Crofton Cast Iron Bread Oven
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EDITOR’S NOTE: We originally wrote this post as an open thread. In 2025, we bought the bread oven and gave it a full review, and we’ve updated this post.
Every once in a while, Aldi gets on a bread-baking kick. A few years ago, the grocer sold a bread maker in its middle aisle. Electric bread makers are a pretty standard kitchen appliance. You dump in the ingredients, turn it on, and it mixes and bakes a loaf without any additional work on your part.
Aldi has made big waves the past couple of years by also selling yet another way to make homemade bread: a cast iron bread oven or bread dome. This heavy piece of kitchen hardware looks like a dupe of a Le Creuset Bread Oven, which goes for $240 to $300 depending on what color you purchase. Let’s just say the Aldi knockoff is a lot cheaper.
You might be wondering how a cast iron bread oven works. Simply put, it’s used for making rustic loaves of bread. You place the bread dough inside the cast iron bread dome, which you then put inside your conventional oven, and the steam inside the bread oven helps to produce a nice tall loaf with a thin and shiny crust.
You can get a similar effect baking your loaf in a traditional cast iron Dutch oven, but the cast iron bread oven is specially designed for baking bread, with a shallow lower pan and a taller lid. That heavy lid helps to trap steam inside the bread dome, which produces a better loaf.
Now, let’s take a look at the Aldi bread oven.
The Crofton Cast Iron Bread Oven is an Aldi Find, which means it’s only in stores for a short time. Each store receives one shipment, and after that sells out, it’s gone unless Aldi decides to bring it back at some later point. Aldi does not offer online ordering for products not currently in stock at your local store.
This was most recently scheduled to be available in Aldi stores the week of September 17th, 2025.
This bread oven cost $26.99 in 2025. That’s up from $24.99 in 2024 and 2023. (Oddly, when we purchased the bread dome in our local Aldi store, the sign on the shelf claimed it was clearanced and that the original price was $39.99. We’ve never seen Aldi sell it for that much, so call us skeptical about the claim this was on sale.)
With that said, this is a lot less than the $300 you might pay for the name brand on Le Creuset’s website. Le Creuset bread ovens go for about $300 on Amazon as well, and while I did find some other brands that went for less, you’ll still pay more for other cast iron bread ovens.
The 2025 bread domes come in cream or navy, to match some French ovens Aldi is also selling at the same time.
Here are the specifications:
- Makes baking bread at home easy
- Interior diameter: 9″
- Exterior dimensions: 12.6″ long x 7″ high (with handle and lid)
- Features long-lasting porcelain enamel interior and exterior
- Oven safe up to 500 degrees (previous year’s models were oven safe up to 482 degrees)
- Bread recipe included
- Comes with a two-year warranty
- Suitable for all cooktops, including gas, electric, glass ceramic, and induction
- Hand wash only
- Includes manual with recipe
The warranty for this is serviced by Protel, a common Aldi warranty service provider. For service, call 1-855-754-8297 or email service-us@protel-service.com.
Care and Cleaning Instructions:
The manual recommends washing the bread oven in warm warm with mild liquid soap before using it. Don’t use steel wool or other abrasive pads or abrasive cleaners. It should be rinsed and dried immediately. Do not air dry it or store it wet.
None of the enameled surfaces on this need seasoning before use. The manual says that for best results, apply your choice of liquid vegetable oil or butter to the inside base before you begin heating the bread oven. However, the recipe in the manual says to put parchment paper on the bottom of the bread oven, which seems to negate any need for a nonstick coating like oil or butter.
Garlic and Herb Dutch Oven Bread Recipe:
(This recipe is printed on page 5 of the manual.)
Garlic and Herb Dutch Oven Bread
Ingredients —
- 3 cups Baker’s Corner All Purpose Flour, plus additional for dusting
- 1 packet Baker’s Corner Active Dry Yeast
- 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons ground Stonemill Sea Salt Grinder
- a pinch of ground Stonemill Peppercorn Grinder
- 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary (I used dried rosemary)
- 1 tablespoon chopped thyme (I used dried thyme)
- 1/2 teaspoon Stonemill Garlic Powder
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups hot water
Directions —
- Heat your conventional oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt, pepper, herbs, garlic powder, and fresh garlic. Stir to combine.
- Add water to the bowl and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, place the Crofton Cast Iron Bread Oven in the oven to heat.
- After an hour of rise time, place the dough on a floured surface and knead 12 times. Shape the dough into a ball. Set aside on a piece of parchment paper.
- Remove the bread dome from the oven and carefully place the parchment paper and dough into the oven. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the lid and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Testing the Bread Oven:
I decided to make the recipe included in the manual. It was quick and easy to mix up the dough. You can find all of the necessary ingredients at Aldi, so you don’t need to make another stop at a different grocery store.
