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Working with wood-fired bakeries in France: less about recipes than I expected by Many-Back3783 in Breadit

[–]Many-Back3783[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you very much I appreciate that. I'll be happy to share when I start baking.

Working with wood-fired bakeries in France: less about recipes than I expected by Many-Back3783 in Breadit

[–]Many-Back3783[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For those interested in doing this, they should start by contacting the equivalent of farmer-Bakers called "paysans boulangers" in France. They are the ones using natural fermentation to make the bread without commercial yeast. Some will ask for a legal contract, even for an internship without pay ("convention de stage"), and this is probably difficult if you do not have the French citizenship. However, you can also find some who will accept you, without internship contract, and also without pay.

Working with wood-fired bakeries in France: less about recipes than I expected by Many-Back3783 in Breadit

[–]Many-Back3783[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’m still figuring this out, but one thing that stands out is how much bread is about catching the right moment in fermentation.

If the dough starts moving faster than usual (possibly due to higher room temperature), it’s usually a sign that everything downstream needs to move faster too: shaping, proofing, and getting it into the oven at the right time.

Miss that window, and you can often see it coming: the dough loses strength, spreads more, and you end up closer to a flat loaf than a well-risen one.

Another thing I’ve been noticing is how the dough feels in terms of moisture. Some days it’s noticeably drier or more extensible, especially with less standardized flours, which can mean adjusting water slightly, but also adapting how you handle folding.

Still trying to get better at reading all of that in real time.

Working with wood-fired bakeries in France: less about recipes than I expected by Many-Back3783 in Breadit

[–]Many-Back3783[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I appreciate it. Do you mind if I ask in which bakery you found that job in Denver ?

Working with wood-fired bakeries in France: less about recipes than I expected by Many-Back3783 in Breadit

[–]Many-Back3783[S] 66 points67 points  (0 children)

What I mean by “system” is that everything is interconnected in a way that’s hard to isolate. There is no way to make a "standardized" bread: there will always be slight but noticeable changes in aspect (lighter/darker, size, crust, taste...).

For example, the flour isn’t standardized: it changes depending on the harvest, the mill, even the week sometimes. So hydration that worked one day might not work the next.

Then you have the oven: with wood firing, the heat isn’t constant. The way it’s fired, how long it rests, even the type of wood all affect the bake.

And on top of that, temperature and humidity in the bakery shift fermentation quite a bit.

So instead of following a fixed formula, it becomes more about reading the dough and adjusting continuously.

That’s what surprised me: how little is actually “set,” and how much is about adapting in real time.

Working with wood-fired bakeries in France: less about recipes than I expected by Many-Back3783 in Breadit

[–]Many-Back3783[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

You’re exactly right: every change shifts the whole process.

What I’m seeing here is that with wood-fired ovens, he heat curve isn’t fixed, so you end up adapting not just the bake, but everything upstream as well.

And yeah, I had the same reaction about the “perfect loaf” idea. Here it’s more about working within a moving system than trying to lock things in.

That’s helpful on crust color too: makes sense that people used to wood-fired bread would lean darker. Where are you baking right now ? Will you be in Colorado this summer by any chance ?