Thursday, October 14, 2004
Last week was the last farmers' market for me. On Saturday, I will dutifully trek to the market's last official day to buy goodies and supplies from the friends and colleagues I've met and grown to admire. Among other things, I found out through Mrs. Otto's generousity that her cinnamon rolls are even better than my best. I think she adds a little cardamom to her yeast dough and hers are not the laminated sort of rolls.
I have been wondering about yeast. During this summer I have used no fewer than 5 different brands or types of yeast. In her well-written article, Nicole Roales asked me what kind of yeast to use when baking at home. My response was, "use whatever you grew up with." For me that was Fleischmans active dried yeast.
I plan on researching the yeasts in much more detail for a post on this blog. Everytime I changed yeast, several other factors changed in my breads. The flavor, the rising time, the texture, the mixing method....
I know there are some yeasts that are better suited for high sugar applications like danish dough. I know of maybe 4 or 5 brands of yeasts available to the home baker. Each of these brands have a couple of styles of yeast as well.
When I have finished with my research, I plan on testing each of these yeasts over the winter. Maybe I can get some samples from the manufacturers?
Today, I will continue with preparation for a lovely cocktail party on Saturday. There are still 3 items to buy and my budget has been spent. That goes to show you that profit margins must be flexible.
JoEllen
(1) comments
I have been wondering about yeast. During this summer I have used no fewer than 5 different brands or types of yeast. In her well-written article, Nicole Roales asked me what kind of yeast to use when baking at home. My response was, "use whatever you grew up with." For me that was Fleischmans active dried yeast.
I plan on researching the yeasts in much more detail for a post on this blog. Everytime I changed yeast, several other factors changed in my breads. The flavor, the rising time, the texture, the mixing method....
I know there are some yeasts that are better suited for high sugar applications like danish dough. I know of maybe 4 or 5 brands of yeasts available to the home baker. Each of these brands have a couple of styles of yeast as well.
When I have finished with my research, I plan on testing each of these yeasts over the winter. Maybe I can get some samples from the manufacturers?
Today, I will continue with preparation for a lovely cocktail party on Saturday. There are still 3 items to buy and my budget has been spent. That goes to show you that profit margins must be flexible.
JoEllen
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Destination: Paris: "In 1997 a law was passed in France regarding bread. This law was passed to maintain the standards of this important staple of the French diet. For a boulangerie to call itself a boulangerie a baker has to choose its own flour, make the dough and bake the bread on the premises.
The real boulangerie artisanale was feeling that it was being put in the same classification as the big supermarket bakeries that sometimes sell bread from a factory. These supermarkets can churn out up to 40,000 baguettes a day. The high quality baker on the corner was feeling the pressure putting out what was a costlier product.
This law informs the public what they are buying. The chain bakeries still call themselves by their chain title, such as La brioche chaud. The in-store supermarket bakeries (unless they meet the challenge and are the real thing), who do not bake their own bread have titles such as 'rayon chaud' or 'pains et brioches'. The real boulangeries have a plaque on their wall stating that they merit this title, proclaiming itself 'boulangerie' or 'boulangerie artisanale.'"
This also goes to show you that at least in France, franchises would not be considered a bakery because they do not choose their own flour. I have the opportunity to buy flour that has been pre formulated for other chain bakeries. I wouldn't dream of using someone else's premix. It takes all of the control for protein, ash content, hydration, and flavor out of my hands.
In fact, today, I feel like toasting some flour in the oven and seeing what it will do to a baguette. And because I am an artisan baker - I can experiment on getting different flavors.
Woo Hoo, I am one lucky woman to have the skill, experience, and knowledge to make bread today.
JoEllen!
(0) comments
The real boulangerie artisanale was feeling that it was being put in the same classification as the big supermarket bakeries that sometimes sell bread from a factory. These supermarkets can churn out up to 40,000 baguettes a day. The high quality baker on the corner was feeling the pressure putting out what was a costlier product.
This law informs the public what they are buying. The chain bakeries still call themselves by their chain title, such as La brioche chaud. The in-store supermarket bakeries (unless they meet the challenge and are the real thing), who do not bake their own bread have titles such as 'rayon chaud' or 'pains et brioches'. The real boulangeries have a plaque on their wall stating that they merit this title, proclaiming itself 'boulangerie' or 'boulangerie artisanale.'"
