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natural bread making in avon coloradoWe are often asked by many of our patrons, "what is it that makes your bread and food so delicious?" The simple answer to this is "ingredients" and "time"...

The organic ingredients we use, and the time we take to create a delicious loaf of true Artisan bread is at least three, sometimes even four times longer than a traditional bakery!

Lets take this a step further and put this in terms many of our patrons will appreciate. Beer. Yes, beer. No, beer isn't one of our ingredients, but rather a great example of how you can brew fast, cheap beer, or you can brew time intensive, rich, long lasting, flavorful beer. I'm willing to bet you know the kind...

From this analogy, we can say the same thing about our bread. We use only the finest organic flours, lightly mixed to not loose its Artisan quality, we use the same preferment's that have provided our bread the same structure and flavor from day one, and lets not forget time. We take the extra time to really give our bread a chance to be not just good, but great. That is why our bread is the best organic hand crafted Artisan bread you will find.


How We Make Organic Artisan Breads

Artisan bread dates back in history for thousands of years. It is the old school method of classically baking delicious, healthy bread. Artisan bread refers to the "art" or non - conforming way to make a loaf of bread, the ingredients you use, and the way in which you bake it. There are certainly consistencies in the flavor and the taste of our breads, but no one loaf will ever be absolutely identical to another.

The four major steps to baking our classic Artisan bread is as follows:

 

Step 1 - Mixing

We start with organic unbleached flours, use filtered water, yeast, and only the finest other necessary ingredients to make each type of bread. We mix our dough to quickly involve the ingredients. We never want to over mix because it can take away from the raw ingredients quality. Over processed bread will show a very tight crumb texture. This is a sign of highly processed bread. Something you will not see on our bread!

 

 

Step 2 - Fermentation & Proofing

Once the dough is mixed we have to the let the dough rise and mature. It goes thru a series of punches and folds that allows the dough to rise, creates gases and acids, and then is re punched and the process is continued.

 

 

Step 3 - Shaping

The fermented dough is then hand shaped. After the shape has been determined it is allowed to ferment one last time before being baked.

 

 

Step 4 - Baking

Our bread is then baked in our Italian Steam Injected Stone Hearth Oven. This old school style of baking helps to give our breads thick, unique crusts, that are associated with true Artisan breads.

 

 

 


Bread Tips

Use the following bread tips to help ensure you bread is always the freshest it can be!


Keeping Your Bread Fresh

Because our organic artisan bread is made fresh daily and WITHOUT preservatives it's important to follow these steps to maintain your bread's freshness.

  • If the bread is un-sliced and in storage, keep the bread in a paper bag at room temperature.
  • Once the bread is cut, place the bread sliced side down on a flat surface to keep in the moisture.
  • To warm and re-crisp the bread place it in an oven at 350° for 8 to 12 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on the bread as oven temperatures vary.
  • We always recommend keeping the bread in a plastic bag and freezing within 24 hours.
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How to Properly Slice Bread

Follow these steps to properly slice and prepare your bread:

  • Use a high quality serrated bread knife.
  • Make sure to use a steady grip and cut with an easy sawing motion.
  • Depending upon how large you want each slice keep a consistent width on each cut.
  • CAUTION: Please do not try and slice your bread while it is frozen as it is easy to slice and cut something other than the bread!
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    Bread Freezing Instructions

    Always start by storing your bread in a plastic bag or container.  It will help maintain a nice soft crust. To re-crsip the bread follow the instructions below. 

  • Freeze (up to 8 weeks) in a plastic bag or container with the air squeezed out as much as possible. 
  • Thaw in the unopened plastic bag at room temperature.  This will allow the bread to reabsorb the ice crystals. 
  • To warm and re-crisp the bread remove it from the storage bag or container and place in the oven at 350° for 8 to 12 minutes.  Make sure not to burn or reheat for too long!  
  • ENJOY!