The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Greetings from Vancouver Island.

BrickAndMortarBaker's picture
BrickAndMortarBaker

Greetings from Vancouver Island.

Hello!

 

My name is Alex and I am a baker from Vancouver Island, Canada. I have been baking bread for a couple of years now and just love it.

I have been perusing the site for most of it and just now decided I should join up and add to the fun.

 

Happy Baking!

-Alex

 

 

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Welcome to the site, Alex.

Fingers crossed, by the end of next week my family and I will be settling into a new apartment in Vancouver (city).  Hopefully we'll get out to the Island a few times this summer.  

-Floyd

BrickAndMortarBaker's picture
BrickAndMortarBaker

Awesome!

Vancouver is a pretty cool place. I go there to visit family quite often and rather enjoy the change of pace from Victoria. It is much smaller and slower here. If you do end up coming to the Island, I would recommend stopping by the bakery I work at, Wildfire Bakery. We use all house milled flour (spelt, wheat, rye) and bake our bread in two large brick wood fired ovens.

Good luck on your apartment!

-Alex

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Will do (come check out your bakery the next time I'm on the Island).

-F

Janedo's picture
Janedo

Haven't been here in a while!

My family and I are coming out to Vancouver for the first time in ten years!!! I have to find out where to get great bread. Found any Floyd?

But I think I'll be bringing some of my starter just for fun to experiment with flour over there. I hope to get to the island, but it may be too difficult. Vancouver Island  bread just sounds like it must be good. 

pmccool's picture
pmccool

It has been a long time.  And it is good to see that you are alive and well.  Enjoy your trip. 

Paul

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

It has been way too long! 

It's great to hear from you. If you have time, I'd love to read how your baking endeavors have developed since you were last on TFL. I gather you were teaching some classes. What else?

David

Franko's picture
Franko

Good to see another Vancouver Islander join the site. Welcome Alex!

I'm a little further up-Island, closer to Nanaimo than Victoria, but get down your way at least once a year. Haven't had a chance to stop in at Wildfire yet but it's on my list for the next time we visit as I've heard lots of great things about your bakery.

All the best,

Franko

Janedo's picture
Janedo

Thanks for the welcome guys!

Life has been crazy!!!!! But the good news is that hubby has been home since  last July.  This year has been full with baking, of course, but also some other volunteer stuff in my town. As a paying job, I teach cooking class at our local organic coop and that has been really fun!! I have taught some baking classes and a couple of weeks ago, took part in an  event in Montpellier all around eating organic, local and for people with food intolerances. Flo was there to teach classes on cooking gluten, caseine,  free and I taught sourdough baking of course. 

My husband and I have decided to eat local as much as possible and so I sourced some flour that comes from about 100km. Its a small mill and bakery, stone ground flour. They don't go whiter than T80 which is called bis, so like a semi whole wheat but looks grey. Remember our flour discussion?? ;-) Anyway, it makes the most incredible bread!!! Hard to obtain a very open crumb and pretty sticky dough, but I dare say, if you tasted it, you'd proclaim bread heaven! 

We still haven't had time to get the wood firing oven built. It is still sitting in our garage. Don't want to it too much pressure on my husband as we also have a terrace to finish and of course, I can't help. I do the veggie patch which is pretty big. 

I'm  baking some bread today. If it is BEAUTIFUL, I'll show you!

 

I have to find time to see all the beautiful breads that are being baked here! I send people here very often. Best place for bread bakers. 

 

Jane

 

 

henryruczynski's picture
henryruczynski

Alex

We make it out to Victoria maybe once a year and head straight to Wildfire.

Love everything about the shop and glad that you are happy working there.

The products look and taste great – that doesn’t happen by accident, but hard work.

 

FloydM

Good luck with your new apartment and living in “affordable” Vancouver.

 

If either of you would like to see the bread baking facilities at Vancouver Convention

Center, I’d be more than happy to give you a tour.

 

Regards

H

 

JerryC's picture
JerryC

I was in Vancouver last week and was on a mission to find Red Fife flour. We stayed for a couple of days in Victoria. I read about your Wildfire bakery, but we didn't make it there. I will visit the next time we are up there. We did go to True Grains in Mill Bay and I was able to purchase some flour there. I made a couple of loaves using ADY and a 50-50 split ofbread flour and Red Fife. The bread ca,e out pretty flat (high hydration)  but was very tasty. I am going to make a muffuletta sandwich with some today. I'm interested in learning to make breads from older strains of wheat as I have friends that have some degree of gluten intolerance, and I believe that has some relation to newerstrains of wheat.

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hi Alex,
I haven't been to your bakery in Victoria, but will stop in the next time I'm visiting your city.
I wanted to visit Wildfire the last time we were there, but missed out.
Glad to have another BC-baker to correspond with here on TFL :^)

@ Floyd, best wishes with your move!

@ JerryC, if you are ever shopping for Red Fife in the Vancouver area again, Anita's Organic is now carrying it:
http://anitasorganic.com/_docs/anitas-newsletter-march-2012.pdf 
I've seen Red Fife flour at Galloway's too:
http://gallowaysfoods.com/index.php/product_details/view_product/warehouse/00/part_num/042-0132-26/red-fife-ww-flour-organic

... but happy to read you found True Grain's Red Fife flour on the Island (I've loved baking with that flour).

:^) breadsong