Friday, October 7, 2011

Bannetons are On My Mind

Another wonderful week has come and gone, full of school holidays and guests from home. Time to join Rhonda.

There is so much to learn on this sourdough journey. Different recipes have different hydration levels, different kneading methods and different proving times. It is a matter of me working out which suits me and my tastes. The loaves from my kitchen so far have been in the shape of tinned loaves.

I took the plunge and bought some handmade bannetons on a recent trip to Manu Factum. I was pretty impressed that I only left with one large round and two small rectangular baskets.

There was now a task ahead of me: to find a recipe that wasn't as wet as the ones I have been using. Images of watery dough oozing out through the gaps in these beautiful cane works of art made me shudder.

I settled on this recipe for the quantities but played around with the timing a little.


I am thrilled with the result as it looked great and tasted pretty good too. It is always a holding-my-breath moment when I cut these open waiting to see if the air bubbles are in all the right places. This loaf had a lovely even amount of bubbles, just right for butter to melt into.

I would love some banneton advice from anyone else who uses proofing baskets.

Take care

9 comments:

  1. Ooooh! I'd forgotten about these. I did a bread making course last year where we used them. Your loaf looks fantastic!

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  2. Come to you via Rhonda: Your bread looks amazing. I must give sour dough a try sometimes when I have time.
    Deb
    www.primrosehappysnapper.blogspot.com

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  3. How gorgeous is that! I'm on a similar sourdough journey, it's interesting isn't it.

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  4. Linda, thank you. I have nearly finished that loaf so I'll need to get another one on the go. I had some this morning with scrambled eggs and fried tomatoes. Yum.

    Deb, thanks for visiting. The great thing with sourdough is that you don't need a lot of time. If it definitely worth it. Make sure to give it a go.

    Rose, I am really loving it. I love the idea of learning something new and sourdough certainly fits into that category.

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  5. oh wow your loaf looks gorgeous and I have serious envy...the banneton is beautiful.
    I'm going to try your sourdough recipe next!
    Very inspiring.

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  6. hello
    your bread looks delicious....it makes my mouth watering.
    have a wonderful week,
    liebe grüße regina
    reginassimplelife.blogspot.com

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  7. Joy, the banneton is certainly gorgeous. I love the the circular one is made of one long piece of bamboo. The recipe still needs work but that is pasty of the fun. I hope that your sourdough adventure is coming along still.

    Regina, dankeschön. It is going well with some nice thick soups. I hope you are enjoying the cooler weather.
    Your dehydrating looks interesting too. I hadn't thought of doing carrots. I have done some summer fruits but not vegetables.

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  8. Love those baskets, and that moment of gently tipping the dough out all lined.
    I store mine in the freezer in a bag, as a couple of people had mentioned the dreaded "W" word to me...weavels. Laying their little eggs in the residual floury cracks and I've been paranoid ever since. Saying that, no other issues with them. Lots of flour so the dough doesn't stick, and not to wet a dough.

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  9. CHFG, getting the dough just right is going to need a little more practise. I hadn't thought about weevils. I couldn't fit these in my freezer here at the moment anyway. Way too small.

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Thanks so much for dropping by. I really appreciate any comments you have to make.

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