September 15, 2008 - 6:58am
Brotforms
I recently purchased a couple brotforms and not sure if I'm using them properly. When placing the dough in the form I've been putting the seam side up, is that correct?
Share
I recently purchased a couple brotforms and not sure if I'm using them properly. When placing the dough in the form I've been putting the seam side up, is that correct?
Hey GalleyWench,
You've got it right. The idea is to put the dough in upside down so that when you invert the brotform onto, say, your peel or a sheet pan, the dough is now rightside up, so you can score and bake. Be gentle in inverting and your loaves will hold their shape.
Soundman (David)
Thanks . . . do you line the baskets? The loaves that I made did not show much in the way of 'design', was it because of the lining? Have been trying to post a picture but can't seem to get it to work.
Galley Wench
http://www.wingandsail.blogspot.com/
Galley Wench,
My brotforms don't have any linen attached. My bannetons, wicker baskets, do. When using brotform baskets, I like to use the form itself to get nice markings on the baked bread, as you suggest. In that case you don't want to line the brotform.
One tried and true technique used to keep the dough from sticking is to powder the inside of the brotform with, say, semolina, a coarse flour which doesn't get absorbed into the dough, and thus forms a barrier between the dough and the form.
Thanks to a suggestion by TFL contributor dmsnyder, I have begun using a flour shaker for this purpose. You can put a light film of cooking spray on the inside of the brotform and then sprinkle the brotform with semolina, which will adhere to the oil. You can also, for looks, sprinkle a light film of AP flour on the loaf itself before inverting. (I do this with the same flour shaker: semolina in, sprinkled, out, flour in, sprinkled, out.) The resulting look is rustic and very pretty.
Soundman (David)
Ms. Wench, just sift AP flour mixed with a little rice flour all over the inside of your brotform. The dough will pop out like magic. Here's that picture worth 1,000 words: You can see the flour left in the brotform after the loaf is turned out onto a parchment-covered peel. I also use the two little yellow colanders lined with well-used linen for small boules. Make sure the linen is dry before you pack it into a plastic bag for storage.
Brotform and Colanders
Susan from San Diego
Finally figured out how to get a photo in here!
Thanks everyone for your input!
Galley Wench
http://www.wingandsail.blogspot.com/
Galley Wench, those are awesome looking loaves! (Congrats on figuring out the roundabout picture routine.)
Soundman (David)
Thanks . . . I've uploated pictures in the past to the image file . . but couldn't get it to work this time! Is there a problem there, or is it a 'short between the headset'?
Galley Wench
http://www.wingandsail.blogspot.com/
When I first tried to upload pictures, I did it over and over again, and nada nothin' nichts rien... Then I bothered to read the FAQ. Funny how doing that in the opposite order would have saved a LOT of aggravation. My problem was the size of my pix. I had to make 'em smaller (resolution-wise).
But the text on the FAQ is still helpful, bearing in mind that it presumes you are already in a post you are creating:
If the images are on your hard drive and you don't have a place to host them...
Click on the little camera icon. Then click on "upload" and "browse", which allows to you select a picture from your hard drive. Add a title and then click "preview", then "submit", which stores the photo on Fresh Loaf's server. This gives you yet another box, in which you may want to change the photo's alignment, then click "insert", at which point your photo will finally be included in your message body. This is the place at which the system tells you that the photo size may be 640 by 640 at most.
Thanks for the info . . . looks like I was doing it right, however my pictures were more than twice the maximium size! No wonder the system just set there when I tried upload from my hard drive. Finally uploaded from Photobucket!
Thanks again,
Galley Wench
http://www.wingandsail.blogspot.com/
You ran into the same technological snafu I did. Live and learn. ;-)
Soundman (David)
I got a freebie program called PicSizer which does a nice and simple job of sizing down my pix. (I do have a Flickr account, but I haven't gotten around to uploading to it. I guess it's time to tackle that one.)
Good luck in Mexico!
Soundman (David)
There has been a problem recently with using TFL servers to upload pictures. The problem is not in your headset so to speak. The Photobucket option is the only way I have been able to post reliably for the last Month or so.
One thing you should do either way is when you save the image to your drive, do so as a 72 dpi image in a 4"X6" format. The image your camera records is 25 inches wide or more on most cases and the resulting file size is quite large. You can also search for a free image re sizer to do that job. Hope this helps.
Eric
Thanks Eric . . . I reset my camera to take smaller pictures.
Galley Wench
http://www.wingandsail.blogspot.com/
If you use jpg format for your photos, when uploading them, you shouldn't have a problem. The Gallery's software interface should automatically size the jpg files to the proper size for the Gallery, without you having to size them.
I have never had a problem when I used jpg format. Don't know about how that works if you're uploading directly from your camera.
For the application software I use Microsoft's Digital Image Pro (Picture It) and a sony digital camera with a memory stick and transfer them from the memory stick into Picture It, formatting them into jpg files and save them in Windows MY PICTURES (in jpg format) and then upload them to the gallery.
Regardless of the software application (Picture It, Photoshop, etc.) you should be able to format and save them in jpg format and upload them without a problem.
You may be able to put them into jpg format with a setting on your camera.
Howard - St. Augustine, FL
Be sure you thorougly rub the entire brotform, filling the spaces on the sides, with a mixture of 50% rice flour and 50% AP. Use plenty of the flour mixture to prevent sticking during final proof, espcially if you are using unlined brotforms or bannetons.
Bauernbrot (Farmer's Bread) - Gini Youngkrantz: This German Farmer's Bread (Bauernbrot) was made from a recipe in Gini Youngkrantz's Authentic German Home Style Recipes
The recipe calls for "free form" loaves but I used German unlined willow brotforms for the final proofing and placed them on a parchment lined peal, which I then slid onto the baking stone (parchement and loaf).
Howard - St. Augustine, FL