The San Francisco Baking Institute is a baking and pastry school that trains bakers and promotes artisan bread baking. Their mission includes a nonprofit scholarship foundation that helps fund economically-challenged students in becoming skilled professional bakers, and 100% of the profits from these lined proofing baskets goes towards that fund.
Good Product: SFBI Scholarship Proofing Baskets
Proofing baskets like these are used in artisan baking to give the bread an even shape and traditional design. These are lined with linen, but you can buy other baskets, or bannetons, that will imprint beautiful coiled designs on your loaves. With all the hubbub about baking and the Bittman bread, these might make a great gift for your favorite baker this Christmas, and you'll be helping a student in the process. The baskets run from $8-$12, depending on size, so they're very reasonably priced as well.
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How do you use a proofing basket?
Paul, you put the dough in the basket for a part of the rising process which is called "proofing". This way the dough can breathe without drying out.
Paul--Essentially, you do the final proofing in the bread basket--this is the same point in the recipe at which you'd let your loaves rise in the loaf pans until they crest over the top. When they've about doubled in size, you invert the dough onto a floured peel (those long paddles they use to shuffle pizzas into brick ovens), lift away the basket, and nudge your loaf into your oven on top of a baking stone using the peel.
It's definitely more labor intensive (especially in terms of the equipment you need), but the payoff is in the nice shape of your final loaf, a crispier and more developed crust, and the oohs and ahhs you'll get from everyone who passes through your kitchen.
There are some recipes for bread baked this way on my blog (click my name) and if you're interested, feel free to e-mail me. I can talk about bread till the cows come home!