Sourdough is simple right? I mean, how difficult can it be?
Oh boy, if that were only true. No really, we could spend more time making new recipes or goofing off. Sourdough was an eye-opening journey that yielded an incredible reward.
We make all of our own starter and sourdough from scratch, the way that dough has been made by countless generations. We knead by hand and use live starters. Did you know that the live starter is actually good to maintain a healthy digestion. Much the same way that one might think of yogurt for cultures and enzymes, sourdough is good for the body. In addition, you won’t find processed sugars, oils, fats, dairy, or preservatives in our dough. With our work, we live by a scheduled regimen to yield that wonderfully delicious leavening gold.
The dough
We’re often asked how we make such great tasting bread. While we giggle at the opportunity to tease and say, “it’s made with love,” the simple truth is that more than half of the work is realized within the dough preparation phase. This one phase alone has many stages that are designed to produce a different quality dough with a variety of new characteristics at each step. At some point or another, the dough is kneaded, rested, stretched, folded, and so on. As if all the fun was in the preparation tasks, each of these are based on schedule. To make matters worse, there really is a proper sequencing of events. You see, these intervals are designed to obtain all of the proper characteristics from the dough before it will be ready for baking.
The oven
And you thought that was it; there is also a science to how the bread is baked you know. It’s too bad that the dough cannot be plopped into the oven until a timer sounds. Like the dough preparation, there are actually different steps during the baking phase albeit, they’re slightly less involved. A warning on occupational hazards: don’t be lulled by the warmth of the oven. You’ll want to keep your whits about you and steer clear of the door while you’re moving about the kitchen between batches. While it seems common sense, wait until you’re moving dozens of loaves in a day, and trying to navigate around obstacles like a crane operator, while not dropping any precious cargo. Lookout!
The knife
Lastly, let’s not overlook the visual presentation. The patterns on the dough take time to create upon the surface. They also require some imagination and forethought that must coalesce together to form a pattern that’s visually pleasing. This requires knowledge on how the bread will move and rise while in the oven. It’s quite fun, but if you ever decide to go down this path, it’s not as easy as 1, 2, 3.
So how long does it take to make bread, really?
Two days. Seriously. Bread is made in batches and the dough preparation takes hours. Many times the resting phase and leavening phases are unintentionally discredited. Dough prep time is between 12-24 hours, depending on size and quantity of the dough. Bake day is always day two and it cannot be missed. Bake too early and the bread loaf is not pleasing. Wait too long, and the bread loaf is not pleasing. Hitting the mark right is similar to threading a needle.
When should I order bread?
Before the end of the business day and with a little patience between placing the order and when you want the order fulfilled. REALLY. We prep the dough for orders the day before. So if you’re placing an order at 8PM, the dough for your order won’t be started until the following day.
Bread orders have to come in by Thursday or early Friday to be picked up and baked on Saturday.
I want to order for an office party, can you support this?
Yep. We’ve done this in the past. We just ask that you coordinate with some lead time so that we don’t start a fire-drill and interfere with other patrons. Again, absolutely we can fulfill larger orders.
May I request a specific pattern on the bread?
Sure. Please don’t ask for an image of a Transformer though. We stick to clean, simple, and not overly intricate patterns; traditional sourdough artwork. If you are able to provide an image, that’s helpful.
May I customize any order?
To some extent. Flavors and colors are fairly opened to discussion. The core ingredients of the bread dough are not. There is a very specific texture and characteristic to the bread dough. Changing ingredients modifies how it bakes. We’d feel awful to deliver something that was not perfect. That being said, we typically iterate on each one of our products dozens, if not hundreds of times before we’re happy enough to sell them.
