The Fresh Loaf

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Linen versus flour cloth

bread1965's picture
bread1965

Linen versus flour cloth

Hi Everyone..

I often use linen while I'm proofing my bread if no basket is required.. but i find it stiff, big and cumbersome even after maybe 30 uses.. i often use one part of it.. Part of me thinks I should have washed it when i first bought it (I know it's too late to do that now with all the flour and bits of dough ingrained in it.. but I'm now wondering if I should instead use some flour cloth. It's not as bulky, soft and I think would do just as good a job.  I have about 12 that I bought for drying wine glasses (or any glass for that matter - you'll never see another streak again!), they're pretty inexpensive... I have some I haven't used from that pack.. I think this is the cloth people put inside their baskets when using a cloth in a basket.. anyone try using flour cloth on a counter when bench resting batards, boules, etc?

 

Thanks - bread1965!

joc1954's picture
joc1954

for final proofing. I have one line like yours which I just got some time ago and was used only once for proofing ciabattas.  I bought some flax fabric to make linen by myself. I had bad experience with cotton cloth because the dough can easily stick on it although you have dusted it with a generous amount of flour. With linen I have never that problem. I use them together with banneton and I still get that typical pattern on the surface of the loaf.

I also wash them from time to time only in warm water.

Below are two pictures what and how I am using linen.

Happy baking bread1965!

Joze

 

bread1965's picture
bread1965

... your pictures are making me hungry! :) But my linen looks nothing like yours. Yours seems more light weight and softer. Mine is much stiffer (and larger - I'd say about 2x3 feet.. and as you can see i often use the same spot.. hmm.. i read never to wash it. But maybe I should and that might soften it up.. not sure.. you're picture really make me want to go make some bread right now! Thanks..

joc1954's picture
joc1954

Sorry for not being clear enough with my answer. I have also exactly the same linen which is stiffer. I am using that for proofing ciabattas or for baguettes (they will come eventually to my bake list). I know that manual says that I should never wash it and I haven't done so far nor is that planned.

I made my linen from a flax fabric - just cutting the fabric in appropriate size pieces that fit different sizes of my bannetons.  I got this idea from first SD bakery in Ljubljana. The owner is also the main baker and he told me that this is the only option that you can recover your dough if it sticks to the cloth. He is using bannetons like me and also linen as you see in my picture. When I tip the dough to DO the linen stays on top of dough and you can easily remove it without any damage to the surface of the loaf.

With such solution my dusting is always minimal, just enough to prevent any possible sticking. However, I still get that typical banneton pattern on my loaves, maybe not so pronounced as I would use only banneton. 

Since I found this solution I never used banneton directly. It happened so many times that the dough didn't come out as it was supposed, especially with wetter dough and after long retard of such dough in fridge.

I wash my flax cloths only with warm water not to get any kind of smell which would be later on transferred to loaf. I wash them when I see that they become stiff due to the starch that comes from high hydrated dough retarded for 16-24 hours in fridge. Usually it takes at least month that I need to wash them and I am baking practically every day.

I would suggest you to find a store where you can buy some flax fabric which is not artificially colored and first wash it and then cut in appropriate size pieces. It is also very cheap, much cheaper than ordering linen on Amazon :-).

Happy baking bread1965!

Joze 

bread1965's picture
bread1965

Thank you Joze - I'm impressed that it doesn't stick with only minimal flour. I'll try this as I feel sometimes my loves come out and have too with more flour on their tops as I'm trying hard not to have the dough stick.. I like your solution better.. many thanks.. bake happy  - bread1965!

MichaelLily's picture
MichaelLily

I've had better luck with the basket lining linen.  I also have couches that I've used a lot and never washed.  The oldest 2 are as you described.  The newer 4 I maintained a little differently; I scraped off the flour and folded them in half and let them dry like that.  They work pretty well and haven't developed creases.