Even though your homemade bread tastes wonderful, we breadmakers want it to look beautiful too. With one of these rising baskets--this one or the round one of the slim baguette one, your friends and family will not believe that you made the beautiful artisan bread, even though it tastes better than any they can buy. Count that double for San Francisco Sourdough Bread--which needs a shaping basket even more than bread made with commercial yeast because the sour part of the dough weakens the gluten a little. The is a perfect size for a loaf of bread for a family meal. Why use a loaf pan for your beautiful home-baked bread when you can shape it like the European artisan bakers do with this Proofing Basket? Before you use your basket: Get it ready to shape your dough by coating it thoroughly with flour. With a soft cloth, rub the flour into the rattan so that all of the inside has a nice flour coating. Dump out the excess flour gently. Then you're ready to put your baguette-shaped unrisen dough into the basket for its final rise. When your dough has risen, place a baking sheet on top of the basket and turn the basket over so that the shaped loaf rests on the baking sheet. You may brush off the excess flour with a soft dry pastry brush--or not. Bake as usual. Another method you can use is to heavily flour a cotton tea towel and put it inside the basket--then add your shaped loaf. Saves having to deal with a "floury" basket. Handmade in Viet Nam of natural uncoated rattan. The slim oblong baguette-shaped rising basket as well as the oblong one are sold by SourdoughBreads,I have also put together some kits--combinations of several items for cooks and breadmakers. One of those kits will save you money because the price of the kit is a lot lower than the individual items would be if you bought them separately. They make great gifts.