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.