Customer Reviews

Frieling 8-inch Round Brotform

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Yes, these bannetons do lend an interesting look to the loaf of bread, but its function is its value to bakers. It was/is used primarily for breads leavened with a natural yeast/bacterial culture. Breads made with these cultures ferment over a long period of time, and produce acids and alcohol which weaken the gluten structure of the bread. This results in a flatter loaf. These baskets are used to support the shape of a round loaf in the case of this round 'boule' basket. The loaf is turned out and immediately slid on a stone (or pan) and baked, scored or not. The idea of cleaning them is not very practical. I have used them for years and never clean them. If they build up too much flour, I use a paring knife to scrape out the dried bits in the grooves and start over. It is kind of like seasoning an iron skillet. If you don't get it wet and reuse it with the flour in it, your bread will stick less and less each time, until you can simply invert the dough onto your peel with no coaxing. This allows you to bake using much wetter doughs. So, my rating is a 5 star, because of its essential function for perfect loaves on pain au levain boules.

My husband is bread baker and I purchased the round Brotform for him. Advertised as "Ideal for baking European-style hearth breads"
Unless you click the discrete link "Read all product information" they don't tell you it was made in China and until it arrives you won't see the lack of quality.
I thought I was buying an authentic Banneton, not a poorly crafted (over priced) imitation.

After mixing your dough and letting it rise the first time, this basket helps shape the dough into a perfect loaf, with an interesting pattern on the crust. My first loaf with this basket turned out perfectly. It is much easier than hand shaping a loaf, and much more rustic/natural than using a loaf pan. The natural coils shape and decorate the loaf the old-fashioned way. When it's done rising, carefully remove it from the basket and care fully put it on a pre-heated bread stone in the oven. The loaves look and taste great.

The bread basket was a traditional European tool used to form breadloaves. Often, a design is impressed into the bottom of the form, to identify the loaves that go into a community oven. (Or the housewife would inscribe a family symbol with a few slashes, before taking it to the village baker's oven.)

To use this form, you flour it, then dump your dough in for the last rising. Then turn it out upside down on a baking sheet strewn with coarse pumpernickel meal or cornmeal, slash your loaf if desired with a bread razor and bake. You can glaze the top with egg white and water and sprinkle with seeds. Brushing with cold coffee will give you a dark crust. The form is especially useful for sticky sourdough rye breads,which are hard to hand form.

In Europe, the natural cane has been replaced by plastic forms in commercial bakeries, as natural cane is hard to sanitize. And here is the reason I give 4 and not 5 stars to this product. While absolutely traditional, it is a bit hard to clean. As you probably know, wetting an item that has been floured makes for a sticky mess, and wood or cane is porous and a bit hard to clean.

Nonetheless, this is a welcome tool to have if you make your own Tuscan style Italian loaves, German Rye or other hearty, round loaves of homemade bread. If you own a breadmaker, you can always mix your dough in it on the dough cycle, and take it out without doing the baking cycle. This way, you can get excellent kneading and rising of difficult doughs like rye and 100 percent whole wheat, and still have the traditional and attractive round loaf rather than the squarish form from the breadmaker.

Brotform is a must-have for anyone interested in creating artisan-style loaves at home. The basket is very well made and will last for a long time with proper care.
The main difference between Brotform and a regular proofing basket lined with couche is the beautiful spiral pattern on the finished loaf. I also find that my loaves develop a slightly tighter crust when proofed in a Brotform basket. This may be due to the fact that the dough "breathes" a little more in it.
Please note that dusting a Brotform with regular wheat flour may leave crusted bits on the bottom and sides (when flour comes in contact with water from the dough gluten starts developing). I have found that 1:1 mix of rice and AP white flour works best.
And finally, make sure that the basket has a chance to dry out before putting it away.

I'm most pleased with the excellent quality of workmanship in this brotform. After researching via reviews and blogs, I knew quality varied depending on who made them and from which country it was imported. Anyway...I sprayed it initially with canola oil spray, liberally coated the whole inside with white flour, put in bread dough and waited awhile. Then I turned it out onto my hand and then turned the dough pattern side up, placing the dough on to a pizza peel. The baked pattern turned out pretty as a photograph. Somehow the handsomeness of the loaf added a festive quality to the lucky ones who cut the slices when it was still warm and fragrant. I am most pleased with this purchase.

So I was going to purchase this from Amazon, but I just came across it somewhere else (breadtopia) for 17.00. That's pretty significant-almost half the price. Usually Amazon's prices are pretty good- why is this item so much more expensive here???

It's a big improvement over proofing my dough in ceramic bowls. I've also tried kitchen towels inside colanders. The problem is that I use very wet doughs and they even still stick a little to my brotform, but gently pulling on the dough extracts it without ripping it. I hesitated a long time before buying yet another product made in China and was thinking about making my own. But life's too short. I've used it about four times so far. Maybe performance improves with age.

I love this product. It works just as well as advertised. My artisan bread making has taken a step up!

I have used this Brotform only three times, it is very nice for the second rise of dough for making bread, works well, I really like it