How To Use A Banneton Basket

Master how to use a banneton basket with this guide covering everything from the first coat of flour to rescuing stuck dough. Look after your proofing basket and it will last you years, and give you tall, beautifully shaped loaves in return.

What Is A Banneton Basket?

Here’s the problem a banneton solves. As an artisan loaf proofs, the gluten relaxes. That’s great because that’s what lets the dough rise, but it also lets the dough spread out like a pancake. Holding the dough in a basket limits that spread, so the loaf climbs instead of sprawls.

The basket does a second job, too! It wicks moisture away from the surface of the dough and allows airflow to move around the loaf, drying the outer surface slightly, to help build that irresistible, crisp crust. And if you leave the basket unlined, the cane leaves concentric rings on the finished loaf.

Whether you call it a sourdough banneton, a brotform or a proofing basket, it’s the same tool. “Brotform” is the German term (it literally means bread form), while “banneton” is French. Proofing basket and proving basket are just the plain english versions. The differences are the material, shape, and size.

While they are not specifically necessary to bake beautiful artisan bread, they are definitely helpful in achieving perfect loaves.

Don’t have a banneton? Check out my banneton substitute guide

How Do You Prepare A New Banneton?

Ok! You’ve got a new banneton and a happy sourdough starter. Now what? You prep it!

You may see this called “seasoning”, but don’t worry, it’s nothing like seasoning cast iron. You’re simply cleaning the basket and giving it a first coat of flour.

1. Wet a cloth with hot soapy water and wipe the entire surface, inside and out, with the cloth.
2. Rinse the cloth with hot water, and wipe out the basket to remove any soapy residue.
3. Using a clean kitchen towel, wipe the banneton until it’s damp, not wet. Don’t dry it completely, a little moisture on the cane is what helps the rice flour cling.
4. Sprinkle the clean basket generously with rice flour, tap it around to coat, and set aside to dry for at least a couple of hours before using. Once the flour has dried onto the cane, it forms the first “non-stick” layer.

That’s it! Your basket is ready.

How To Use A Banneton

The most important thing to remember: you only use your banneton after the final shaping. Your dough finishes bulk fermentation, gets shaped, and then goes into the basket for its final proof.

Step 1: Flour The Basket

Flouring the banneton is the step that prevents sticking. Spritz the banneton with water, then dust the inside of the basket generously with rice flour then tap and turn the basket so every ridge and groove is coated.

Rice flour has no gluten, so even if it absorbs moisture from the dough, it stays dry and powdery instead of gummy and sticky.

If you’re using a lined banneton, flour the liner.

Step 2: Shape Your Dough

Shape your loaf with a nice, tight surface, pulling the dough toward you to build tension. A taut skin helps the loaf hold its shape when it comes out of the basket.

Step 3: Place The Dough In, Seam Side Up

Gently set your shaped dough into the basket with the seam facing up. The smooth side faces down, and that side becomes the top of your loaf once you flip it out of the basket to bake.

Step 4: Cover It

Cover the basket with a clean kitchen towel, a shower cap, or a plastic bag so the surface of the dough doesn’t dry out and form too thick a skin.

Step 5: Proof Until Ready

Proof by the dough, not the clock. Room temperature final proofs usually run 1-3 hours for my recipes. Cold proofs in the fridge anywhere from 8-48+ hours. A combination works too – 1-2 hours at room temperature then 24 hours in the fridge.

You can test your dough for doneness by using the poke test. Flour a finger and poke it gently about a ½ inch into the dough.

Step 6: Turn Out, Score, And Bake

Place a sheet of parchment paper over the basket, hold the basket and parchment together and flip them over together in one smooth motion. Set the parchment down with the basket on top and lift away slowly.

If the dough clings, tilt the basket, and using your fingers, gently release one side at a time. Then score and bake in a preheated dutch oven or open bake in a preheated oven.

Covered Or Uncovered?

Yes, cover the banneton during the final proof. The cane wicks moisture from the part of the dough it touches, which becomes your crust, while the cover keeps the exposed seam side from drying into a leathery skin that can stick or tear when you flip the loaf.

Uncovered, especially in the fridge, that exposed side dries out. If your dough feels dry and leathery before baking, try covering it more snugly next time. If you want a drier surface for scoring, uncover the dough for the last 20-30 minutes before baking.

I cover my dough, and feel that I get better oven spring when I keep it covered through the tail end of fermentation. I actually picked up bread bags from a local restaurant supply company and I use and reuse them constantly. I can slide the entire banneton in, tie it shut, and tuck it in the fridge.

Cane/Rattan

These are the most common style of banneton on the market. Cane bannetons are usually reasonably priced, durable, and easy to care for.

Cane rattan baskets have gaps between the wrapped layers, allowing air to circulate, resulting in a loaf that’s able to grow more efficiently and slightly dries out the outer layer (hello, crust!). Rattan bannetons often come with linen liners.

I use cane bannetons for all my sourdough bread recipes.

Wood Pulp

Wood pulp bannetons generally come from Germany and are made with wood pulp or recycled wood materials. They are not as long lasting or as easy to clean as the cane bannetons.

