Frieling Round Brotform 1-Pound Bread Rising Basket

Other Frieling products

Product Features

• Ideal for making European-style hearth breads at home
• 1-pound round loaf basket
• Doubles as a serving piece
• Made of natural cane
• Hand wash in warm water

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 9.2 x 3.5 inches ; 9.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00004R92T
• Item model number: 3001
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #12,757 in Kitchen & Dining (See Bestsellers in Kitchen & Dining)

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

This traditional bread rising basket lets you bring a taste of Europe into your kitchen. Just dust the 8-inch round basket with flour, put your kneaded dough in, and watch it rise. The natural cane coils shape and decorate the loaf the old-fashioned way. When it's done rising, remove it from the basket and pop it in the oven. The final result? A country bread with a great texture and crunchy crust. To remove any remaining flour, simply tap the basket on the counter. The only other maintenance is an occasional hand washing in warm water. This sturdy basket is even attractive enough to double as a serving piece for outdoor meals and entertaining. --Irene Svete

Product Description

Note: this product was made in China.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Functional and aesthetic, February 26, 2002

By	Mitchell Pollock (St. Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews

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.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BETTER THAN SLICED BREAD!, June 30, 2000

By	James R. Mckinley (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Traditional tool now available in the US, February 12, 2001

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Amazon Verified Purchase

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.