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IN THIS ISSUE Volume 27 – Issue 3 & 4 fall/winter 2019 2 Notes from the Board 4 Guild News Upcoming Events New Members Certification Program B BGA’S PHOTO: JOHN UNREIN PHOTO: 6 International Events IBIE 2019 Team USA 2020 ARTISAN Tiptree Bread Competition 18 The Power of Flour MARKETPLACE Grain-Focused Viennoiserie Freshly Milled Flour SERVES UP Science Behind Sourdough Make Pizza Like a Pro Heritage Wheat Breads EDUCATION 32 Regional Events The Kneading Conference International Symposium on Bread AT IBIE 37 Baking Reflections Eat Bread, Speak the Truth Backdoor Bread 43 Baking Education By JOHN KVASNOSKY Guild Member and Serious Home Baker — Seattle, WA ÜBA — German Craft Baking 46 The Power of Flour A Modern Approach to lthough artisan baking is only a Classic Viennoiserie tiny sliver of the estimated annual Scalds, Soakers, and Starters $30-billion-plus U.S. baking market, World of Layers AGuild members served up a significant Holiday Breads portion of the training offered at the 2019 59 Baking Trends International Baking Industry Exposition New Twists on Tradition (IBIE), held in Las Vegas on September 7–11. 61 Regional Events As it did earlier this year at the first Interna- 20/20 Vision tional Artisan Bakery Expo (IABE), also in Las 62 Member News Vegas, The Guild partnered with the event’s Bread on the Table organizer to supply instructors for demon- As bakers, we all envision beautiful loaves of strations, aimed at sharing artisan tips and 64 Seasonal Baking bread and well-orchestrated bake days. This techniques with bakers attending the show. Pan de Muerto year’s Regional Events lineup is designed to 68 Technical Articles For the first time, Guild members worked in bring those visions into sharper focus, with Kouign Amann a state-of-the-art baking space within the an apt theme: 2020 Vision. 70 Guild Partners Continued on page 6 Continued on page 61 BAKING REFLECTIONS JIM WILLIAMS / BACKDOOR BREAD INTERVIEW By LUCAS MONAHAN Guild Member and Head Baker, Flour Bakery & Cafe — Boston, MA & MITCH STAMM Guild Board Vice Chair. Author and Instructor, Johnson & Wales University, Providence, RI From its inception, how did Backdoor they sold out fast. I decided to open the Bread evolve? Was there a catalyst or doors again the following week with a moment when you decided to focus on few more whole-grain breads, and they creating Backdoor Bread rather than sold out again. Maybe this was the op- integrating its ethos into Seven Stars? portunity I was looking for, the chance to Or was it a process? do a proper production with a variety of different breads. Lynn suggested naming Going back 8 or 9 years, I wasn’t baking it Backdoor Bread, and it grew from there. much, just spending time running a I didn’t plan for it to be so focused on business and managing others. And it single-variety wheats. But by then, I had OF JIM WILLIAMS COURTESY PHOTO: felt hollow. To keep myself entertained, I been to Dave’s a few times, and we had started something I called the “Thursday become friends. His focus on single variet- Bread.” Every month I’d create a different ies was having a significant impact on me. bread, bake it on Thursdays, and deliver it to be sold alongside Seven Stars’ other Although Backdoor Bread had a strong bread. So I was baking again, but it wasn’t influence on the daily Seven Stars enough. There was a real disconnect breads, it remained my production. It was with the customers and staff. Some of happening during the regular Seven Stars them understood and liked the Thursday schedule, but I was keeping it separate. I Jim Williams in front of his mill. bread, but others were confused. In the wasn’t interested in producing more bread and the milling process, as well as how end, while I enjoyed the routine, I wanted than I could make by myself. stones wear over time. We learned that a proper production, with more varieties What were the most surprising lessons adjustments on a stone mill are constant, and more volume. (production and bread quality) as you and a miller needs to be in tune. We were In late 2013, I took a trip back to my home transitioned to freshly milled flour? training mixers to do this! state of California, to meet legendary So many lessons! The most overt lessons Some argue that bakers should let millers whole-grain baker Dave Miller. I went were the extra work involved and the focus on what they do best. I agree — hoping to learn about whole grains and additional commitment to cleaning. unless the baker in question is genuinely