Artisan Bread Making Class

[jeeppiper]

This weekend I attended an artisan bread-making class in Milford, New Jersey, one of the quaint little towns along the scenic Delaware River.

Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse at Cowsoutside.com - Hands-on Baking Classes - click for details

This fun and informative hands-on class covered the science and the overall basics of hearth-bread making. Nina White was phenomenal in terms of her depth of knowledge and experience with bread. I walked away with a much better understanding and the confidence necessary to make good bread. Highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn artisan bread-making. They also hold classes on cheese making and charcuterie.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Artisan Bread Making Class

JP,

Lucky you! I checked out the course description and if I lived close would sign up on the spot. How many students were in the class with you? I'm sure the course would answer a lot of questions I have and many I haven't.

Is there one tidbit you learned regarding fermentation you could share?

John

[jeeppiper]

Re: Artisan Bread Making Class

John,
The biggest thing I learned was that I didn't even know what I didn't know (if that makes any sense).

We started our fermentation with a yeast "starter" that they provided. This was a yeast culture that they started back in 2003 using a bottle of Belgian ale and some grains. They have kept this going for over 10 years, cool!

The biggest thing I walked away with were the dough handling techniques. Folding and stretching the dough.

The other thing I learned was to be gentle with the dough, and to be patient and relax. I was always eager to make things happen fast.

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Artisan Bread Making Class

Way cool, JP. I've been working with a sourdough starter given to me by SCChris, and have recently progressed from the house oven (cast iron dutch oven) to the WFO. The WFO produces a superior oven spring, but I'm only slowly learning to gauge ideal bulk fermentation stages. I will say that the slap-and-folds done during my last batch were like magic in building volume and gluten versus prior batches' stretch-and-folds made in a bowl...