Agile-Shop 8.5 inch Round Banneton Brotform Bread Dough Proofing Rising Rattan Handmade Basket & Linen Liner Cloth

unbelievable small!!! and bad rough quanlity! DIRTY and grey color... what the size designed for?! and cannot return!!! dont buy it. the better option is ikea's basket.

Works a treat! As I learn to perfect a sourdough loaf, this banneton makes it that journey much easier

I have tried different things for proofing my sourdough bread, different towels in different bowls of different shapes and sizes, and finally decided to use this basket after inconsistent results. I tried with the liner a couple of times and it worked ok, but the material is coarse with seams and sticky sourdough sticks to it too easily. However the revelation was to use the basket without the liner and with an ample (but not ridiculous) amount of flour. Not only does the dough easily come out of the basket, but it has the cool spiral pattern in it. Even better, the dough that is in contact with the basket (the "top" of the loaf after it's been flipped out of the basket) develops a light crust. This makes it easy to handle, easy to score, and produces much better "oven spring". My theory on how this works is that a slight amount of air gets between the pieces of rattan and slightly dries out the dough to form the crust. Today I made a batch and because of unexpected schedule changes it proofed in the basket for about 2-3 hours longer than I wanted. It was over proofed and overflowing, but I decided to bake it anyway and it came out perfect. The magic crust formation allowed me to easily handle and bake it. These baskets are brilliant! BTW the 7 inch is the perfect size for my loaves that start with 500g of flour (total weight about 900-950g considering 75% hydration, salt, and starter).

This size is ok for a small loaf but order up a couple of sizes for a regular sized loaf.

I really love using a banneton. It will not make your bread magically more delicious, but it will make it prettier and also crustier (especially if you lightly spray your oven walls with water right as you put it in, and one more time half-way through, to create a bit of steam). I use it for a second rise, after shaping the loaf (I use the regular Pyrex bowl for the first rise). If your banneton is properly "conditioned", your dough will always be released easily onto the baking sheet. If this is your first banneton: to prepare it for its first use, lightly spray it with water, then generously flour it, and removed all excess flour. If it happens to be hot and sunny outside, put it in the sun until it dries (otherwise, use a 150-175F oven for an hour). When it's perfectly dry, cover it with the linen cover and put it away. The secret to successful use of banneton is to flour it really well to ensure a smooth release of the dough. So before placing the shaped loaf into the banneton for the second rise, you want to generously flour it one more time (again, removing excess flour). That should ensure an easy release of your loaf. It might be worth noting that the 8.2-inch measurement is of the top of the banneton, so it might look quite a bit smaller than you may envision it. It produces a lovely medium-sized loaf. And another thing: you don't need to wash this your banneton after every use. In fact, with proper care, you might not have to wash it at all, or at least, not very often.