Photogenic Bread
I just took delivery of a new banneton and decided to give it a try.
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Boy, I finally got a loaf to stand tall and proud. BUT, looks can be deceiving. ;-)
The banneton used was an A1 size.
Lighter weight doughs are subject to rise proportionally higher than heavier doughs. Think about two ballon filled with water. Both balloons are identical. One contains 100 grams of water and the other has 500 grams. The skin on both balloons are identical, the same thickness. Which one will proportionally spread more outwards thus becoming relatively lower in height?
Many of the bakers on Instagram that are posting outrageously gorgeous loaves are well aware that smaller doughs are much more photogenic. Just imagine the gawks one might receive if they only posted the top two images?
Danny
I didn't get a banneton as it's expensive to buy in where I live. I just use a porous basket that is designed for gardening for proofing bread.
The size of your banneton is perfect for dinner rolls (Yes, bread is my favorite course of dinner!).
I have a couple of those that I need to try!
very nice Dan - just right for a lunchtime snack
Leslie
either a small roll or a giant holding a boule! :D...That looks lovely and brilliant for a lunch box! Kat
Haha, I was thinking "Wow, that's a huge hand!" :)
I have some very small wicker baskets that I use for little loaves when I'm trying out a new formula, or when I want a taster loaf available in the shop or at the market for something. Little loaves are so cute!
I like the idea deal of using a few of these tiny sized bannetons for test bakes. I try my best to make all test bakes as uniform and consistent as possible. I could bake 4 of these under a single graniteware cover at the same time with no problem. I got the A1 sized bannetons on Ebay. They were $4.20 a piece, including shipping and they came with a liner. The quality was as good as any bannetons I own. The crust and crumb texture was very good for these tiny breads.
Dan
Baking is fun! And these are adorable (can't think of many times I've used that word here!). But you needn't get a stockpile of small bannetons to make an oven-load of these. You can both bake the little guys as well as sharpen your shaping skills, by making mini-batards. Like these...
Easy a pie to shape with consistency and place on a couche. You might want to give it a whirl.
alan
Pretty Alan. How many grams are the mini batards?
Dan
So I don't really recall. I'll take a SWAG that they were ~250g apiece, the 8 constituting a nice round 2k number for the batch. Then again, 200g ea. x 8 is also a kinda round number at 1600g. But likely not less than that.
alan