using a maple wood kneading board: what am I doing wrong?
Hello,
I've been baking sourdough bread for a few years, I'm used to do the shaping on my Corian countertop and I was able to get a decent amount tension on the dough, enough to give me a nice oven spring.
For the longest time I had been pondering whether or not to get a maple wood kneading board to use instead of the Corian countertop. So, last month I paid $ 100 and change for one.
It looks very nice, is quite heavy and fits perfectly on my kitchen countertop but I'm having a hard time getting good results and after doing some research on the net I decided this is the place where there are a lot of experienced bakers who could give me some guidance.
1) I bought a bottle of walnut oil but I haven't applied it to the board yet. Is that a good type of oil to use?
2) after shaping the dough, when I try to roll it on the part of the board where there is no flour to get tension on the skin it sticks to the board a lot. The wood feels kind of rough, not smooth.
3) Could this be happening because I have not treated it with the oil? Or does it need to be sanded down?
4) How many coats of oil do I need to apply?
I'm at the end of my rope on this, I want to keep it but not if it gives me more trouble than doing it on my counter.
I'd sincerely appreciate any advice you could provide.
if any, do you use on the wood? I used this (works for me):
Just dull the edges slightly to prevent gouging the wood.
That’s exactly the one I use Dave.
Some surfaces work better for handling dough and I don't really know why. I used to work on a typical composite countertop and that was not bad. Then I got a marble slab and liked it pretty well. Now I work on a stainless steel table I got on sale at a restaurant supply company, and I like it best of all. It grips the dough just right when I go to tension it, and releases the dough when I ask it to.
Walnut oil is probably the best choice for conditioning a wooden cutting board. I use the more common beeswax-mineral oil combination but I keep reading that walnut oil is better. You should apply some and let it age before drawing any conclusions. Also you will need to re-apply it from time to time as it sinks in away from the surface. I don't know if the oil will flavor the dough, but I'm guessing not as long as you let it cure for a time.
If after oiling you still think the board is too rough, you could try sanding it. If it then seems too smooth, you could re-sand it with a rougher grit sandpaper. IMHO a good board should not feel rough right from the factory. My nice heavy Boos cutting board is getting rough in places, but they are where I'm always cutting so no surprise.
Those are my thoughts, but bear in mind I haven't actually worked with dough on a wooden surface. I've always thought that soapstone ought to be good but I haven't tried that either.
TomP
Hi Tom,
thanks so much for your input!
Your idea of treating it with the oil and test it before sanding sounds like the logical thing to do.
One more question, how big is the stainless table you use? Where do u have it? In your kitchen? A stainless steel surface was my first choice but I don’t think it would fit in my kitchen. Thanks.
I have a kind of a big alcove near my kitchen and that's where I have my table. It's counter height, 2 ft wide (same as a normal counter) and 5 ft long. It has a shelf towards the bottom and I store many containers of flour there. On sale I don't think it cost more than $200. I have another that's 30 inches wide and that would be perfect for working with dough. We use it for a mixer and a food processor.
In my previous house we had a slightly smaller stainess steel table on castors and it fit right where a kitchen island would be, and that was very handy. I didn't use it for bread, but you could take something right out of the oven and set it directly on the island without worrying about the heat.
Check out a restaurant supply store if there is one in striking distance. I've seen good deals on this kind of fixture in several of them, and also they often have used equipment including counters and tables (and mixers).
Hi Tom,
there are at least 3 rest supply stores that I know of where I live, I'll definitely check them out. Thanks again.
I had a Corian counter top in the house but when we moved, I bought a maple bread board. It came from Williams-Sonoma and I don't know where they sourced it. It was extremely smooth to the touch and I've had no issues with it at all. If the dough is two wet you will get some sticking but just a very light amount of flour makes that disappear. The directions that came with the board said that plain old mineral oil (likely much cheaper than walnut oil) is just fine for the board. I maybe treat it with a tsp of oil if it looks like the board is drying out. I just use a paper towel to work it in. You don't need any more than that.
Hi Alan,
How do you clean the dried dough bits that stay on the board after you are done using it? Do you use a bench scraper? Water and scrubber? Thanks.
On my stainless steel table, I spray or pour water on the area and drop a paper towel over it. The water wicks into the towel and stays in close contact with the surface. After letting it soak for a while, I wipe it all up, and remove remaining hard bits with a thumbnail or bench knife. In extreme cases you can leave the wet towel in place for longer. I would do the same for a wooden board, although I wouldn't leave the water there for as long. It's best to clean up soon after you finish working when you can.
After I have cleaned off all the dough bits and excess flour, I just use a damp paper towel to clean the board.
I'm a bit puzzled by your questions. Exactly what kind of maple board did you buy? My guess is that it would be a strip laminated maple "cutting" board. If so, I'd be surprised if it needed any treatment before you could use it. If on the other hand, it's like the birch one I recently bought, I can understand your issue. Typically I use mineral oil to treat my cutting boards. I rub the board liberally with mineral oil, allow the oil to soak in, and after several hours, or over night, wipe any excess off. If all the initial treatment of oil is absorbed by the board, then I repeat the process until the board will take no more oil. Maybe I'll do this once a year. End grain boards more readilly soak up the oil than long grain boards.
I mention the birch board I bought. It was represented as "counter top" or "table top", or cutting board. It came as a board face long grain lamination of about 6 pieces (it's 24 x32 inch). Board face long grain is poorer than edge face long grain, which is poorer than end grain. It appears that my board was sealed with something, and even though I've sanded it twice, I cannot get it to soak up much mineral oil. Needless to say, I'm disapointed.
I use the board, and I clear/clean it with a 5 inch board knife. I occasionally wipe it with a damp cloth. My hope is that as I use the board and scrape it, that it will eventually become much smoother. I wish it was maple but it's not. I hope your board was either untreated, or oil treated, then oil treatment will maintain it nicely. Good luck. Jim
I use to work on a wooden board, but about 2 years ago I switched to using a Silcon board and I find it much better to work with. It is easy to work on and easy to clean.
And being a Silcon board, when done, you can fold it up and put it away in a drawer.