This also goes to show you that at least in France, franchises would not be considered a bakery because they do not choose their own flour. I have the opportunity to buy flour that has been pre formulated for other chain bakeries. I wouldn't dream of using someone else's premix. It takes all of the control for protein, ash content, hydration, and flavor out of my hands.
In fact, today, I feel like toasting some flour in the oven and seeing what it will do to a baguette. And because I am an artisan baker - I can experiment on getting different flavors.
Woo Hoo, I am one lucky woman to have the skill, experience, and knowledge to make bread today.
JoEllen!
I have finally added the words "hand crafted" to my literature.
After all, I'm still explaining that my breads do not spring from the ground unassisted(artesian) - I enjoy the punny conversations with educated customers that I must be guarding this free-flowing well of loaves the way wild mushroom foragers guard their forests. I especially love the picture of me in baker's whites with a burlap bag of freshly harvested breads slung over one shoulder.
Whenever asked, I usually reply with Craig Ponsford's description of the artisan being the craftsman of a carefully considered loaf of bread as described at www.artisanbakers.com.
So my new sign at the farmers' market will simply state: "Hand Crafted Artisan's Bread" so my customers can enjoy the experience of sorting through 100 unique breads looking for a loaf that calls out to them. I market my own handmade variability as an opportunity for choice. I explain that my breads aren't ever going to look like the grocery store's rtb artisan breads.
(0) comments
After all, I'm still explaining that my breads do not spring from the ground unassisted(artesian) - I enjoy the punny conversations with educated customers that I must be guarding this free-flowing well of loaves the way wild mushroom foragers guard their forests. I especially love the picture of me in baker's whites with a burlap bag of freshly harvested breads slung over one shoulder.
Whenever asked, I usually reply with Craig Ponsford's description of the artisan being the craftsman of a carefully considered loaf of bread as described at www.artisanbakers.com.
So my new sign at the farmers' market will simply state: "Hand Crafted Artisan's Bread" so my customers can enjoy the experience of sorting through 100 unique breads looking for a loaf that calls out to them. I market my own handmade variability as an opportunity for choice. I explain that my breads aren't ever going to look like the grocery store's rtb artisan breads.
Often, I am asked what is artisan bread. The definitions and interpretations of that single word are as varied as the people who use it. In an effort to convey what I think the term means, I'd like to present a series of posts
The following is a quote from Abram Faber, used with permission:
....Oh! Because it is the baker, not the loaf of bread, who is the artisan.
The skilled baker (artisan) crafts the loaf of bread.The loaf then stands on its own to the customer. If you call it Artisan Bread I suppose an artisan should have been involved in its creation.. But then again why not just call it bread, confidant that you the artisan baker, its parent if you will, did all you could for it and are sending it out to make its own way in the world.
As Lee just said, "I know plenty of educated people who do not know the difference between the words artisan and artesian... but they still go out of their way to buy good bread."
The BBGA promotes artisan baking because it promotes the idea that we learn and practice and use all the skills and knowledge available to us in order to make the highest quality product possible within whatever category of baking you are doing: pan bread, bagels, hearth breads, etc... IE: NOCOMPROMISES!
The BBGA promotes the idea of learning skills, but in the end, the skills that each of us use to bake our personal best possible loaf are as varied as:
And on and on like this...So my recommendation is that when you are proudly proclaiming yourself an artisan to your customers, take the time to explain whatever you do from this list or your own list of those skills you have mastered to consider yourself an artisan.
Give them this insight into why your breads take a little longer to produce, might cost a little more, and might not all look identical to each other. But in the end remember.. The bread is just a loaf of bread.. It has to stand on its own. We hope its finished qualities will announce that it was created by a skilled craftsperson...an artisan. But in my mind the loaf itself will never be artisan or artisinal. And I too am still not sure if this longer version: "artisinal" is even a necessary or real word. Microsoft dictionary doesn't list it. Anyway, Artisan does just fine.
Its just a fairly simple concept: someone who has taken the time to properly learn and execute their craft. I like the word Artisan.
