Shaping is where most beginners get stuck, mostly because videos make it look like a single fluid motion. It is not. It is three small, separate jobs, and each one is easy.
1. Pre-shape
Tip the dough onto an unfloured bench. Use a bench scraper to push it into a rough round, letting the bottom stick slightly to the counter as you drag. Leave it for 20 minutes, uncovered. It will relax and spread a little.
2. Build tension
- Flour the top lightly and flip it so the floured side is down.
- Fold the bottom third up, the sides in, then the top down, like an envelope.
- Roll it towards you so the seam is underneath.
- Cup your hands behind it and pull it towards you a few centimetres. The friction tightens the skin.
- Rotate a quarter turn and repeat three or four times.
3. Into the basket
Dust the banneton with rice flour, not wheat flour. Rice flour has no gluten, so it will not glue itself to the dough overnight. Place the loaf seam side up, pinch the seam closed, and cover.
If the dough tears, you went too far. If it slumps, you did not go far enough. Both are fine. Bake it anyway.
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