We needed a new project...so...we built a mill!

Last summer we decided that we wanted to take our craft to the next level. We have always been interested in mills, milling and having a deeper understanding of what it is we do everyday. Milling our own flour at the bakery was the next logical step for us.  We decided to build our own horizontal stone mill, enabling us to mill 100% of the wheat used in all of our wood-fired breads.  After eight months of designing, fabricating and experimenting we are finally baking breads with the fresh stone ground flour that is more aromatic, flavorful and nutritious...here are some pics of the project!

do what works, not what's been done

So its been a little bit, and we've been super busy up here at the bakery...we finished our oven, finished all the construction on the expansion and built first, a prototype loader and then had our final loader fabricated. Yup, a 6 x 10 wood-fired bread oven that functions with a belt loader. It's pretty cool. The efficiency it brings to the baking process and the overall benefits to the bread still continues to amaze us.

A couple weeks ago a fellow who grew up here locally, but now resides in San Fransisco came up to visit us. He took some pretty amazing photos and wrote up a pretty neat little blog entry on our operation. His name is Josey Baker and he is worth checking out. http://joseybakerbread.blogspot.com/

Here is his blog entry.

do what works, not what's been done

whoa whoa WHOA dudes

i met some super duper rad folks today doing things in a supremely awesome way.

they're blair and andrew of elmore mountain bread and they are not effing around.

and this is the real elmore mountain:

here is where blair and andrew live:

and they have a killer humongous custom built wood fired oven that they bake hundreds of loaves in a day, and a new fandangled custom built conveyor belt loader:

dudes - folks don't use conveyor belt loaders on wood-fired ovens. why? because they ain't as badass as these two, that's why. but for real, because most wood-fired ovens aren't built to work with conveyor belts - they typically have a single small opening in the front, and you'd be damned if you tried to get a conveyor belt in there. so they just designed their own oven, and designed their own conveyor belt. what the hell, right?

cuz if it ain't broke don't fix it... but if it might as well be broke then you better damn well build a new one that kicks ass.

oh yeah, and it's just the two of them. no big whoop.

BIG WHOOP.

i woke up about 8, showered and coffeed myself, and drove out past lake elmore to "the only red mailbox" on hardwood flats. i showed up about 9 o clock, and they were scaling and shaping dough:

very warm and welcoming they were. i watched them shape the loaves, we chatted while the loaves proofed, then blair slashed the hell out hundreds of loaves:

and then they loaded those puppies in, 24 at a time:

they were so warm and welcoming that i couldn't leave really, and ended up staying a while... for about 5 hours to be exact. they gave me coffee and a sh*t ton of A M A Z I N G honey oat bread:

they also shared their awesome opinions and experiences running their bread bakery, and then andrew disappeared for a bit and returned with turkey, avocado, bacon sandwiches on their focaccia bread:

are you kidding me???

nope, no kidding here ya'll, just straight up old fashioned heinie kicking.

their bakery is filled with custom built tools and methods they've devised to bake more bread in less time. they figure out a problem, think of the best solution (which oftentimes means making it up, with inspiration from here and there), and make it happen.

they are free-thinking, do-it-yourself, badass emmer effers. and their bread beats the $hit out of you.

blair and andrew, i salute you.

<3josey

New friends from Ohio

This past week, Mark and Sara Frommeyer, owners of Blue Oven Bakery visited us from Cincinnati with their little son Jack.

They are planning on having our oven built this spring and they were here for a test drive. It was a pleasure working with them and it was a great opportunity to exchange formulas/recipes and experience. We hope to visit their bakery in the near future...

Here are some pictures of the oven in use. We've retired our old Allen Scott, and have been baking with great success in the new one for one month today! For the time being with are loading it with a peel, but will soon begin building the automatic loader that the oven was designed to accomodate.

This is part of the loading door being built by our friend Brad Roberts, at his blacksmith shop, Iron Art in Stowe, Vermont.

We wanted to put a picture of the oven up in it's current state of progress. Our door system which consists of a plug that friction fits into the flange with three stainless steel flapper doors, and three insulated firing doors should be finished within the week. We've had a few very slow fires in the oven so far and will start really bringing it up to temp with the completion of the door system.

This evening after getting back from the Stowe Farmer's Market we built the first (very small) fire in the oven with temporary firing doors.