by splitting open in chosen spots so it won’t swell and bubble unpredictably. Supplied with 10 stainless-steel blades, the 7 1/2″ lame has a blade holder at either end – one holds the blade straight to create long end-to-end slashes or other rectilinear designs, and the other flexes the blade into the curved shape used to make traditional sourdough “ear” patterns.

All components except the basket liner are dishwasher safe. Various colors, depending on supply.