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Bannetons -- Care and Storage

JoNorvelleWalker

By JoNorvelleWalker
in Kitchen Consumer

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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Yesterday was traumatic.  By chance I noticed my battery of bannetons was crawling with insects and the coating of flour on the banneton linings was damp, one might even say wet.

 

I have not been able to identify the species.  The creatures don't seem to be flour mites or weevils.  They were/are round, black, about 1.5mm diameter.  They don't fly but they move fast.  They were not present last time I made bread.

 

Eight bannetons went in the trash.  I spared my expensive Matfer.  After cleaning it as best I could I heated it in the Anova to hopefully kill any insects that were left.  A couple of these intruders had fallen in my marble mortar.  I washed the mortar thoroughly, as I did neighboring mixing bowls.

 

My Banneton care routine has always been to shake out any loose flour, then storing the bannetons near the dining room glass doors where they can get some air and sun.  I'm guessing part of the problem has to do with this summer's high humidity.

 

I would love to know how other bakers store their bannetons and how they care for them.  And if anyone has a guess as to what insect I'm dealing with, that would be helpful too.

 

  • Sad 3

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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2 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Ugh.  Got a pic?

 

Thankfully not!  But I did look at a dead one with a 30x loupe.  They may indeed be mites, although mites are supposed to be light colored and these are dark.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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Laurentius

Laurentius

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3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Yesterday was traumatic.  By chance I noticed my battery of bannetons was crawling with insects and the coating of flour on the banneton linings was damp, one might even say wet.

 

I have not been able to identify the species.  The creatures don't seem to be flour mites or weevils.  They were/are round, black, about 1.5mm diameter.  They don't fly but they move fast.  They were not present last time I made bread.

 

Eight bannetons went in the trash.  I spared my expensive Matfer.  After cleaning it as best I could I heated it in the Anova to hopefully kill any insects that were left.  A couple of these intruders had fallen in my marble mortar.  I washed the mortar thoroughly, as I did neighboring mixing bowls.

 

My Banneton care routine has always been to shake out any loose flour, then storing the bannetons near the dining room glass doors where they can get some air and sun.  I'm guessing part of the problem has to do with this summer's high humidity.

 

I would love to know how other bakers store their bannetons and how they care for them.  And if anyone has a guess as to what insect I'm dealing with, that would be helpful too.

 

Sorry about all this.  Thankfully this hasn't yet happened to me.

 

I'm thinking that perhaps sunlight and a spray of dilute bleach solution might be your friends.  Worth a try.  Maybe aggressive brushing and shop vacc'ing in the future?

 

Do you use the linen liners?  The boules don't show the cane as artfully, but at least they can be laundered...

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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13 hours ago, Laurentius said:

Sorry about all this.  Thankfully this hasn't yet happened to me.

 

I'm thinking that perhaps sunlight and a spray of dilute bleach solution might be your friends.  Worth a try.  Maybe aggressive brushing and shop vacc'ing in the future?

 

Do you use the linen liners?  The boules don't show the cane as artfully, but at least they can be laundered...

 

I prefer wicker with linen liners. I had been storing my bannetons where they received sunlight.  What I don't understand is how the liners got wet.  Flour, I guess, is hydroscopic, but in the decades that I've been baking I've never had wet bannetons, nor for that matter a mite infestation.

 

  • Sad 2

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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8 hours ago, haresfur said:

 

King Arthur suggests the freezer, as I found out when I was googling what a banneton is

 

I could fit one or two in the freezer, just not eight or nine.  Do you have the link to the King Arthur page?  Meanwhile I will try to google it, although I didn't see it previously.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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AlaMoi

AlaMoi

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flour is re-known for harboring bug eggs.  perhaps not surprising that an idle banneton/basket would turn up with an infestation.

as possible, freeze the big stock packages for 4-5 days - generally zaps bug eggs....

but it is one of the reasons I restrict my purchases to 5 lb bags - (the other is 'it's a empty nest') to avoid having it hanging around too long.

 

experienced the bug infestation on a Smokey Mountain hiking trip - lots of bugs/?beetles in our (only) supply . . .

this was a situation where 'getting water' meant 'melting some icicles' - - -

we ate them, chalked it up to "added protein."  everyone survived . . .

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haresfur

haresfur

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9 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I could fit one or two in the freezer, just not eight or nine.  Do you have the link to the King Arthur page?  Meanwhile I will try to google it, although I didn't see it previously.

 

 

I think they suggest storing the liners in the freezer so that wouldn't take up as much space as trying to freeze the baskets. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2023/01/25/bannetons-brotforms-proofing-baskets

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It's almost never bad to feed someone.

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haresfur

haresfur

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An idle thought, would an unglazed clay banneton work? Because I can see how you could incise more complicated designs that you can get in a coiled basket. I'm even imagining something where the banneton forms the lid for a clay baking vessel. 

 

The trouble is I don't eat much bread so it probably isn't worth the effort.

It's almost never bad to feed someone.

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

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17 minutes ago, haresfur said:

 

I think they suggest storing the liners in the freezer so that wouldn't take up as much space as trying to freeze the baskets. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2023/01/25/bannetons-brotforms-proofing-baskets

 

Liners would not take up much freezer space but the Matfer bannetons have the linen linings permanently affixed to the wicker.

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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