Most sourdough bread recipes recommend that you cover your banneton basket with a plastic bag when you put it in the fridge for a cold proof. But, this isn’t an absolute requirement! In fact, I almost always choose to keep my banneton baskets uncovered. There are pros and cons to both techniques. So, what follows is my slightly political answer to this question: should you cover your banneton basket in the fridge?
You can cover your banneton basket in the fridge with a plastic bag for an air-tight seal, or you can also keep your dough uncovered in the fridge. Moisture will be trapped around the dough that is covered in plastic, and a dry layer of skin will form on the uncovered dough. Both methods work fine!
In this article, I will go through the pros and cons of covering your banneton basket.
And, I’ll explain why I almost always leave my sourdough bread uncovered in the fridge nowadays. Let’s get into it!
Why I Don’t Cover Up My Sourdough Bread in the Fridge (Video)
Some of My Favorite Baking Tools (Affiliate Links):
Baker of Seville Bread Lame
Oval Banneton Basket
Non-Stick Bread Pan
Non-Stick Focaccia Pan
2 Reasons I Don’t Cover Up My Banneton Baskets in the Fridge
1. Uncovered Dough Forms a Skin (But It’s Not a Problem!)
When you leave your sourdough bread uncovered in the fridge overnight, the part of the dough that is exposed to the air will naturally form a dry layer of skin. This is what people try to avoid by covering up their doughs with plastic wrap. But, for me, this thin layer of skin that forms isn’t actually a problem!
The part of the dough that forms the thin layer of skin will eventually become the BOTTOM of the loaf of bread. And once you bake the bread in the oven, you’ll barely be able to notice anything different about the bottom of the loaf. You might not even notice at all that the bottom of the loaf dried out a bit in the fridge.
2. Uncovered Dough Won’t Stick Very Easily to a Bread Peel
Another benefit of not covering your banneton basket in the fridge is that the dough won’t stick as easily to a bread peel. If you’ve even put moist dough directly on a wooden bread peel, you’ll know how easily it can stick and create a disaster for you trying to get it off.
When you don’t cover your dough in the fridge, a dry layer of skin forms on the exposed part of the dough. Since this dry area will become the bottom of the loaf of bread, the loaf will be very easy to slide around the bread peel. In fact, when I use a bread peel, the dough slides off so easily for me that I don’t even need to dust the peel with flour or cornmeal.
Let’s say you are deciding between covering your sourdough bread and leaving it uncovered in the fridge. Here’s why you might want to cover it up.
Why Cover Your Banneton Basket in the Fridge (A Few Reasons)
- If your bread dough tends to dry out too much in the fridge
- If you notice that the bottom of your bread is too crusty and difficult to slice after baking
- If your bread explodes in weird places along the bottom of the loaf
Some refrigerators work differently, and if the uncovered method doesn’t work for you, that’s completely fine. Any of the above situations are good reasons to try covering up your banneton basket in the fridge.
So, what should you use to cover up your banneton basket in the fridge?
3 Things You Can Use to Cover Your Banneton Basket
1. Plastic Grocery Bag
One simple option for covering your banneton basket in the fridge is to place your banneton basket full of dough inside of a plastic grocery bag. Tie up or close the bag around the basket. This method will keep the dough free from draughts and it will also fully trap moisture inside of the bag.
The downside of this method is that it traps and maintains moisture around the banneton basket itself, and not just the dough. Eventually, excess moisture could cause mold to grow on your banneton basket. To avoid this, you can cover your dough with something else that doesn’t enclose the entire basket.
2. Plastic Shower Cap
A plastic shower cap is another great option for covering up your banneton basket in the fridge. The shower cap will tighten around the top of the basket, trap moisture around the dough, and leave the rest of the banneton basket open to the air.
Shower caps are also reusable and relatively cheap. You can get a couple of reusable shower caps on Amazon here.
3. Banneton Basket Liner
Possibly the simplest option for covering your banneton basket in the fridge it to use the banneton basket liner that came with your banneton basket! Most proofing baskets come with a linen liner. Since you don’t need to use this liner to actually line the basket, many people lose track of the liners. But, you can easily place the liner on top of the banneton basket to cover your dough.
This method will protect the dough from draughts and keep it from completely drying out, but it won’t fully trap moisture around the dough. Because of that, it’s sort of a middle ground between covering your dough with plastic and leaving it uncovered.
This is my preferred method for covering my sourdough bread if I actually do want to cover it.
Conclusion
To summarize, you don’t necessarily need cover your banneton basket in the fridge, but you can cover it with a plastic bag, a shower cap, or a banneton basket liner if you want to.
My standard sourdough bread recipe works great when you let it cold proof in the fridge. Click here to see the recipe, and feel free to cover it up in the fridge, or don’t! The choice is yours.