Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If this is your first time using a brotform, fear not! There are just a few simple suggestions to get the most out of it. If you can't open the video, no worries, I'll do my best to describe using these. The idea is, letting a bread rise in one of these gives a lovely pattern to the top, while the wood wicks away surface moisture so that you get a crunchy crust. Although there are certain recipes that traditionally use a brotform, any bread dough that is on the wet side will work nicely. The popular no-knead breads that rise for days in the refrigerator can get an extra special look with one. One of the hardest things for most Americans (like me!) is getting used to the idea that something used in cooking is NOT washed after each use. As a matter of fact, it isn't washed at all. Whaaaaat?! I'm a germ-a-phobe! I can't use this! Well, as it turns out, wood has some natural anti-bacterial properties. That is why these have been popular for hundreds of years, and people do not get sick from not washing them. When it first arrives, you can wipe with a barely damp cloth if it makes you feel better. I did. And I felt better. In order for the bread not to stick, the form must be coated with flour. Rice flour is terrific if you have some. If you don't, but DO have some rice and a grain mill or VitaMix type blender, or even a very clean blade coffee grinder, you can make a small amount by grinding some rice into a fine powder. Using regular flour is 100% ok too...the reason for rice is that if you're going for a super hard crunchy crust and soft insides, the rice will absorb more moisture, and it also leaves a nice crunch of it's own. Place some flour in the brotform, tilt it, and use your fingers to rub some between the grooves of the basket. You want to coat it completely, as dough will stick to any part without flour. Gently place your dough in it and let it have the final rise. If you are using a no-knead that is rising in a container, cut off enough dough for a loaf, take 5 seconds to shape into a ball and place in the prepared brotform. Now the tricky part. If you are making loaves smaller than the form, as my video shows, as gently as humanly possible (or you wind up with a pancake), place your hand over the dough and turn the form upside down, so the dough is in your palm. Slide from your palm to the baking sheet or a baking peel. If the dough comes nearly to the top, invert directly on the sheet or peel. Use a razor blade, bread lame, or finely serrated knife to slash the top, and bake. If any dough sticks to your brotform, pick it off, otherwise simply shake the flour off, leaving what doesn't shake off, and place in a bag until the next time you use it. After a bit of use it may look like some of the cane is splintering slightly, but remember that the flour keeps any wood from the bread. If it is just a small bit, it's a non issue, and isn't really splintering in the way most of us think. The only way I can think of to describe it is string cheese. With string cheese, you pull a long strip off. If a little bit pulls away, it doesn't 'splinter' and break off, you still have to pull it. If a tiny bit of the form 'pulls away' it doesn't wind up in the bread. With this particular brotform, I'm comparing it with a friend's that was purchased from a well known online flour and baking supply company. No real difference between the two. To be honest, I really like that online flour company. It is employee owned with a strong sense of social responsibility. I wanted to compare the two brotforms...I think I may invest in a Mafer brotform to see if there is a difference, but for now, these both work well.