We could call it corrupted by the big players and move on to
Craft baking,
Old world baking, or
Authentic baking
I agree with others who have said that if successful enough then those new phrases would simply be co-opted by the industry as well. So why not stick with the word in our mission statement and that some of us have even named our bakeries after and defend it by educating our customers about just what those SKILLS are that we ARTISANS employ.
Wouldn't it be great if just one educated customer walked into the Safeway (or grocery store) and asked the worker reheating a mass produced, tasteless, chemically flavored and preserved, par baked product there (and said), "hey, this is A LOT denser than a traditional French baguette, could you tell me its hydration?" Or, "you know at my local ARTISAN bakery they don't have to use preservatives because they lower the PH with plain old flour and water in a skillfully made pre-ferment and it makes it taste better too!"
You won't need Gov't regulation then. You will have employed your customers as the BS detectors and sent them out into the world to work for better bread on their and our behalves.
-abe faber
Sometimes the term Artisan is used arbitrarily and capriciously.
When you find good bread, please eat more of it!
JoEllen
(0) comments
The following is a quote from Abram Faber, used with permission:
....Oh! Because it is the baker, not the loaf of bread, who is the artisan.
The skilled baker (artisan) crafts the loaf of bread.The loaf then stands on its own to the customer. If you call it Artisan Bread I suppose an artisan should have been involved in its creation.. But then again why not just call it bread, confidant that you the artisan baker, its parent if you will, did all you could for it and are sending it out to make its own way in the world.
As Lee just said, "I know plenty of educated people who do not know the difference between the words artisan and artesian... but they still go out of their way to buy good bread."
The BBGA promotes artisan baking because it promotes the idea that we learn and practice and use all the skills and knowledge available to us in order to make the highest quality product possible within whatever category of baking you are doing: pan bread, bagels, hearth breads, etc... IE: NOCOMPROMISES!
The BBGA promotes the idea of learning skills, but in the end, the skills that each of us use to bake our personal best possible loaf are as varied as:
- The skills used to build and use wood fired ovens.
- The procurement and use of organic ingredients.
- Milling our own flour.
- How to bake 100 percent from scratch.
- The business skills required to run a shop profitable enough to live to bake another day that also respects its employees needs like health care, etc....
- Working with pre-ferments and long fermented doughs.
- Operating a bakery that recycles and otherwise considers and minimizes its negative impact on the environment.
- The skills required to work with high hydration doughs.
- Understanding the complexities of baking well with major ingredients other than wheat, such as rye, and spelt.
- The skills required to work with only flour, water, salt and leavening to create complex flavor.
And on and on like this...So my recommendation is that when you are proudly proclaiming yourself an artisan to your customers, take the time to explain whatever you do from this list or your own list of those skills you have mastered to consider yourself an artisan.
Give them this insight into why your breads take a little longer to produce, might cost a little more, and might not all look identical to each other. But in the end remember.. The bread is just a loaf of bread.. It has to stand on its own. We hope its finished qualities will announce that it was created by a skilled craftsperson...an artisan. But in my mind the loaf itself will never be artisan or artisinal. And I too am still not sure if this longer version: "artisinal" is even a necessary or real word. Microsoft dictionary doesn't list it. Anyway, Artisan does just fine.
Its just a fairly simple concept: someone who has taken the time to properly learn and execute their craft. I like the word Artisan.
We could call it corrupted by the big players and move on to
Craft baking,
Old world baking, or
Authentic baking
I agree with others who have said that if successful enough then those new phrases would simply be co-opted by the industry as well. So why not stick with the word in our mission statement and that some of us have even named our bakeries after and defend it by educating our customers about just what those SKILLS are that we ARTISANS employ.
Wouldn't it be great if just one educated customer walked into the Safeway (or grocery store) and asked the worker reheating a mass produced, tasteless, chemically flavored and preserved, par baked product there (and said), "hey, this is A LOT denser than a traditional French baguette, could you tell me its hydration?" Or, "you know at my local ARTISAN bakery they don't have to use preservatives because they lower the PH with plain old flour and water in a skillfully made pre-ferment and it makes it taste better too!"
You won't need Gov't regulation then. You will have employed your customers as the BS detectors and sent them out into the world to work for better bread on their and our behalves.
-abe faber
Sometimes the term Artisan is used arbitrarily and capriciously.
When you find good bread, please eat more of it!
JoEllen