You do need to allow some time to make this bread. The dough requires an hour to rise, and then it needs a total of 40 minutes in the oven.
One thing I wasn’t certain about was whether this bread oven would fit in my small wall oven. There was no need to worry, though, as the bread oven isn’t all that large, and it fit just fine. I did move the top rack down one level to make it fit better.
The Verdict:
The Crofton Cast Iron Bread Oven is a different way to bake rustic loaves of bread. It comes with a recipe for garlic herb Dutch oven bread, and it’s not difficult to make. So far, we like this bread oven and are looking forward to trying some other recipes in it. You also can’t beat the price.
I hope other people have had good luck with this one. Can’t wait to hear from them!
We have one from last year that we use every few days – it is amazing! I just purchased a few more – one for me and a few as gifts.
DCS, oven is not high enough for it to have a pan like this with the knob on the top of the lid… Does it come off?
I suspect the knob is probably fastened to the lid by a metal screw. That was the case with the original knob on my Lodge 6qt. Dutch oven. (That wasn’t oven-safe at temps over 400F, so I replaced it with a metal drawer knob — which took the same size screw – from my local hardware store.) So you could probably unscrew the knob, then cover the resulting hole in the lid with aluminum foil.
Correct. I just purchased one today and can confirm the knob is screwed on the lid. I bake sourdough loaves 2x week—usually in my All Clad Dutch oven. For $25, I’m anxious to try this one!
I just picked up one today would love to know if you would share your sourdough recipe thank you
Can you adjust the oven shelving, I am so sorry I can’t remember the proper names of the removable things that items sit on in the oven.
Oven rack
If one bakes a lot of bread, or would like to bake a lot of bread, certainly $24.99 is a far more reasonable price for experimenting with a bread oven than 10 times that much for the Le Creuset version would be! I already own 3 Dutch ovens in various sizes, though, plus a bread machine, so I’d have to do a major purge of my kitchen’s pots & pans storage to find room to store something like this. (If it could multi-task for things besides bread-baking, it might be worth considering, though, especially at that $24.99 price point.)
i would be willing to try this
When will they make this available?
To answer the availability question, my local stores will have them on September 20th. I really don’t know when other cities or states will have them.
When it shows up in stores depends on whether your store sets new specials out on Sundays or Wednesdays. So for some parts of the U.S., this arrives in stores today, Sunday, September 17. For other regions, this will arrive in stores on Wednesday, September 20th.
Here’s more information: https://www.aldireviewer.com/do-aldi-ads-take-effect-on-sunday-or-wednesday/
My flyer said this Wednesday
available now in Cincinnati.
Could multi-task tagine pot.
Good point!
Wondering the same thing
I’m trying to figure out the popularity of making bread that is round/oval. I like bread that fits in my toaster. I know this is cast iron, so why is the interior also enamel? Doesn’t that negate some of the positive aspects of baking in cast iron?
Hi Pat. These are for making rustic crusty breads. I use my Dutch oven, but will go get one of these as soon as I get off work. Google “No Knead Harvest Bread”. The recipe will fit perfectly in this baker.
Thanks Bisa. I just googled, and several recipes came up. Is there a specific one that you recommend?
I have made just a plain crusty no knead bread. Will try the harvest bread this weekend. I’m excited. Lol
I use two silicone loaf pans, one turned over on top so the flanges mate, and attached on the ends with office clamps. No sticking, and sandwich sliced bread as a result.
The recipe that comes with the Bread Oven, “Garlic Herb Bread” states to use hot water, flour, yeast, etc…..any baker knows that you cannot use HOT water with yeast.
Hopefully a beginner won’t blame the Bread oven for their recipe not turning out very well because the yeast was killed by hot water.
Thank you for saying this. I just got one of these ovens, and am researching what recipes I can use to make bread in this. I also want to make bread without yeast.
If you look on Pinterest you can find many no knead bread recipes that will work.
Good luck
Check KIng Arthur’s web site for some good rustic recipies. I can’t wait to try the dome.
was the garlic and herb the only recipe included? i purchased this yesterday and my box does not include the recipe booklet
Yes!
Bought this today ..I took out one of my oven racks and lowered the other a bit and it fits well..I’m going to try it out Saturday.. I’m looking forward to warm pumpernickel bread to go with my German schnitzel and kraut dinner!!
Good luck! Please let us know how it turns out!
I went to the local Aldi store when I got off yesterday. I was so disappointed…they were sold out! Hope your bread turns out good.
Purchased mine yesterday, I got the1st one, they were gone in under 5 minutes.
Can’t wait to try. I bake a lot of bread during
Soup season.
I just bought one yesterday. I’m excited to use it!
Any idea when it will be available in the UK. Could do with one of these for my sourdough baking.
