You're new to bread-baking and you can't figure out how to come away with loaves as tall and mighty—let alone as dramatically rustic—as your favorite bakery's. (I know because I'm there, too.)
Or, you're an experienced baker ready to make your bread the best it can be—to give your boules and baguettes a signature look and to make sure its flavor, texture, and color hit high marks.
Frieling Brotform Banneton Bread Proofing Baskets
$32–$48
More Sizes
Shop Frieling Brotform Banneton Bread Proofing Baskets Now
Sounds like you need a brotform! Also known as a brotformen or a bread- or dough-rising basket (or, in France, a banneton), this mold girdles your dough during its second rise. During this period, when the dough has a tendency to relax and spread, the basket cradles it gently, which results in a taller, more uniform shape, a crunchy, textured crust (more delicious bread), and a hypnotizing spiral pattern I once attributed to magic or aliens.
Yes, you can improvise with a greased bowl or a linen-lined colander, but as Natasa Djuric of My Daily Sourdough explains, the material of a brotform (in this case, that's cane) allows the dough to breathe during its final rise. Ahh.
And while bowls can offer a temporary home for rising boules, their round shape is, obviously, not suited to oblong loaves or baguettes. The Frieling brotforms in our Shop come in various shapes and sizes so that your miche can be as snug as your sandwich bread.
Using a brotform is (I'm sorry to say) the easiest part of making bread. When your favorite dough—or the one you're working up to this month—is ready for its second rise...
- Flour the basket generously (sift flour directly over top of it and rub some into the coils—too little flour and your dough might stick or the markings may not be visible). If you just want the shape benefits without the distinctive markings, line the basket with a floured tea towel.
- Plop your shaped dough in, nice side down.
- Give it some breathing room (that is, cover in a tea towel or as directed and leave it alone) while it takes the second rise.
- Flip the dough out of its cozy-basket-home and onto whatever implement you'll use to transfer it to the oven—a cornmeal-dusted baking peel, a piece of parchment paper...
- Make a slash in the dough using a serrated knife, lame, or straight razor so that the steam can escape from the bread in a controlled manner.
- Bake as directed in the recipe (or as you prefer! I like to use a preheated Dutch oven).
Get started with this basic recipe...
...then move onto something a bit more advanced!
We originally ran this post last spring, but since Baking Season (and Giving Season!) are well upon us we thought you might want the reminder.
What's an underrated bread baking tool that's made your experience less frustrating? Share with us in the comments!
Written by: Sarah Jampel
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21 Comments
Bob Hoover
To clean, I use a small stiff brush to loosen the excess flour from between the coils of rattan and knock it out. I then stick the baskets in the cooling oven, after I've removed the baked bread and turned off the heat...to "cook" any nasties that might want to lurk in the brotformen, as well as drive off any moisture they make have absorbed from the dough. Once they are cool and dry, I stick them, stacked, in a resealable plastic bag. No problems so far.
I would NOT get them wet. If you are concerned about dust, etc, when you first purchase the baskets, wipe them with a paper towel just dampened with vinegar, and air dry thoroughly.
I like a perforated, trough shaped pan for baguettes- the dough rises right on the pan, and is placed in the oven without shock; it bakes beautifully. I am baffled by the practice of using ice to make steam- hot water is so much easier and more efficient. Bread baking temperatures (about 480 is best for crusty loaves) tend to be too high for parchment.
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