December baking

Before I get down to business with this post let me say Thank you to everyone who has supported Prairie Flour Bakery this past year. My special thanks to all of you who keep ordering bread, even when loaves don't turn out as I would like. And a special special thanks to Linda who gives moral support, time, and a "good hand". I learn something new about leaven, or fermentation, or the workings of my oven just about every week of baking, all of which feeds my spirit. I always hope this bright feeling somehow shows up in the bread I bake for you. May we all enjoy peace and joy in the coming holiday season and on into the new year.

Now, to business: In an effort to plan ahead, so you can plan ahead.....

I will bake Friday December 16th. The types of bread will be multigrain, rye, semolina and baguettes.

I will also do a pre-holiday bake on Friday, December 23rd for those who may be having company or otherwise planning a special meal...or just plain eating. I am not sure yet about which types of bread because I am still waiting to see if my shipment of olives will be delivered in time. So, for now I can only say that I will definitely bake multigrain, golden multigrain and baguettes.

If you know what you will want either of those dates, feel free to place your order right away. Otherwise, be sure to get your order in by noon of the Wednesday before bake day. I will let you know as soon as I can about the olive bread.

Next Baking Dates

..are here.

bakery closed Aug. 25-26

I will not be baking this last full week of August--the 25th-26th.

Breads for week of August 11th and 12th

I will be baking on Thursday and Friday next week.

• Thursday Aug. 11th I will bake multigrain, golden multigrain, miche and baguettes.

• Friday Aug 12th I will bake semolina, olive, pain au levain and baguettes.

If you will want bread next week, please let me know at least two days ahead, i.e. by noon on Tuesday for Thursday bread and by noon Wednesday for Friday bread.

Please try to get your order in before the deadline. I accommodate late orders when I can but it is difficult to do.

Breads for week of July 14th and 15th

On Thursday, July 14th I will bake multigrain, golden multigrain and baguettes.

On Friday, July 15th I will bake semolina, olive, pain au levain and baguettes.

If you will want bread, please order by email to ag.burnside@gmail.com. Deadline for ordering remains Tuesday noon for Thursday bread and Wednesday noon for Friday bread.

Thanks.

Breads for Thursday July 7th and Friday July 8th:

* Thursday I will bake multigrain, miche and baguettes.

* Friday I will bake ciabatta, olive bread and baguettes.

Please let me know by email to ag.burnside@gmail.com if you would like bread this week.

Truly local.

We are blessed here in the Northside with magnificent trees in our yards and along the streets. They shade our houses, harbor nesting birds and, when storm or disease take them down, bake our bread. A neighbor on Brown Street recently had to have an enormous sugar maple taken down. The tree trunk, cut into sections, completely filled our driveway. Today I will split the trunk into firewood and stack it to cure. Next winter I will bake bread with the energy stored in this wood.

People ask which wood is best for baking. I have found that different kinds of wood burn differently. Hickory and osage orange (hedge apple) and red oak burn the hottest; maple, ash and walnut burn less hot; basswood and cedar generate little heat. So which is best? There are times and situations for almost all of them. When I want to soak lots and lots of heat into the masonry to prepare for a large bake the following day, hickory is my favorite wood. When I want steady heat and wood which pretty quickly burns away to ash just before I load the loaves, I love maple, ash and walnut. Cedar is handy for getting a fire started. I haven't found a use for basswood yet.

And how do the different types of wood affect the taste of the loaves? Not at all. The oven heats to over 800 degrees F and every trace of wood, including even the oils of cedar and pine, are completely burned away. Once I swab out the hearth, there is nothing but heat remaining.

Week of June 23-24

I will bake both Thursday, June 23rd and Friday, June 24th:

Thursday breads will be miche, golden multigrain, and baguettes

Friday breads will be olive, deli rye, baguettes and pain au levain boules.

Please place your order by email to ag.burnside@gmail.com no later than noon Tuesday for Thursday bread and by noon Wednesday for Friday bread.

This week I will bake multigrain, rye, baguettes and pain au levain boules on Thursday, June 16th and semolina, olive, baguettes and pain au levain boules on Friday, June 17th.

The rye will be a lighter loaf than I have baked in the past--more of a deli rye. I am also trying some new techniques with the baguettes to make the crust thinner and crisper--more of a traditional baguette than a baguette-shaped pain au levain.

If you will want bread on Thursday, please place your order by email to ag.burnside@gmail.com by noon Tuesday, Fridays orders should be placed by noon Wednesday.

I think most people on the bread list understand that my oven is heated by burning wood, and bakes just with the heat retained in the masonry after all the coals and ashes have been cleaned out. This system is an ancient one. It has many favorable aspects such as providing a steam chamber while the loaves are baking, which in turn permits the loaves to "bloom" as they bake.

The system also has inherent limitations and one of the chief ones is that from load to load of bread, the heat in the masonry declines. I load the oven according to which types of bread bake at higher or lower temperatures, but at some point, there simply isn't enough heat remaining in the masonry to bake loaves as thoroughly as I would like.

The past few weeks have been thrilling for me because the orders have been large and I have pushed my beloved oven right to its limit--and a bit beyond. In order to make certain I have enough heat for all the loaves, I must either limit the orders I accept or bake the bread over two days. I am going to try the latter approach first.

On the "Next Baking Dates" page of the blog, I have listed the next two baking dates--Thursday June 2nd and Friday June 3rd. I will bake "brown" breads plus baguettes on Thursday; "white" breads including baguettes on Friday.

