The Banneton Factor

I’m making a bunch of loaves for the family next week and decided upon a French recipe. I chose to use fresh yeast as a trial and increase the dough’s hydration to 73%, which is certainly on the high end of what I normally try. Anyway more detail about the recipe in another post.

French Pain de Campagne

This isn’t about the dough, it’s about dealing with the rise and shaping. I’m not good at shaping at all and this dough was a bit tacky and had quite a volume after rising. I did what I could and dropped it into a banneton for the final rise. And rise it did!

When I tipped it out, the dough just spread – the structure just stretched so I had to get it in the oven quickly but it made a mess and whilst the bread came out ok, crispy, light and fluffy, it did not resemble the shape it should have.

Banneton

I need way more practice with hydrated dough, I find it hard to keep the structure so I’ll be using tins for the family breads.