The Breadmaking Process
Our bread starts with…the starter, or "levain". This beast is fed every day with equal parts of flour and water and allowed to sit overnight to ferment. The natural yeasts feed off of the air around it, allowing sourdough to take on the properties of its surrounding air. Learn all about sourdough here!
Batching:
We have several “base doughs” which can be altered slightly with different ingredients to alter the end result. For example: Add olive oil and rosemary to the Redrock Sourdough to create Rosemary Italian. Or add cinnamon, and raisins to the Honey Multi Grain to create Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin. Each ingredient is carefully measured out and mixed at two different speeds on our GIANT mixer. It is cut out and placed in bins to be sent to the forming table.
Forming:
The dough is cut to specific weights corresponding to different loaf sizes and shapes and rounded into a ball. It is allowed to “proof” once before being formed into its final shape. (Insert shape definitions) When the dough is ready, the air bubbles are worked out as the dough it is formed into its final shape. The fact that it is formed by hand is why we call this bread “artisan” and is why no two loaves will ever look the same! Loaves that need to be molded for a more consistent shape will proof and bake in a pan or a mold. The loaves that are free form will proof on a bread board in a “couche”—or long piece of linen—with a flour barrier to prevent it from sticking to the cloth.
- Chunks of bread dough
Bread dough prior to forming
- Starting to form the dough balls
Forming the dough into balls by hand
- Dough balls on the table
Dough balls being staged
- Working with the dough balls
Preparing the dough balls for final shaping and proofing
- Formed into loaves and seasoned
The dough is formed, seasoned and placed in pans to hold a specific shape.
- Dough on linen to proof
These loaves are on a linen "couche" to proof in a freeform shape
Baking:
After allowing each loaf a second proofing for flavor, size and shape, the dough is loaded onto the “loader” and is “scored” or cut with a razor blade. This gives bakers an opportunity to be creative and identify one loaf from the other. The bakery uses the loader to load the bread into the deep hearth stone decks of our Zuchelli, steam-infused oven. Once sitting on the hearth stone, the loaves are blasted with a shot of steam to help it form a really nice crust. The bread is baked at about 420°F until it is golden brown. The baker uses a really long “peel’ to pull the bread out of the oven and transfer to cooling racks.
- Loaves being "couched"
Loaves are on the "couche" proofing
- Loaves on proofing rack
Proofed loaves ready to be baked
- Going into the oven
Placing the bread into the oven with the peel
- Using the conveyer to load the oven
Some loaves are placed into the oven with the conveyer instead of the peel
- Checking the progress
Checking the progress of the bake!
- Bread coming out
Bread coming out of the oven using the peel
- Aren't you hungry?
Fresh, hot loaves...come and get them!
Packaging/Delivery:
After the bread is allowed to cool completely, the packager slices up the bread that is ordered and puts it in labeled bags, and organized in crates. These orders are picked up first thing in the morning and distributed to these locations all over the Verde Valley, Sedona and Flagstaff and Prescott.