Gotta Say, I Don’t Hate These Little Silicone Bannetons

Recipe:

• ~50g starter
• 500g bread flour
• 350g warm water
• 15g apple cider vinegar
• 10g sea salt

1. Mix. Rest for 30. Mix fully, then divide into two lightly-oiled bowls.
2. Stretches and folds every 30m for 2-2.5 hours.
3. Bulk ferment for 3-5 hours, depending on conditions
4. Shape and rest. Flip and re-shape and put in well-dusted Bannetons.
5. Cover and chill for 6-12 hours.
6. Heat oven and Dutch ovens to 450°F / 230°C.
7. Turn out onto parchment. Score.
8. Bake in covered dutch oven at 450°F / 230°C for first 18, uncovered at 375°F / 190°C for 15.
9. Remove. Turn off oven. Return directly to oven racks if you want more color.

I usually bake smaller boules in my 3qt Dutch Ovens (all the same as above but 550g flour and 390g water) and wanted to see if there were smaller 'oval' Bannetons rather than always using round ones. Because of the size of the Dutch Ovens the length had to be around 6".

I found some Rattan ones but the only way I could find to order them was in a 6-pack, which is roughly four more than I need. Then I saw these silicone ones that were a four-pack and considerably cheaper. So I thought I'd give them a try.

They work fine but don't hold shape as well as Rattan (duh), but they're not as bad as the silicone loaf pans that have no structural integrity. They require a lot of dusting with white rice flour to release well, but they work pretty well and give a nice, small, oblong loaf. I could probably back off a little more even on flour and water as they rose more than expected this time.

Being silicone, I suppose one could even bake right in these. Haven't tried that. Yet.