left knowing a mill was in our future. It Training, one of the biggest challenges committed. I don’t think milling will be was a 9-month old bag of Kamut®* flour in any bakery, also became more intense. right for every bakery. I intentionally that really did it. I realized that fresh Systems and schedules became even located the mill in our temperature- flour would be the only way to capture more critical. We had always relied on controlled mixing room so that milling the aroma and flavor of Dave’s bread — I the miller’s expertise. Millers spend could easily be incorporated into a mixing would have to mill the Kamut®* myself. their entire careers learning how best shift while keeping the flour temperature After we started milling, sometime in 2014, to turn that little seed into flour. When in check. Our mixing personnel had to I started getting more interested in wheat we switched overnight to milling flour become millers overnight, but since they varieties and whole grains. for ourselves, we made lots of mistakes. were milling concurrently with mixing, no The Seven Stars Bakery facility is in an Luckily we discovered that putting grain time was added to their day, and they old mill building that hosts the Pawtucket into a mill and producing usable flour is could work with the flour immediately. Winter Farmers Market. Our back door pretty easy. And since we were milling Once that grain is cracked, the clock starts opens into the middle of the market. We daily, we were able to correct and learn ticking; in our opinion, it isn’t getting decided to have an open house show- from our mistakes immediately. From our any better. So, while commercial millers casing our new little Ostirroler mill, so daily milling, we learned how temperature say that bakers should leave the milling I made a few whole-grain breads, and and humidity affect both stored grain to them, I’d argue that it’s the bakers { 40 } THE BREAD BAKERS GUILD OF AMERICA BAKING REFLECTIONS working with the flour daily that can change — a new chapter. The idea was How did you cultivate your relationships have the most significant impact on flour to give our kids a new life, let them see with local farmers? How are you reaching quality. We’re the ones able to tweak the that people can reinvent themselves, and consumers and forming a clientele? milling immediately, while the millers have show our jobs that we were in control I usually send out an email asking if I to send flour out and wait for results. I of our lives. I’m sure there are lots of can get some wheat and it goes from believe that if small-scale bakers approach people who think we’re crazy for what there. Meeting people is difficult for me, milling correctly, they have a leg up on we did. Who sells a successful, thriving, so having that initial introduction helps. millers, but only if their commitment to profitable business and decides to move From there, it’s getting the grain into the milling is as strong as their commitment to the sticks? Moreover, once the business bakery and starting to work with it. Grain to making great bread. is gone, what do we do? Baking isn’t my farmers are some of the best people I’ve passion, but I do love it. And although Fermentation happens much faster, ever met. Friendly, generous, humble, I have a bachelor’s degree in political and formulas need to be adjusted to open, caring, and like me, a little awkward. science, I never did anything with it. I have accommodate. Once that’s understood, it They’re always excited to meet the baker no qualifications other than baking. isn’t a big deal, but it can definitely catch who is turning their grain into a loaf of you out. What will you miss the most about Seven bread. Farmers don’t often get to meet Stars? What will you miss the least? the end-user. It’s a special connection. There is a fleeting, sweet aroma in freshly milled flour that vanishes quickly. Does My wife Lynn and I built an amazing As of this writing, I’m just getting going in it carry over to the finished bread? business that we’re really proud of and Charlotte, VT. I’ve started with a pop-up Not necessarily, but for me, milling just will feel a connection to forever. With bread sale at a local farm market up the before mixing is no different from how four locations, over 100 employees, and road. It’s going to take some time in this we prepare and consume any other fresh running 24/7/363 days a year, it had a rural community, but so far, customers food. Would you make guacamole and let lot of moving parts and many amazing have been ecstatic.