My first sale

Just a quick update, I have been asked to supply some more sourdough bread for Tuesday, not all of the first batch sold, but some did! Thats very encouraging, and of course you have to start somewhere.  

Also I have been asked for some soda bread, so will do a couple of loaves and see how they go. I practised yesterday and the results were encouraging.

So now I have to start feeding up my starters tomorrow, ready to make on Monday and bake Tuesday morning.

I will need some more flour, at the moment it’s not worth me getting large sacks, until I build up a demand, so the profits are less than they could be. But I reason that once I get a base of orders, it will be worth it, as long as I don’t actually lose money.

After the wedding, I will make up some samples and try a few other places to see if there is any interest.

The First Delivery (Part 3)

 

 

Up at 6 this morning, and the oven was turned on to warm up whilst I took the dogs round.

 The loaves have risen quite well, and went into the oven at 6.30, in 2 batches.

Before rising

After an overnight rise.

80 minutes later and both batches are done, I've made them different shapes for my own convenience. Spelt is on the left.

 

I think they are Okay, as usual I worry that they are not cooked in the middle, but short of cutting them open there is not a lot I can do about that. The smell is good, and the crust is crisp, they would not win prizes for looks maybe but I’m sure the taste will make up for it. They haven't risen as much as I would have liked, but then that is a modern idea, rustic bread is not as light as mass produced.

And even though the first bite is with the eye, the flavour should be alright.

Only time will tell, and I’ll be worried about the reaction, assuming they sell, for the next couple of days.

The First Delivery (Part 2)

 

 

Up at 6 this morning, getting it all ready, and I probably will have it all done far too early, I must learn patience, and learn it NOW!

Anyhow I walked the dogs past the shop and saw the sign had been amended.

 

So I turned my starters, which were bubbling well, into dough by the addition of flour, water and salt (These and the wild yeast in the starter are the only ingredients.)

I’m using Doves Farm Organic flour for both breads, and after mixing I refreshed the starters and stored them in the fridge, ready for next time.

 

The dough was put into the oven to prove, no heat just a bowl of boiling water at the bottom to give a bit of humidity.

So they went in at 8, and need to be left till around 2pm, at which time they should be well risen and ready for shaping.

This will redistribute the yeast and allow for a much longer second rise, meaning they will be ready for baking at 6 in the morning. And in the shop for half past nine.

And Here they are, in various stages of shaping

Well Risen

Spelt

Rye

I hope they sell!

The First Delivery (Part 1a)

The titles a bit confusing, but this is an update on the quick sourdough that I started at 7 this morrning.

I proved it until 9, then shaped it and put it in a banneton, till half 3.

I then baked it for 40 minutes,

And here it is.

The first Delivery (Part 1)

 

Saturday morning at 0700, and I’m preparing my sourdough starters for the bake on Monday.

First of all I take out 250g of starter and put into a larger container. Adding flour and water gives them a feed and they should start bubbling.

I will do this again this evening, and by Sunday morning they will be ready to use in my dough. This will form the basis of the loaf.  I refresh the starters and put them back in the fridge, but, while I am about it I have the usual problem faced by all sourdough aficionados. What to do with the industrial quantities of starter that must be discarded.

Well I have two approaches to that.

First, I make an accelerated white loaf, which is where you add white flour to the spelt starter, and then ferment over an 8 hour period for a quick loaf. It doesn’t have the full flavour of the overnight fermentation, but it still has a pretty good flavour.



Quick White and Spelt, prooving.



 

Second, you can make pancakes with the raw starter; just add egg, milk and oil to get a batter. A bit of sugar will help sweeten it up, and I put a handful of raisins in as well. Then proceed as normal when making pancakes. These are nice eaten warm with banana and syrup.

 

Batter

In the Pan

Ready for Syrup

 

By lunchtime there are bubbles in both the Rye and the Spelt starters, and they both have swollen in size.

Rye Starter

Bubbles Starting

 

Spelt Starter

Bubbling Nicely

In Part 2, I will make the dough and prepare for baking.

We're Off

We have lift off!

