June 23, 2024 - 8:03am
Removing Mold from a Couche
It looks as if there is some mold growing in the crusty flour on my linen couche. All the references for cleaning a couche say, "Don't".
How can I get rid of the mold?
Thanks
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It looks as if there is some mold growing in the crusty flour on my linen couche. All the references for cleaning a couche say, "Don't".
How can I get rid of the mold?
Thanks
I think what the references mean by saying "don't clean the couche/banneton" is to preserve that small layer of crusted rice flour (or whatever is lining the couche) that helps with the non stick properties of the couche. But I don't think big pieces of dough count to be preserved like the thin layer of lining flour.
What I usually do to prevent this is to clean my bannetons (the cloth) immediately if there is wet dough stuck on it, because it can get moldy as you said. I take some rice or wheat flour, dump it on the lumps of dough stuck and then just rub it in and the stuck dough would release, preserving and maybe even adding the existing "non-stick" flour lining. But if it has turned dry I scrape it off, but if it turns moldy I think I'd just wash the entire thing clean like a dish and start over with the flour lining.
Another possibility I think is that the bannetons are too moist and are able to develop mold with the sufficient moisture.
We just had a related thread, ma be helpful -
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/74310/how-clean-couche
Just to clarify:
I wouldn't use the couche for wrapping up newly baked loaves. Even for nominally cooled ones I would hesitate. I'd go for a lint-free hand towel or the like. You will certainly be able to wash those.
One of he boks I use, either "Bread" or "The Rye Baker" says wrap the cooled loaves in baker's linen (ie a couche) or some other cloth. The couche seemed to work a little better in terms of slowing staling than the dish towels. And I don't use the couche much anymore. I bake high whole grain breads in boules and ovals that I proof in bannetons; As much as I love baguettes and would like to try whole grain ones, they stale by the end of the day; the regular loaves are good for ~5 days wrapped on the counter and then another few days sliced and toasted.
And the couche looked classier than dish towels.
My approach is different. After I cut into a new loaf, I store it cut side down on a plate or some flat surface. I used to cover it with aluminum foil but I found that cut side down is just as good.
In my climate, the loaves will be good for usually three days. I'm in northwestern Virginia (US) in an air-conditioned house. So both temperature and humidity are moderate. If the loaf lasts longer than that (I mean it hasn't all been eaten) , I put it into a plastic bag and accept that the crust will be ruined by softening. The bread will still make fine toast at this point.
Lately I have been very surprised by how well my baked loaves have come back after freezing. I rebake them at 350 deg F for 15 or 20 minutes after they have defrosted, and I'm very happy with the results. Then I do the cut-side-down thing.
Of course, this doesn't do so well for baguettes. But a frozen and reheated baguette can be pretty decent. So I've been cutting my (half-length) baguettes in half and freezing most of the halves.
I haven't tried wrapping with cloths, but I'm pretty happy with cut-side-down.
Probably combined with a dish towel over the top.
Thanks
Another thing that not so many people seem to know about is that you can get perforated or even micro-perforated plastic bread bags. These are good for transporting freshly baked bread without softening that beautiful crust it had when it came out of the oven. So you can carry freshly baked bread to friends or a farmer's market. So many times I see good-looking bread, bread I'd be interested in buying, and it's been sealed in plastic bags. Darn!
You can get perforated bags from King Arthur, but if you have some patience you can find them in quantity on line. You might have to buy 1000 at one time, but they're not all that expensive considering how long that will last you. There are even different shapes, such as long and narrow for "French" bread or baguettes.
I think these perforated bags work better than paper bags, which in turn work much better than solid plastic. They won't keep a loaf from drying out for too long, but they work well for transporting fresh bread.
Instead of baking double loaves (which has some advantages in simplicity and more foolproof bulk fermentation and proofing) I could bake an oval and a boule (which fit together on my baking stone) and freeze one after it cools (and in the case of rye, sets a day later). When the first loaf starts running low, I could start defrosting the next one.
That sounds very feasible. I usually bake loaves that contain 300g of flour. This makes about a pound (~450g) of baked bread, give or take. It's a good size for two (older) people. Sometimes I make two of them. Last time I did, I froze one.
In the last sentence of my comment up there I was referring to your couche, I got it mixed up with the word banneton because I was just writing about it in the previous paragraph. But I actually meant that the couche might not be dry enough if it wasn't clear.
I had it happen once. I just scraped off the cloth, rinsed multiple times under cold water, then tossed it in the washing machine with other dirty clothes. The space time continuum did not unravel. The couche works just fine. Now I always air dry or dry in the sun, if possible, before I put it away in its ziploc bag.
Phil
I always brush the loose flour off the couche, then store it in a plastic bag in the freezer. If I thought it necessary I wouldn't hesitate to wash it.
I'd try a gentle wash in cold water and then hang them to air dry.
To prevent mold and bugs on my couches and bannetons I put them in my cooling oven until they are dry and then store them in zip-lock bags.
Tony
is lethal for most molds.
The couche will never build up too much debris or mold if you air dry every time you use it and shake off / lightly brush off the dried flour. There should never be larger pieces of debris if you have initially and continually kept an adequate dusting rubbed into the cloth. There isn’t any purpose of having too much coating on the cloth. Freezing the cloth rolled in a sealed plastic bag will keep it perfect year after year.