How do you stop loaves sticking to a proving basket
Question
I bought a proving basket from yourselves a while ago. When I first used it the loaves used to pop out lovely, however with time they have started to stick, what am I doing wrong. I liberally dust them with flour before putting the dough in to rise. Am I leaving them in too long, is the dough too wet?
Answer
It could be many things that could cause this.
I wouldn't think the dough would be to wet as you can work successfully with doughs that are carrying up to 80% hydration.
Here are a number of possible causes of a tacky dough:
1 - it is slack and under ripe
2 - it is over ripe, when the dough will start to release the moisture's retained with in the structure.
3 - it is introduced to extreme temperature variances, say you put it into the fridge and then put it onto a warm atmosphere to speed the final proof up, this will encourage condensation to form on the out side as the core temperature struggles to catch up.
Alternatively, you problem may be with the basket. They do not like to be washed as they build up a protective skin if left to mature just brush them out each time you use them and if concerned keep them in a sealed bag in the fridge or freezer if you have more room. I like to dust mine with a medium rye flour as it will absorb more of the gasses when released creating a crisper fuller flavoured crust
Hope this helps come back to me with your recipe and process if the problem persists and I will run through it for you
Happy Baking
Clive
Added by: tom