I regret making the bakery system even more cantankerous than it has been. By baking baguettes on both dates, I hope to permit (most) people to place their entire order on just one day. Interestingly, people seem to have a predilection for brown or white bread.

Why we have front porches in the Northside

Last Friday was such a wonderful release from the cold and wet of late winter/early spring, Linda and I put out bread and wine and pate and visited with people as they came to pick up bread. We enjoyed it and weather permitting, will repeat it. Feel free to stop and visit if we are enjoying the porch next time you pick up bread.

Next Baking Dates

I will bake bread the first two Fridays of May: May 6th and May 13th.

For May 6th I will bake : multigrain, semolina, rye and baguettes.

For May 13th I will bake: multigrain, olive, pain au levain boules and baguettes.

Some steps along the way

Once the dough is mixed, it ferments overnight in the fridge in a large tub. The next day, this fully fermented dough is turned out onto the table and scaled--cut into loaf-sized pieces.

In the meantime, my Associate for Logistics, Operations and Moral Support, Linda McGuire, has helped me preheat the oven. This requires a late night firing on Thursday and another early a.m. firing Friday, on bakeday. Most times of the year, these firings are nighttime events.

When the loaves have proofed and are ready to bake, we wheel them outside and load them into the oven.

A load of multigrain, nearly ready to come out of the oven. The oven walls are free of soot: in the firing process, the oven temperature is more than 700 degrees and all soot burns off, leaving white walls and dome.

Semolina loaves just out of the oven.

Part of a days bake, cooling on the table.

Got Bread!

76 loaves today--a big bake.

Fuel for the oven

Much of the wood for the bread oven comes from our land in Davis County. It seems that nearly every year our woodlot gives up a fair size oak or hickory tree. We cut the largest limbs and the trunk into manageable pieces and pick a weekend to split it all. In the process we find the most interesting bugs. This year, for the first time, we found a pseudoscorpion hiding in the bark. It was less than 1/4 inch in size and looked just like a tiny tick with scorpion claws--which is pretty much what a pseudoscorpion is.


Here is a look at part of the wood we cut, split, and stacked, and the crew who lent their hands. And backs.

Final Bread Bake for March and April

This coming Friday, March 11th, will be the final bread baking day for several weeks. Since I will be away from the oven for a while, I will bake some of just about everything: multigrain, golden multigrain, semolina, olive, and baguettes.

While I am away, I will be wearing my farmer hat--working at our place in southern Iowa to get ready for spring prairie burns. Just cannot seem to keep away from fire.

March baking dates

I will bake bread on the first two Fridays of March: March 4th and March 11th. On the 4th I will bake multigrain, rye bread, olive bread and baguettes. Haven't decided yet for the 11th, but will send out an email when I know.

Bread for Friday, Feb. 11th

I do think the changes I am making in handling leaven and timing fermentation is producing a nicer loaf, so I will keep working on it. One result of these changes is that I cannot make more than 4 types of bread in one day. If I try to do more than that, I end up shortchanging at least one batch of dough and I'm not willing to do that.

So, check here each baking week to see which types I will be baking. I will try always to bake a mix of "brown" and "white" loaves. You may want to consider stocking up on your favorite type(s) on the weeks you see them on the baking menu.

That said: this week's menu of 4 will be: (1) multigrain miche, (2) semolina, (3) olive and (4) baguettes.

This week's bake and looking forward into February

I will bake bread this coming Friday, January 28th and the types I will bake are multigrain, golden multigrain, olive and baguettes.

I will also bake bagels--all the usual types-- on Saturday, January 29th.

If you will want either bread or bagels, let me know by noon Wednesday, January 26th. It is possible/likely there will be orders for more bagels than I can handle, so order early to optimize your odds.

The dreaded month of February will shortly be upon us. I will bake bread on Friday, February 11th and Friday February 25th. The other weeks I will be travelling to visit family.

New Year is a good time to make some changes.

I will bake bread this Friday, January 21st. As I explained in this week's email to the Bread List, I will be baking fewer types of bread per week while I work on changing some techniques.

This week I will bake multigrain and semolina boules, and pain au levain shaped as boules and baguettes. If you will want bread, send your order to me by email (ag.burnside@gmail.com) no later than noon, Wednesday January 19th.

A few other changes: In attempting to streamline the entire process, I have opted to have the labels printed by a local company. They are a generic label now, with just the bakery logo and name. If you wish to have the full ingredient information, as the labels used to show, just let me know and I will be happy to provide it.

I am interested also in encouraging people to provide their own bags. Paper bags are probably less toxic than plastic ones to the landfill, but waste is waste. Certainly many people will not find it feasible to drop off a reusable bag prior to bake day, but if it does work for you, please feel free to do so. Make certain your name is clearly written on the bag. When you come to pick up your bag, take a nickel per loaf out of the cash box.

January baking days

Linda and I send our wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy and interesting New Year.

• I will bake bagels on Saturday, Jan. 8th. Bagels are typically a Sunday event, but I will be away on a short trip to NY on Sunday, so Saturday it is.
• I will bake bread on Friday January 21st and Friday January 28th. As always, please let me know by noon of the preceding Wednesday if you will want bread. I will put out a message closer in time to the baking days to tell which types of bread I will be baking on those days.
• I will try to get another bagel baking day scheduled in January--maybe Saturday the 29th. We will see how the month goes.