I’m not sure how this will work, but in between testing recipes, I will be posting my required journal entries for my W.I.S.E. project in order to condense everything. I hope it does not get confusing.
These posts will most likely not line up with the recipes of the moment. These are research documentation about different aspects of bread baking. Every week, I will update about the experiences from my internship, along with anything I discuss with my mentor, my Spanish teacher, Mr. Esteban.
Here we go!
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Shaping and Proofing Loaves
I find it rather funny that everyone in my family plays part of my bread-obsession, and I appreciate their support. For my birthday and for Christmas, my mother bought me well-respected, well-researched, solely bread cookbooks. She is also ordering me a banneton (brotform) and a lame! I’m very excited to use these new gadgets!
A banneton/brotform is a bentwood willow basket, used to shape bread during the proofing stage of baking. Not only do they shape the loaves, the baskets leave a beautiful flour spirals on the bread’s crust and take away excess moisture on the surface. A banneton is rather expensive and costs about $20 each. However, I believe they are worth the price for the ease of use, and for the visual appeal they lend to the bread.
In Peter Reinhart’s book, “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice,” he suggests to bakeries instead of purchasing expensive bannetons, that they use wicker baskets lined with linen instead. I think this tip is very economical, especially during mass production. The linen fabric, sometimes used to line a banneton, is called a couche. Mostly, this fabric is used to prevent free-standing loaves to spread or flatten. He recommends that the baker mists the couche with a non-stick spray (like Pam) and then dust liberally with flour. After the shaped loaves are placed on the cloth, the couche is bunched up to make a “wall” to contain the dough.
Although a banneton is not essential, I’m sure it will allow me to make more attractive boules, and make specialty breads that require this type of proofing. Although I do not have a couche, I can use a heavy terrycloth towel instead.
I’ll talk about the lame more in depth in another journal entry about scoring the breads. A lame is a double edged razor on a stick, used to score the loaves in order for the bread to have “oven spring” and raise to its fullest potential. I hope I can get the hang of using a lame- right now I use a sharp knife, but I’m usually apprehensive and my scorings are sometimes unattractive and ineffective.
Anyway, I’m very excited for these to arrive in the mail! I should bake over break- I’m not really doing much and I have time to tend to dough!
Banneton– A French bentwood willow basket, used for shaping breads during the proofing stage.
Brotform-The German word for “banneton”
Couche– A linen cloth used to proof and retain the shape of free-standing loaves
Boule– French for a ball shaped loaf
Reinhart, Peter. The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. 1st ed. . New York, New York: Ten Speed Press, 2001. 34-38, 90-91. Print.
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