 

I spoke to the Council today, and now have a registered kitchen.

 

So I am gearing up to start making Sourdough for sale, it’s exciting and somehow a bit daunting as well. What if no-one buys it? What if they do and don’t like it? (As if)

I have agreed to supply four loaves on Monday, 2 each of Spelt and Rye, so will start them on Saturday and bake early Monday morning.

I saw a notice advertising the breads impending arrival in the shop window, it gave me a buzz.

Expanded Range

I popped into 'Oats' on Friday, just to update them with the non-arrival of my Kitchen registration, and picked up the information that someone had been asking about 'Yeast Free Bread'.
Ever the businessman, I attempted a Soda Bread on Saturday morning, and found that my skills had not deserted me.

 

Now I'm sure you know that there are as many forms of Soda bread as there are of yeasted breads, so there is potential for a bit of lateral thinking on the recipe front. I remember an apple and cheese soda bread from somewhere in my past.

And I phoned the council on friday afternoon, the lady who deals with food businessses will be there on monday. Perhaps we can get the ball rolling.

Waiting

I know that patience is a virtue, but I do hate hanging around.
Yes I'm waiting for approval of the kitchen, the business cards have arrived, (address removed)

and I've started building up my sourdough starters.

Just to keep my hand in I made a white loaf and some onion focaccia this morning,

the post brought me no letter from the council. Ah well, theres always tomorrow.

Trying new things (and some old ones)

 

 

As I wait for approval of my kitchen, there are still lots of bits and pieces to get sorted.

I have to work out my selling prices, based on costs and a bit of profit.

I’m also trying to create a sour rye starter; it’s been going a couple of days and is fairly vigorous, so I thought that I would see how it did.

So I made a spelt sourdough and a rye,

 

 

 

and also some chocolate rolls, which I haven’t done for a long while, the dough has cocoa added, and chocolate chips mixed in,

 

 

they are then egg washed and baked. Surprisingly enough, they taste very good with cheese.

 

The sourdough loaves came out alright, the rye was a bit dense, but that is the nature of it, when the starter is a bit older it should be more active.

Spelt

Rye

 

Why Me?

 

As some of you may know, (and if not, you should be reading my other blog) I have been baking bread for several years, in fact I haven’t brought any bread for home consumption since 2009.

When we used to live in Kent, I sold bread to work colleagues once a week, and covered my costs, but the one of the things that I was told was that I was undercharging, and also that I had a commercially interesting product range.

Fast forward to now, here I am in Devon, and still making bread. I am still expanding the range of breads that I am happy making, but I’m not selling any bread at the moment. I have been on a three day course, which taught me a lot of useful things, and I must admit I have been thinking of starting up again.

To cut a long story short, I have been feeling that I needed a change of direction. And this was sort of confirmed to me in other ways, which I won’t go into here.

I was in town a while ago and spotted a new wholefood shop, they had some bread for sale, and I thought to myself “I could do that.”

I went in an introduced myself, and offered to provide a sample of sourdough, which I did, and it was well received. In discussion with the lady running the shop, we talked about the commercial aspects of my supplying her with bread, and I found that, in Devon at least, the process is not as complicated as I had thought.

So I have now applied to register my kitchen, and am hopeful that I can shortly start to take bread making to the next level.

Initially, I will be making a few of my favourites, Sourdough, Ciabatta, and my cheese rolls to name the most likely candidates.

I want to start off small, and not try to do too much at first, until I get a feel for the operation and it’s potential. It would be so easy to charge in, like I have a tendency to do, and find that for whatever reason it’s not working. So baby steps will be the order of the day.

To leave you, here are a few photo's of my intended range.

Cheese and Onion Rolls

Ciabatta and Crumb

 

Sourdough and Crumb

Soft White Rolls

 Keep looking for updates, I am expecting to start production soon.

A New Venture.

 

Here is the logo, I've taken the plunge and am setting up a home bakery.

As long as my kitchen is registered, I will shortly be supplying to selected outlets in the Torbay area.

Keep watching for details.

Remember the name "Well Bread!"