Baking supplies

If you mean Portland, Oregon I've found some things at the Bob's Red Mill store and some things at Rose Restaurant Supply downtown.

http://bobsredmill.com

http://www.rosesequipment.com/

If you find other resources, I'd love to know about them!

If finding exactly the thing you want in a local bricks-and-mortar establishment is problematic (it often is:-), I recommend seriously considering mail order for some items. Suddenly the variety is a lot larger and the quality better, and the cost of shipping compares reasonably with the cost of gasoline (plus the headaches) of trying to purchase things locally.

Investigate KAF, SFBI/TMB, The New York Baker, Amazon, eBay, etc. etc. Once in a while you'll find a place where the prices seem awfully high, but just keep shopping around; it would be a mistake to conclude all mail-order equipment is expensive -- it's not.

After several rather fruitless visits to various local shops, I've wound up mail-ordering much of my baking equipment (scales, linen canvas, dough whisk, serrated knife, lame handle, thermometers, mixer, etc.) from various places. (I happened to find good local sources for razor blades, parchment paper, measuring spoons [which I no longer use very much], lava rocks, mixing bowls, and springform pan [for deep dish pizza] - but that's all.)

Thanks for the kind words about the scoring tutorial!

I agree with Chuck about online sources being most fruitful for most locales. Having shopped online for most of the baking equipment I have, here are my best sources for some of the basics:

For baker's linen to use for couches, I've found two sources - KAF and TMB which is the equipment arm of the San Francisco Baking Institute. TMB's price is significantly better. Here's a link: www.sfbi.com/baking_supplies.html

That is also my favorite source for both coiled cane brotformen and French linen-lined bannetons.

If you want other sizes or shapes of banneton, www.brotforms.com has a wider selection and pretty good prices. Clover Trading has lower prices, but they have a $50 minimum order, and I can't attest to their quality.

As you saw in the Scoring Tutorial, there are a number of options for cutting implements. My current favorite for all breads except ryes, is a double-edged razor blade mounted on a handle. TMB has these handles. Bridge Kitchenware at www.bridgekitchenware.com/browse.cfm/bread-stamps-lames/2,33.html has the handles for a bit less. Of course, many just use a disposable coffee stirrer for a handle, but I like the thin metal handles, because I can easily adjust the curve of the blade.

These are the hardest items to find, in my experience. If you are having problems sourcing other stuff, ask here.

Happy baking!

David

P.S. TMB has a mere fraction of what they sell on their web site. Their full catalogue is the size of a phone book. If you call them, ask about anything you want. They probably carry it or can get it for you.