Brotformen-Bannetons

I've had several people asking me info about my bannetons, so I decided to do a blogpost about it. I got them at http://www.bannetons.com

They are made of wood pulp and pressed into a mold. I decided to get my feet wet and ordered them even though I did not know if they were any good or not. The reason why I did choose these ones instead of getting some made of cane is that I own a cane one already. I once made a loaf in it that had to retard in the fridge overnight and when I tried to remove the dough from the basket it kept on sticking into it. I had a very hard time getting the dough out of it. At bannetons.com they mention that the wood pulp ones are the most suitable for the home baker because of several reasons. One of them is that dough will not stick as easy into them unlike those made of cane.
The order was weird. The order was 'half electronic'. I'll explain : I filled in the on line form. For a few days nothing happened. After a few days I got an invoice in my snail mail mail box. I then paid with Paypal and like two days or so later the bannetons were delivered.

I tried them and are happy with the result. I usually use a mix of flour and rice flour to prevent sticking. I never had problems after overnight retarding in the fridge. So I like them a lot!

Is there anything that I do not like about the whole order process? I think that the order should be totally electronic instead of half. And I had to pay an extra fee because there is a minimum order of 20 pieces. They will ship less, after paying an extra fee.

So I wanted to share this info with you guys.
The used image is taken from the bannetons.com site.

This site is not in any way, shape or form endorsed or sponsored by www.bannetons.com!

Light Rye - Hamelman

I made the light Rye again. They came out nice, the crust was nice cracked. I hope the taste and crumb also will be okay.

80% Rye - Hamelman

I made the 80% Rye again (have to get rid of my 15 Kilograms of Rye flour LOL!) I cannot seem to get used to the 'wet cement' like dough, it always seems to be an adventure.

Brioche - Slice

The Brioche containing 50% butter (Hamelman) was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!

Pain au Levain, mixed starters-Hamelman

These loaves contain two starters : one regular levain and one rye starter. I made 3 loaves, one I left in the fridge to retard overnight and the other two I baked after proofing. These loaves tasted more sour than others I have baked. Great bread!

Flour

I just purchased 25 Kilograms flour. The miller said that it did not contain any chemical additions, so I am expecting a lot of this flour. I cannot use it yet, because I need to use the rest of my other flour first. Also I did get 15 Kilograms (yes, 15!) of rye flour. I hope I can use it all before the expire date which is May 18. Seems like I will need to make a lot of rye breads :-)

Rye-Whole Wheat - Hamelman

Rye-Whole wheat loaf. Once again a loaf with a good taste I think.

Thom Leonard’s Country French Bread (from "Artisan Baking" by Maggie Glezer)

I love this loaf! 7 hours of fermenting, only flour, water, salt and levain. Great taste, light sour. Crispy crust. Firm crumb. I love it!

Valentine

So I have been pretty busy for Valentine, I made a linzer tart Pierre Hermè style, the heart shaped buns/rolls, and the Bread of Love. Needless to say the appreciation of my household was great. I got this awesome Valentine card from my spouse and daughter and a lot of love in return for all my baking efforts.

It's amazing what great recipes you can find on line. Susan's blog is awesome and I had to try the bread of love which has unusual ingredients such as red wine, figs and pine nuts. I never have made a loaf that needed so little kneading. I need the Dan Lepard book! The loaves turned out great! I like the crunchy, sweet, moist dense crumb. Totally awesome!

The heart shaped buns/rolls are made in a brioche like dough and cut out with a heart shaped cutter that I purchased for this special occasion. Also much appreciated by the smallest member of this family.

The linzer tart Pierre Hermè style is totally for chocolate lovers! I was the only one who could appreciate this decadent piece of sugar. The taste is "Oh la la! Delicious!" Seriously, the dark chocolate combined with the raspberry jam is insane! And the crust of the tart with delicate spice flavours makes it totally irresistible.

Linzer tart - Valentine

Golden Honey Oat bread

I found the recipe on this blog (see link)Uit de keuken van Arden - In the Kitchen with Arden: Brood met honing, havervlokken en lijnzaad (Golden Honey Oat Bread) and decided to try it. Very tasty indeed! Delicious bread!

Cinnamon Rolls

I love anything with cinnamon in it, and I did not try to make cinnamon rolls yet. So I found this recipe at the same blog I found the recipe for previous posting.Uit de keuken van Arden - In the Kitchen with Arden: Kaneelbroodjes / Cinnamon rolls I made them and they were great! Like I said, anything with cinnamon in I am appreciating a lot!

Apricot jelly tart, tarte Eleonore

I had some family coming over and what can one better do than make some tarts? I made the Lenôtre puff pastry in advance. I did a posting about the Tarte Eleonore before, but this time the result was even better! It looks pretty I think. The other tart is a tart filled with abricot jelly, and was delicious too.
I also made a couple of loaves too. Been pretty busy...

Whole wheat with multigrain soaker- Hamelman

This is a very, very tasty loaf. I did replace the oats with sesame seeds and let them soak overnight.
I made two loaves and one of them had a little darker crust which gave even a more deeper taste. I like this one a lot.