Here I am again with mini sour dough loaves.

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Gwen on 15 Feb 2026 at 11:42

But, I'm having trouble with the loaves sticking to the sides of my home made ceramic cloches. I have new larger ones in process but any suggestions for how to prevent dough from sticking to unglazed cloches? These are 350 grams unbaked. I'm starting a tiny business in a few weeks and want to debug anything I can before starting. 

Also, how much rice flour do you put on your bannetons? I had trouble with the little ones sticking.

 

I stopped using the bare banneton. I have cotton pillowcases that were worn out. I tore them into squares and rectangles large enough to line the banneton. I rub the cloth lightly with regular Bread flour and place it into the banneton then drop in the loaf. I turn the loaf out onto parchment and lift it into whatever pan etc I’m using to bake in the oven. I’d suggest using parchment cut to size for your cloches to keep the bread from sticking. 

I stopped rice flour as if it’s very noticeable on the bread it has a bad texture when you bite into it after baking. 

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Moe C on 15 Feb 2026 at 17:22

Parchment paper. I suspect you are looking more for some sort of coating, though.

I paint my bannetons with a thin slurry of cornflour and water, using a small pastry brush. Let it dry completely. A light dusting of whatever flour I'm using for the loaf ensures the loaf rolls out of the banneton without sticking. Allow the banneton to dry before storing it ready for next time.

Alfie

I used to use rice flour, but not any longer.  Regular APF works just fine for me.  But then again, - I no longer make doughs that drip water.

BF or AP and rice flour . I stopped because I didn’t like the residue on the bread. Cotton napkins or old sheets/ pillow cases torn up with regular flour rubbed in like a couche works great and minimal residue. 

I do make very wet bread doughs and this works great . I’ve never had anything stick . The most recent post of my Semolina bread is a perfect example. That was an extremely wet dough and I retarded it to firm it up. Worked perfectly with the white cloth.