July 30, 2009 - 1:25am
plastic bannetons
Hello,
Recently, I purchased plastic bannetons for producing boules. I have tried to spray and then flour them and just flour them. Currently, I am using them to make Pain au levain, using Calvel's formula out of the Taste of Bread. Anyway this dough seems very sticky, I like the bread and don't want to change my method of a secondary fermentation time of three hours; However, I can't get the dough to fall out of the basket. It absorbs all the flour and won't fall out without destroying the shape, is there a trick to this? I really don't want cornmeal on the top of my bread so what to do?
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hamptonbaker,
If you are using a wheat-based flour (all purpose, bread, etc.), you might want to try flouring the brotforms with either rice flour or a 50/50 mix of rice flour and all purpose flour. Since the rice flour is gluten free, it tends to release more easily. And don't be afraid to be generous with the flour in the brotform; you can gently brush any excess flour from the loaf with a pastry brush after removing the loaf from the brotform.
Paul
Thank you for your suggestion about the generous dusting of rice flour. I have had the same sticky problem with the high hydroulized dough not releasing from the banneton and I have all but given up using mine. This may work.
Hampton Baker check this link: How To Instructions
I have tried this method with my plastic bannetons and it works like a charm.
Bix
Excellent link, Bix. Thanks so much for posting this very useful tutorial on using plastic bannetons. I bookmarked it in my "baking reference" folder.
--Pamela
Thank you all for the suggestions, I will try them all. The baskets are 12.00 each and I have 8 of them purchased off of the San Francisco baking Institute's- baking supplies link, which is TMB baking. Anyway, they are bright plastic orange containers and without a liner they should leave a nice pattern provided they fall out of the basket.
Marcy, Hampton, CT
I have gotten great ideas from you and others so I will from time to time try to add my 2 cents when I think it will help. The Fresh Loaf has elevated my baking skills and results since joining the forum. There are some very accomplished bakers using the forum. I hope I can get reasonably close to some of their results.
Since retiring I have returned to another hobby that was mostly on the back burner: gardening. My gardening this year had mixed results. I learned some things to use next year when I hope to have exceptional results. There is a certain product that is especially nice regarding gardening. This is a bit off topic so if anyone is interested in gardening info let me know.
Bix
There is a lot of us--I would guess, the majority (but I'm not certain)--that aren't so one-dimensional that bread baking is the only interest we chase. There's been other threads about gardening enjoyed by a host of members and guests. There's a forum category "Off Topic" that invites...well, off topic threads.
However, don't be offended if no one replies to "Tasmanian persimmon jam".
David G
I see that no one has mentioned the one thing I found that is so simple but works to help the dough release. I use a 1-1/2 inch brush to apply the rice flour/AP mix in the basket, THEN I load the brush with the flour mix and dust the top of the dough from end to end. Just that little extra dusting assures the dough won't stick.
Then I roll the dough over and grab the dough by the seam sided bottom and plop it in the form. Works every time.
Eric
I don't have access to rice flour, but I have found that maize meal -- I can get polenta easily -- works very well. Of course, I happen to like the extra taste of corn meal on the crust.
The how to instructions from bixmeister worked like a charm, even when retarding shaped loaves overnight in the refrigerator, although I do help them along with a some extra flour while bringing them to room temperature. Thanks again.