I purchased the blue one yesterday (9/21) and baked a sourdough loaf this morn. I am so pleased with this Crofton Bread Oven that I’m trying to purchase a second one. The store where I purchased the first is now completely sold out. I’m trying another Aldi tomorrow that says in stock for the white only, which I will gladly take if it doesn’t sell out. I wish Aldi wasn’t the only seller.
I’m trying to find out if this fits six quart recipe. I found a no knead jalapeño cheese recipe I want to make and it calls for a six quart cast iron. do you happen to know the answer to this?
After seeing this, we went to Aldi and grabbed the last two of these they had. We bake sourdough fairly often, and usually use a regular Dutch oven. We tried this new one out this morning and it worked great. I wish I could post a photo. There was a slight discoloration of the pretty blue color from the oven heat, but not much, and we’re not really concerned about that because that happens. The bread came out perfect, although it did stick to the parchment a bit, which is unusual, so of course you would always want to use parchment. Otherwise this is a great buy and we’re very happy with it. Even if you don’t bake with it, I think they’re pretty enough to have out on a shelf somewhere you can see them. Thanks for the heads up on this!
I got to Aldi’s the first day of the sell knowing our store only had two so I got there when the store opened and was able to get one. I have baked bread and cast-iron before and it’s always turned out, but this was the best oven I’ve ever baked my artesian, cinnamon, raisin nut bread, in highly recommend . . I called a few of my family and friends around the state and out of state and they were all able to purchase one so I have a lot of happy, friends and family that will be baking. Delicious bread now. I tried to post the picture of my bread, but I was not able to because it is a nice looking like for Bread.. PS I followed the manufactures instructions on how long to preheat my oven because it was different than the original recipe and my bread turned out perfect.
I am in St. Louis. I cannot find this at three different stores I went to. When will it be available in St. Louis. My zip code is 63109. I would like to get one.
It was scheduled to arrive in St. Louis stores on September 20th. It was a highly anticipated product, though, so I’m not sure how long it lasted on store shelves.
Is it heavy? How much does it weigh.
I have one and used it twice ! I’m new to making bread so I’ll say that my first loaf was good but my second loaf was perfection ! Different recipe and the dough had to rise three times. I used a thermometer to check the water temp the second time, let the yeast sit in the water longer, used bread flour and fine Himalayan salt this time. I loved it and I’m so thankful to have found a bread oven. The manager at the Aldi I went to called around to other stores for me and found one white one. If you can get your hands on one I highly recommend it! Appreciate the help from the manager so much !
I would like to get one of these but I bake at 450 – 500′ and it says it can take up to 482′. Do you think going up to 500 will make much of a difference???
This is returning to Aldi the week of September 25th, 2024, while supplies last.
Will you tell me when it is returning to Aldi again? I have been looking for it since the first release and have not seen it again at any Aldi near me. Thanks!
I followed the garlic and herb recipe in the manual to a tee and I ended up with a soupy unworkable glob. I was able to rescue the bread by adding a lot more flour and it turned out great. Next time I will use 4 cups of flour instead of 3 and 1 cup of water instead of 1.5 cups of water. You can always add more water if needed.
Thanks for the info!
We shop Aldi twice a week. As soon as we saw this in the ad, we ran out. Apparently they had three domed bread pans and all were gone.
Bummer.
I bought one of these and I absolutely love it! I have made three loaves so far and every one of them turned out beautiful and delicious!! I own a Terre cotta one that I bought years ago at in a Goodwill store but this one makes much better loaves. Aldi is my favorite store. I have purchased many of their middle aisle offers and I have been more than pleased with every one of them!!!!
I got one of these last year and love it. Makes a terrific loaf of crusty bread – am honestly tempted to get a second one but don’t know if I could fit two in my oven and don’t really have the space to store a second one. Highly recommend if you are interested in baking bread and don’t have a Dutch oven or anything already.
Good to hear from someone who’s owned one for a while. I’m on the fence about getting one. Not sure I need the extra carbs if I were to start a bread-baking hobby.
My opinion…I’ve been baking bread for over 30 years. I found three solutions that I believe are as good if not better than this. My preferred solution is a 5 qt cast iron dutch oven with a skillet lid, this provides a closed environment that does the same thing as this dutch over but it has an additional benefit in that the lid can be used separately as a frying pan. The second solution is to use two regular steel loaf pans one upside down over the other, use office clips to hold them together – this enables the steam/closed environment. The third option is to use a pullman loaf pan. I like all of these more than this pot.
Aldi messed up the bread dome rollout this year. California, Arizona, and Nevada were all missing the shipment.
I noticed in my Aldi they showed up the week before they were supposed to, based on the Aldi site. It seems like everything got screwed up a few weeks ago.
Does this product really need to heat up in the oven for 1 hr before putting the dough into it ? TIA
That’s a great question. An hour does seem like a long time, but it’s also a heavy duty piece of cookware that might take a while to fully heat, so I just did the full hour. Maybe more experienced bakers could better weigh in on this question.
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