I just started a new job where one of my tasks is to keep the restaurant supplied with fresh bread for their bread baskets.  The exec chef and I have decided on a baguette of some type (I'm thinking something like a whole wheat molasses dough), a 7-grain epi, and a sundried tomato fougasse. 

I have other tasks as well, so making fresh dough every day will be impossible.  I am thinking about doing all of my dough production on one day and freezing it, so it can be proofed and baked for service.  I do have a large proof box and three hearth ovens in my kitchen, so volume is not the problem.  I'm trying to come up with some sort of organization that would be best suited to my product.

At what stage can I freeze the dough?  Can I take it all the way to the shaping/final proofing stage and freeze shaped (unbaked) loaves?  How can I defrost and properly proof and bake them?

This is my first time not baking on the same day that I've shaped the dough, so I'm kind of clueless.  At what point would it be best frozen and thawed? 

 Thanks in advance for the help!

Kristen

Hi Mike--

I have a small bakeshop that I operate out of my home; it will be 2 years this month that I've been at it.  I sell very well at the Farmers' Markets, but then comes the winter, and although I have had it in stores, it becomes more of a hit-or-miss affair, and my income drops significantly.  I also have the issue of packaging; a few of my breads aren't easily packaged in anything other than what I use at the market.  I had thought about starting a bread club for over the winter: from my standpoint, I'd have guaranteed income and be able to offer over the winter months all of my breads, not just certain ones.  From my customers' standpoint, it would be guaranteed bread, and also, all the varieties would still be available (though not only at once, of course).  My thought was that you could decide one of two or three tiers in the club, dependent on your needs, and pick from a variety of 4 or 5 breads, so if you can't eat nuts, you're not stuck with Cranberry Walnut, or if you don't eat white bread, you don't get the White Country Boule.  I'd also try to offer incentives to being in the club, though I'm not sure yet what they would be.  This club would be in addition to the grocery store that my bread is also available in, since I think the grocery store also fills a need.  What are your thoughts on this idea?  How did you make yours work?  Any pitfalls I need to watch out for?

SOL

By the way, I had tried to mail this to you on your website, but there was a problem with the server.

Hello!

I was a home baker and decided to find a job in a bakery to learn about professional baking.  Now I am employed at a restaurant as the baker - expected to fill the bread basket for a higher-end meal in the middle of nowhere (high end hear is probably not high-end in a city).  I usually make a country white loaf (a little whole wheat thrown in) and sometimes add rosemary and/or olives, etc.

OK - so we have ONLY Convection ovens and the air flow does not turn off, ever.  

I begin work at 7 am, Friday morning and work 5 days.  So.. my idea of good flavored bread from home baking was to retard the loaves overnight.  I don't work Thursday to make that happen Friday - and  there is no room in the fridge for bread.  So - I use a sourdough starter to try to add flavor but use yeast to get the rise in time for dinner. 

Any suggests in improving bread quality?  I have not been using steam in the convection ... someone mentioned brushing water onto the loaves before putting them in the oven.  Would this help the crust? 

Also - for taste quality I have already mentioned using a sourdough culture to add flavor.  I have been adjusting the yeast amounts to find the perfect amount to add without overpowering the sourdough flavor - if that is possible.  So far, I bake about 24 1.5 pound loaves (about 3 pounds starter, 9 pounds flour, down to 1 T + 1 tsp active yeast.) 

Which is another issue for me (and maybe it isn't an issue) - I am supplied with Active Yeast and so I must use hot water to wake up the yeast.  I do not add all hot water - usually just a percentage of the water is used to waken the yeast... but maybe I should insist on Instant?

Could someone in the professional world give me advice? 

I seek a thin, crunchy crust and nutty flavor.   

Thanks in advance!

-

Elise 

Hey guys,

I've got a exam on next week for baking, and am a bit stuck on getting the correct water temp for the dough too finish at 27-28degree's celcius, Obviously, depending on how big the dough is, and how big the mixer is your going to have to use different factors, but I've heard about a major factor, and a simple factor? From how I was taught, We get the flour tempreture add it to the room temp, divide that by two and subtract whatever you get from 39dc,

Thanks,

Rob :)  

Has anyone heard any news about The Coupe Du Monde De La Boulangarie?  I know competion was to start on March 30 and I thought it ended today.  I know one of the bakers, Solvieg Tofte and wish her and the team well.

