The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

My Farmer's Market Journey

amberartisan's picture
amberartisan

My Farmer's Market Journey

I'm going to follow in @joshfoxbreadco (Golgi70's) footsteps with my own Farmer's Market blog! I own Amber Artisan Bread, a cottage food operation located in Prosser, Washington.

After waiting an agonizing 4 months to get through the layers of beurocracy, I finally have my permit and am selling!

This week, I sold $100 worth of bread in 2 hours at my 8,000 head town's farmer's market.

Since I can only take individually approved items, I decided on only a few items: Country Levain, Wholewheat Levain, and Baguettes. Next week I'm going to do 100% Rye as well.

I took 18 baguettes, 4 Country Levain, and 7 Wholehweat Levain. Originally I made 10 levain, but 5 got lost because I thought my oven was on but it was not! Won't do that again. A lot of the difficulty was making my bread fit into my high school day schedule. So I used my lunch break to autolyze doughs and feed starters, then when I came home at 3:00 PM I basically baked straight until 11:00 PM. Next morning, it was get up at 5:00 AM and bake off the retarded Country Levain loaves.

My levain and wholewheat do draw heavily off the Tartine method, but it uses a firm starter rather than a liquid.

COUNTRY LEVAIN:

50% AP Flour, 11.2-11.7% Protein (I used Shepherd's Grain Low Gluten)

50% Central Milling Type 85 Flour

86% Water

2.2% Salt

17% Levain (Firm - 60% Hydration, 50% AP/ 50% WW, 50% Starter. 3.5 hours @81F)

3 hour Autolyze. Short Mix, DDT 81-83F. 3.5 hour bulk with 5 folds. Preshape Round. Shape Oblong. Proof 30 minutes. Retard 10-11 hours @45F. Bake at 480 with Towel Steam for 20 minutes, then vent for 30-40 minutes, rotating as needed.

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WHOLEWHEAT LEVAIN:

30% AP Flour, 11.2-11.7% Protein (I used Shepherd's Grain Low Gluten)

70% Whole-Wheat Flour (Split 50-50 between Hard Red Wheat and Hard White Wheat)

95% Water

2.25% Salt

15% Levain (Firm - 70% Hydration, 100% WW, 40% Starter. 3.5 hours @81F )

3 hour Autolyze. Short Mix, DDT 81-83F. 3.5 hour bulk with 5 folds. Preshape Round. Shape Oblong by "Stitching" Method. Proof 30 minutes. Retard 10-11 hours @45F. Bake at 480 with Towel Steam for 20 minutes, then vent for 30-40 minutes, rotating as needed.

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BAGUETTE: 

95% AP Flour (Shep Grain LG - 11.2-11.7% Protein)

5% Wheat Germ

75% Water

1.8% Salt

.16% IDY

Autolyze 30 minutes. DDT 65F. Mix. Bulk 1 hour with 3 folds. Retard for 21 hours @42-43F. Divide, Preshape Oblong. Rest 45 minutes. Shape in 2 stages, depending on tenacity. Proof 30-45 minutes. Bake with steam 18 minutes, then vented as needed until browned to a reddish tinge.

 

AND... PICUTRES!!! Which can be found on my instagram feed, @amberartisan.

Left: Preshaped dough. Levain on the right side, wholewheat on the left. 36 pounds of dough! Yahoo!

Right: Baguetes rising in their couche. Shaping still needs work, obviously!

 

Left: Wholewheat Cooling on Racks. Nice ears for such high hydration, if I do say so myself.

Right: Baguettes in the market transport tub.

Left: Levain cooling on the cooling rack.

Right: Wholewheat Crumbshot.

Left: Baguette Crumbshot.

Right: Levain Crumbshot.

Left: Giant gluten bubble!

Right: Dough covered hands, the photo button was pressed using my toe, so it is still a selfie!

Comments

Maverick's picture
Maverick

Love the look of that bread. Keep a bucket of water near by to keep your hands wet and the dough won't stick to your hands. I am impressed with the amount of bread you made. Keep up the good work.

amberartisan's picture
amberartisan

But usually during the mixing since I have to get the firm starter incorporated it happens anyways.

When I fold I usually get minimal dough sticking.

Kiseger's picture
Kiseger

These all look wonderful, I'm not surprised you sold out in 2 hours!!  Love the toe-taken-selfie!! 

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

Amber, that is great that you managed to get through the bureaucracy and get your business up and running while still in high school.  Well done. Your breads look very good. 

I was curious how you get your feeding/autolysing done during the lunch break. Does your school cafeteria let you use their kitchen, or do you do this in the trunk of your car? :)

amberartisan's picture
amberartisan

I am very lucky to live a 45 second sprint away from home. And my school lets me come home for lunch. So essentially, it is the perfect arrangement for me!