Wood pulp bannetons are, however, a great choice for bakers who love a high hydration dough, as the brotform is able to absorb moisture from the dough giving a crisp crust to the dough.

Plastic

This is a relative new comer to the bread proofing basket scene. Plastic bannetons are easy to clean and durable. They are more difficult to flour, but they also won’t have moisture/mold issues.

Plastic bannetons have a lot of positives, but they can also hinder the rise on some doughs because of the lack of airflow in and around the dough during the final rise.

Lined Vs. Unlined

Many natural rattan bannetons on the market come with a linen or cloth liner, and using it is a personal preference, or it may even come down to the recipe you’re using!

• Lined: gives your dough a smooth surface, ideal for intricate scoring patterns,
• Unlined: showcases the spiral or parallel lines of the basket in the finished loaf.

If you purchased an unlined banneton and want the lined look, lay a flour sack cloth or linen cloth dusted with rice flour inside the banneton to achieve the same result.

Taking care of liners: I usually remove the liners, allow them to air dry, then tap or shake all of the residual flour off of them before placing back on the banneton. Make sure both the liner and banneton are fully dried before putting back together because a damp liner or basket is an invitation for mold.

Size Guide

The rule of thumb, and this is by no means scientific, is as follows. Calculate the full weight of your dough by adding the weight of the starter, water, flour, salt, and add ins, and match it to the basket size

Baguettes and batards: For long skinny loaves, look for a long oval banneton, sometimes sold as a baguetter or batard basket. If you bake in a dutch oven, a regular oval is more likely to fit.

One important consideration for your banneton size selection is the size of your dutch oven! Choose a proofing basket that fits within your favorite dutch oven. The easiest way to check is to drop the basket into your cold dutch oven to see if it fits, or measure the diameter of both.

I use both round bannetons and oval bannetons, usually dependent on the recipe or how we plan on enjoying it. Round loaves of bread are better for serving at a dinner, while I find oval loaves are better suited to toast and sandwich making because the slices are more consistently sized.

Banneton Care And Cleaning

After Every Use

Invert the basket, tap out the excess flour, and place it somewhere with plenty of air flow to dry for 1-2 days.

Dealing With Stuck On Dough & Flour Build Up

If you’ve got stubborn flour or dough stuck in the grooves of your banneton, dry brush the basket with a stiff brush or gently scrape it with a cast iron scraper. I keep a small hand-held dish brush with my bannetons just for this! Cleaning between the wicker helps to ensure you’ll see those pretty concentric circles on your loaf.

Can You Wash A Banneton?

Yes, you can wash a banneton, but carefully, and only when you really need to. Soak the basket in clean warm water for 10-15 minutes, scrub with a bristle brush until it’s clean, and give it a good rinse.

Drying afterward is the important part. Set it out in the sun, or in a warm place, like your oven with the light on and the door propped open.

Don’t store it in a cupboard or anywhere enclosed until it’s completely dry.

Banneton Troubleshooting

Dough Sticking To The Banneton

This is the most common banneton question and it’s usually an easy fix. Dough sticks for a few reasons:

• Not enough flour. Use more rice flour than you need and make sure it gets into every groove.
• The wrong flour. Wheat flour absorbs moisture and gets gluey. Rice flour doesn’t.
• A new, unseasoned basket. Give your new basket a good first coat of flour. See how to prepare a new banneton above.
• A very wet dough. Higher hydration doughs need extra flour and chilling the dough before turning it out can help it to release.
• Insufficient shaping. Lax surface tension or not enough time for the skin to dry to the touch can lead to sticking.

Dough Flattens When Turned Out

Bannetons help wet dough hold its shape, but wet dough is less forgiving. If your loaf flattens when you turn it out, check these variables:

• proof time (over proofing is the most common cause)
• shaping tension
• hydration level (wetter doughs can benefit from more rice flour and a chill before turning out)

Mold In Your Banneton

Mold in a banneton usually happens when a basket was put away damp. I have not had a banneton develop mold since I started using them over 5 years ago.

Why I would replace a moldy banneton rather than cleaning it: Some bakers believe that you can remove the mold by dry brushing, cleaning with vinegar, and baking at a certain temperature, but I don’t, for three reasons.

• Heat may kill mold but some byproducts (mycotoxins) can survive baking temperatures
• Cane and wood pulp are porous, so I can’t confirm every trace is gone.
• High heat can damage the proofing basket, which is why bannetons never go in the oven in the first place.

My personal stance is that I am a baker and not a food safety expert, so I err on the side of caution.

Use Your Banneton With These Recipes

Banneton Alternatives

If you’re like me and live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, you might be wondering what to do if you don’t have access to a store with bread baking tools and supplies. Good news: you can make sourdough without a banneton and you can make a DIY proofing basket.

In the past, I’ve used a glass bowl lined with a floured flour sack cloth, and placed my boules in a parchment lined pot approximately the size of my dutch oven. A fabric lined colander or wicker basket is another great substitute. Both of these options allow airflow around your loaf without requiring another kitchen thing.