In what do you mix and how do you rise your doughs?
I'm curious how others rise/proof/ferment their doughs and what you make them in- I'm always looking for new ideas.
I make all my doughs in a ceramic mixing bowl, or if it's a double batch a large ceramic pasta bowl. I recently picked up a bowl that will allow me to make enough dough for 4 loaves, when I'll do that I'll never know, but it was nice.:) I've found ceramic bowls retain and distribute the heat better that metal bowls, at least in my novice opinion, and they look pretty when I'm using them. :D
I used to rise my sponge and dough on the back buner on my stove, it's where my oven vents. I would turn on the oven to 250F and leave it while it proofed. I found thought, that the sponge would start bubbling only in the middle, right over the vent and not really do much on the sides.
I tried using a microwave after using it to boil water for 3 minutes, but I don't like not being able to see what the sponge/dough is doing.
I've settled on using a heating pad set on low that I've put inside an open large freezer bag (so it doesn't get dirty). I cover the top of the bowl in plastic wrap and place it on the pad, it rises and proofs beautifully. It's also convenient in that it allows me to proof the dough pretty much anywhere there's an outlet for those times when I need to use my stove for something else.