The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Anyone have experience with wood baking frames?

Yumarama's picture
Yumarama

Anyone have experience with wood baking frames?

I ran across this blog post yesterday and it got me interested. The blogger, theinversecook, used a wooden baking frame to make his very straight sided heavy rye bread. Since I can't seem to locate a Pullman pan anywhere nearby (online they cost an arm & a leg to ship up from the states) I thought maybe this would make a decent substitute.

Bonus points for having the ability to make it any size I may darn well want.

Anyone here used one before? Any tips to it's use? Should it get lined with parchment? What sort of wood would be best to use? Since it's a rather small item, even fancier hardwood planks would be possible, while plain pine would be good too, if it doesn't give off piney flavours.

(Edited broken link to flickr pics. just hop over to the blog to see the cool baking frame)

flournwater's picture
flournwater

Never tried it but, if I were to make something like that, I'd choose either ash or maple and make certain it was kiln dried.  Yes, I would use parchment paper to line it for baking.  I'd want to be careful to select wood that has not been chemically treated (even wood that isn't intended for outdoor use may have been chemically treated in milling/storage) to be safe.

DerekL's picture
DerekL

I'd also keep in mind that prolonged/repeated exposure to baking temperatures will reduce the woods ignition point - possible as far down as the 200-300 degree range.

firstfloorfront's picture
firstfloorfront

Are these frames actually being put in the oven or just used to prove the loaf and then being removed when the bread is on the stone?

Peter

Zeb's picture
Zeb

Hi all,

 

this is Nils (the inversecook) own  home made frame, and he has posted on his blog about the various breads he has made in it.  As an aside,  there seems to be a general problem with putting links to his blog, anyone have any idea why that would be.... ??  I tried in another post to link to his recipes for ryes and vollkorn breads....  Your link above doesn't take you there either, so it's not just me...

 

Wooden frames are used in Germany still to bake bread in, I have seen them on a German home bakers supplies website and there is a mention of one being used by an Irish baker in The Handmade Loaf by DL to make soda breads.

Zeb

Yumarama's picture
Yumarama

Thanks for pointing that glitch out Zeb. And in case it goes wonky again, here's the full URL to the post where he shows the frame. 

http://theinversecook.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/truly-rectangular-bread-with-a-linseed-rocket-soaker/

He's got some really nice breads on his blog (if you like substantial ryes and such).

FirstFloorFront: Yes, it seems the bread is both risen and baked in the frame which is why you see the sides of the bread are not crusted. Only the top and bottom have a crust. 

There are likely to be some considerations made to baking times & temps so the middle of the bread, otherwise well insulated from the heat, bake properly without the exposed parts overbaking. Lower temp with longer times, perhaps? I presume the dough & frame would simply go on a baking pan.

I tried googling "wood baking frame" and I got endless hits for pretty wooden picture frames or bed frames. "wood bread form" was not helpful either although some nice wood fired ovens showed up. I presume there's a Proper Name for this item - though likely not in English - but I don't know what that might be. 

 

Zeb's picture
Zeb

There are likely to be some considerations made to baking times & temps so the middle of the bread, otherwise well insulated from the heat, bake properly without the exposed parts overbaking. Lower temp with longer times, perhaps? I presume the dough & frame would simply go on a baking pan.

 

Nils has perfect english, so you could always post on his blog and ask him?  Or invite him over here to tell you about it maybe?   

chouette22's picture
chouette22

... and here are two links to bread baked this way:

http://kochundbackoase.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/backen-im-holzbackrahmen/

http://chaosqueenskitchen.twoday.net/stories/6217037/

You could use Google translator to read them.

Good luck!

 

Sedlmaierin's picture
Sedlmaierin

Wow- cool thread. I  might have to try my hands at making one,too. I checked out the Koch und Backoase post and those frames were beautiful-so was the bread!  She said she oiled and backed (200celcius)her frames multiple times to season them. It seems like that would be something to repeat every now and again-yes,no?

Fascinating subject.

Christina

Yumarama's picture
Yumarama

Cool, now we have a name for the item. Which seems to break down as 

Holz = wood, back = bake/baking, rahmen = frame

Hopping through a few links (after translating: http://translate.google.com) I see this http://ostwestwind.twoday.net/stories/6165911/ which describes their frame as maple (low tannin) with dovetail joints to avoid separating and warping.

Baking seems to happen at 200ºC (392ºF) and the frame is generously oiled first. No parchment liner mentioned.

The dovetailing looks like a nice touch and avoids having a gap. Hmmm... May need to head off to Home Depot shortly.

carluke's picture
carluke

My husband is a woodworker, so from a woodworking point of view - maple is a good sold wood which resists heat well. Dovetail joints have the advantage of eliminating the necessity of both metal screws/fasteners and minimal glue - neither one of which would be oven appropriate.
Anyone in southwestern Ontario (we are in Ancaster) who might be interested in building one of these frames could contact us. More exact size specifications would also be helpful.

Yumarama's picture
Yumarama

from the local Orange Box and will give it a go. Got a fairly nice chunk of maple. I'll practice my dovetail technique on scrap pine first and see if I can't make me a nice frame (or two) for some tasty ryes. 

But I may well contact you if I run into questions.

Although one side of my brain wants to point out that the bread doesn't need a squared up form, wood or otherwise, the other side thinks this sounds like a fun side project. The second side is winning. And forcing me to watch YouTube vids of dovetailing techniques.

Now if I could just find a source of rye berries around here... 

Yumarama's picture
Yumarama

from a retailer of the wood frames:

http://www.hobbybaecker.de/index.php/katalog/artikelinfo/1818-1-holzbackrahmen_36_x_33_cmhoehe_105_cm_aus_ahornholz.html

Still needs translating but they get into details on what the frames are and need. 

flournwater's picture
flournwater

Thanks for the links.  Helped me to confirm the use of Maple in the construction of those boxes.

Oldcampcook's picture
Oldcampcook

The site said that the medium frame was 30 X 15 cm and the small was 22 X 11, both being 10 cm high.

Only question I have is how do you get the forms and dough onto the stone?  The one site said the baker baked all breads on a Pampered Chef stone.

 

Bob

hanseata's picture
hanseata

I always wanted to be able to bake such pretty breads, but never knew how you could achieve that without baking large batches in a commercial oven. My husband is (hopefully) going to make me a such wooden baking frame. The breads bake a bit longer than free standing breads, will be soft inside and have a strong top and bottom crust.

Karin