The way proofing baskets affect crust texture surprised me after a test this weekend

I was reading a forum post on The Fresh Loaf about bannetons vs. brotforms and someone mentioned that the type of basket can change how much flour sticks to the dough. I figured it was mostly cosmetic, but I ran a test with two identical loaves on Saturday. One sat in a rice-floured cane banneton for 12 hours, the other in a standard linen-lined plastic one. The cane basket loaf had a noticeably thicker, crunchier crust when it came out of the oven. The other one was softer and more even. Did anyone else find that their proofing setup changes their final bake more than they expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

sageallen19d ago

Never gave baskets much thought till now, you got me rethinking everything.

claireo6719d ago

Rice flour in the cane basket makes a huge difference for me too. The crust always comes out way more textured and crunchy compared to the linen ones.