The Fresh Loaf

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Mould growing on proving boards / other material recommendations for retarding

boiledandbaked's picture
boiledandbaked

Mould growing on proving boards / other material recommendations for retarding

Hi,

We have used birch ply boards for cold proving bagels on for the past couple of years. However as we've gotten busier and the boards have been used daily, they've developed mold growing on them.

We clean this off with vinegar and water solution regularly and the bagels do not physically touch the wood (they sit on parhcment on top of the trays) but I wonder if there is any treatment to the wood that would stop this or if anyone has any recommendations for other materials that we can cut to a custom size (to fit our own proving fridges).

I've thought about getting custom acrylic plastic sheets cut but will cost about £300 / $500 and I'd rather keep the costs as low as poss!

thanks for any tips so we can get rid of these mouldy proving boards!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I would think baking the bagels 4 min. on the boards would keep down mold.  Parchment?  How about burlap?

https://gardencookeatrepeat.com/blog/make-bagel-boards/

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/14375/bagel-blisters

boiledandbaked's picture
boiledandbaked

sorry should have been more clear

these boards are not being used to bake on, they are used for the bagels to sit on after shaping in the fridge overnight. we bake in a rofco and bake on silicon sheets on upturned baking trays to keepo the bagels off the stone a little bit to reduce scorching.

the boards sit out on a shelf during the day and then shaped, unbaked bagels are placed on parchment on the boards, then slid into the fridge.

obviously this is a really moist, sealed environment so I'd imagine is prime for mould to grow... 

texas_loafer's picture
texas_loafer

put the boards in the oven while it cools down. That will dry them and kill and mold spores.45 minutes at greater than 200 F should do the trick. I do this with my bannetons after every bake. Works for me.

boiledandbaked's picture
boiledandbaked

This is genius in its simplicity! I will do this from now on! Will report back on if it's under control in a couple of weeks.