Scotty

I quit working at the bakery yesterday.  Sad but true.  I could not take it anymore.  This is what happened :

My boss asked me to empty the dough from the mixer after bulk ferment.  I had to dust flour on top of it, so I did.  The head baker once told me that I also had to  put on the mixer and dust some flour to the sides too in order to easily remove it without sticking.  So I did.  My boss freaked out.  He was seriously pissed.  I was stunned because of his reaction and could not say a word.  

After that I kept on shaping bread while my boss was saying : "This dough is like concrete, otherwise it is not as hard, this is because of turning on the mixer."  He said this like 20 times.  His wife tried to calm him down but without succes and she left.  After that I pushed the dough on the table in order to prevent it to slide off the side of the workbench.  My boss freaked out even more.  He said he did not want me to touch the dough at all.  He said I could play with dough in culinary school but not at his bakery.  Stunned for the second time I could not react at all and kept my mouth shut.

I had to leave right after that second incident, but I did keep working.  I told the pastry chef that I could not keep on working here.  I did for the rest of the day until it work was done.  After changing clothes I went to the bakery store and told his wife I would stop working there, that I just could not do it anymore like this.  She called her husband and I swear if he could knocked me down with his eyes he would have.  He told her that he was in charge to keep the work go fast forward and left.  I told him I did not know he did not wanted me to turn on the mixer but that the master baker (who was in the hospital because of his illness) had once told me to do it this way.  He left again.

His wife asked to change my mind and show up Friday to give the boss a second chance.  I left.  That night when my wife came home I explained what happened.  We argued and she told me that if I had to come home all stressed up every day that it was better to quit immediately.  I drove to the bakery once again and told the boss his wife I would not show up anymore.  We had a good talk and she regretted I did not try to stay and give it another try.  She told me her husband is not an easy person to live/work with (I already knew that.)  She told me he might call me.  She asked me to rethink my decision but I asked to pay me for my work and I probably would not change my mind and wished her good luck finding someone else.

That night I sent an email to the pastry chef to chit chat a bit more about what happened.  The phone rang and his wife told me he was already in bed because he had to start early working the next day.  She asked me what happened and I explained.  She said that her opinion is that the boss is like not normal.  She said he is like impossible to work with and that me leaving proved this.  She also felt bad for her husband, because he really liked working with me.  So I feel a bit better about the situation, knowing my ex-boss is a difficult guy to deal with. 

I wanted to share this with you guys.  Any feedback is more than welcome.  Thanks.

Bart - Belgium

ok, I know why prices are going up.. so now that i have your attention, a serious question: i'm the chef for a large hotel, and oddly enough I am also the head baker. I have used many different flours over the years & I have used a number of KA flours with reasonable success. With the price of flour, coupled with the ever present necessity to be market competitive, i have been experimenting with a few lesser known flour's. Admittedly there is a difference. The nuances of wheat & their regional properties is a given. My question is why has KA increased 40+% and  the flour i am experimenting with has gone up .35 cents. ? After taking the obvious under close consideration... both are high gluten w/ simular protein, ash etc. characteristics. the flour i am toying with is from a mill in texas: morrisons diamond "M". i dont really like this flour but it is less than 1/2 the price. bagels & pizza dough, focaccia, bialy's.. it works. any ideas?

So I am working at the bakery as I mentioned in a previous posting. I love it. Because the illness of the master baker (he was diagnosted with cancer) I work there 3 days instead of two. I slowly becoming better in shaping bread at a decent speed. Speed seems to be the thing that is the hardest to learn. I am so slow at certain things I need to do...

Hi,

Hello all! First of all, please excuse any type-os or misspellings as I do not have my spellchecker option available to me . :)I need some advice about a becoming a 'pro' straight from being a novice home baker.