'routine' for daily baking
Hi,
Now that I've developed a very healthy and robust starter AND have mastered a couple breads that are favoured in our household, I'm trying to get myself into a routine for daily baking. Why daily, you might ask? Needless to say, my husband (and 7 y.o. son) have a penchant for extremely fresh bread. If I make two loaves, e.g., the second one is consumed at a MUCH slower rate the second day.
Ideally, the bread would be ready for breakfast and for preparing school lunches in the morning. Not wanting to get up at 3 to accomplish this, I'm wondering if anyone on TFL has developed their own routine for accomplishing the daily loaf. I should also mention that we are partial, usually, to grainy loaves, so many of the recipes I use involve an overnight soaker.
My current approach:
I am home during the day most days, so can accomplish the routine where I build my soaker and pre-ferment the night before and then work the rest of the magic throughout the day. The trouble here is that if I bake the loaf before supper, someone invariably hacks into it while it is still warm (grrrrr!) and then there is none left for the next day. I am working to time it so I bake the bread after the kids go to sleep, then let it cool overnight, because my attempts at behaviour modification have been futile....or else the smell of freshly baked bread is just too overpowering.
How do the rest of you out there do this?
What happens in a bakery that sets out fresh loaves at 6:30 or 7 am? Are these all accomplished by insomniac bakers who start at 3 in the morning? Or are there any other "tricks of the trade"?
Thanks!
MommaT