A banneton exists to hold a loaf's shape against gravity. Pizza dough wants to relax and spread. Those are opposite goals.
By Scooter M./Published September 1, 2026
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A banneton - a proofing basket, usually cane or wood pulp - supports a shaped loaf during its final rise. A slack, well-fermented bread dough left on a flat surface spreads sideways under its own weight; the basket holds it upright so it goes into the oven tall and the oven spring goes up rather than out.
The ridges are secondary: they make the flour pattern people recognize, and they give the surface a little grip.
You are going to stretch this ball flat. Everything you want from the proof is in service of that: an even, relaxed, extensible disc that opens without fighting you and without tearing in the middle.
A ball held upright in a basket does the reverse. It keeps its dome, the gluten stays under tension, and when you press it out it springs back. That is exactly the property that makes a good loaf and exactly the property that makes stretching a pizza harder than it needs to be.
Hold vs relax
The whole difference in two words
A banneton holds shape against gravity so a loaf rises upward. A pizza tray lets a ball relax outward so it opens easily. Same category of object, opposite jobs.
| Banneton | Dough tray or tub | |
|---|---|---|
| Shapes the dough | Yes, upward | Yes, outward into a disc |
| Sealed against drying | No - needs a cover or a bag | Yes, with a lid |
| Stacks in a fridge | No | Yes |
| Cleaning | Brush only, never wash | Dishwasher or sink |
| Cold retard for 48-72 h | Awkward - the surface dries | What it is designed for |
| Right for pizza | No | Yes |
If you also bake bread. Then buy one, and buy it for the loaf.
Pan pizza with a very slack dough. A high-hydration Detroit or Sicilian dough proofs in the pan it bakes in, which is a tray, not a basket.
Sourdough pizza at high hydration, as an intermediate bulk vessel - but a lidded tub does the same job while also stopping the surface skinning, and the surface skinning is the specific failure mode of an uncovered basket in a fridge.
A lidded container roughly twice the height of a seated ball and about 1.5 times its diameter across, and a bench scraper to divide and lift with. That is the whole kit, and it costs less than one basket. The container roundup has the sizing.
Ooni
Shallow, stackable and 3.7 inches tall, which makes this the only dough box here that clears a domestic fridge shelf. The maker publishes both the dimensions and the dough-ball count, which is more than the restaurant-supply options manage.
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Cambro
The same unbreakable polycarbonate as the 6-quart everyone recommends, at 4 3/16 inches tall instead of nearly 11. One ball per tub, and it fits.
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OXO
Six inches of stainless with inch markings etched into it. It divides dough, it lifts dough, and it measures the divisions - which is more than most single-purpose dough tools manage.
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Every number on this page came from one of these, or from arithmetic on one of these that we showed in full.