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So, when you think of Orange Boot Bakery, think of www.orangeboot.ca from now on!

Whole Grain Bread Display

Originally uploaded by madbaker66

I’m back to the land of ice and snow and honestly, I’m very glad to be home. Three weeks is a long time to be away from my family and friends, even when I’m having the time of my life baking every day.

The Whole Grain and Specialty Flour course at the San Francisco Baking Institute was an excellent end to my adventure. If Artisan 1 was elementary school, and Artisan 2 was high school, then the Whole Grain course was bread university! We had a new instructor (Didier Rosada, a world renowned baker and teacher) and for the most part a new group of students as well. Many more professional bakers in this course so we dove straight into advanced mixing and shaping techniques. The teamwork was excellent so we got a lot done each day without getting all stressed out.

The photo represents all the bread we made during the week. From a simple Wheat Germ Baguette, to alternate grains like Corn Bread, Millet Bread and Spelt Bread, to interesting combinations like Buckwheat Pear Bread, Carrot Rolls and Roasted Pecan and Flax bread, to wild shapes like Sesame Flame and Crown of the Great Valley. My head was spinning with all the formulas, shapes and scoring patterns, but I took excellent notes and will be sharing these loaves with you over the coming weeks and months.

As much as I want to get back to baking in Regina, we’re going to take one more week to stockpile some wood, get some supplies (including a bench that’s at the correct working height) and slowly bring the oven up to temperature. It’ll take some TLC to bring the oven out of its deep freeze without cracking the facade, but it can be done.

The next email out will be a ‘baking this week’ note, I promise!

Hi everyone. It’s another report from the road as I wrap up my second week at the San Francisco Baking Institute. The Artisan II course is called “Mastering Sourdough” but we did so much more as well.

The bread in the picture is from Wednesday when we made four different sourdough loaves using different formulations. Just like the baguettes we made last week, the baker can make several adjustments to get different flavours from a sourdough loaf. He can use a liquid starter to get more lactic acid development for a yogurty, buttermilk-y sour taste. Or he can use a firm starter for more acetic acid development and a vinegary sour taste. Then he can adjust the number of times the starter is fed, and how much starter is put in the final dough, to manipulate the flavours even more.

The result? A wide variety. The loaves in the lower left are your classic San Francisco sourdough like you’d get on Fisherman’s Wharf. High acid content and a vinegar-sour flavour. The loaves closest to me have a much milder flavour and is closer to the mild sour taste I prefer. I’ll make them both for you when I get home so you can tell me what you like best!

We didn’t stop there, however. There was sourdough rye to make, sourdough whole wheat, and then some variations of regular yeasted dough like Ciabatta (I now know what an ultra-wet dough looks like), olive bread, walnut and raisin bread, and regional decorative breads. I can tell my Vivarais from my Auvergnat, but I can’t always pronounce them properly!

One more week. Just one more week till I’m back home and firing the oven again. But first I need a crash course in whole grains and specialty flours with guest instructor Didier Rosada. The word is that he’s a Very Special Bread Instructor so I’m really looking forward to meeting Didier and learning from him. I’ll keep you posted.

Until next week!

Mark

PS — For those of you who can’t get enough dough — Daily updates from San Francisco are at mymadbaker blog. More photos are on flickr. Click the links for more.

Originally uploaded by madbaker66

Hi Everyone,

Week 1 of my journey at the San Francisco Baking Institute is over, leaving me exhausted and energized at the same time. It was a very good first week — we deconstructed every component of bread making and assembled the component parts in a whirlwind of combinations.

Mixing techniques? Pick from short, intensive or improved mixing.

Flour? Do you mean bread flour, high-gluten flour, rye, or whole wheat?

Water? Simple enough, but do you want a stiff, medium or high hydration?

Pre-ferments? You bet! But should I use pate fermentee, poolish or a sponge.

Even salt was discussed at length — what kind, how much and when to add.

By the end of the week we had created seven different kinds of baguettes, all with the same four ingredients — flour, water, salt and yeast. I’ll never look at a baguette the same way again.

We also made several other types of bread which are in the picture above. Let me tell you, the multigrain batard in the front row is the best tasting loaf of bread I have eaten. Ever. Three days later I get misty when I eat a slice. It’s that good, and I can’t wait to make it for you when I get back to Regina. The whole wheat boules in the background are amazing too.

The best thing about the course so far is that I have a much better understanding of the fundamentals of bread baking. This knowledge builds a platform that will allow me to experiment for years to come. It will take me at least three years to exhaust the potential of this week.

Tomorrow we throw commercial yeast back in the cooler and dive into the amazing world of wild yeast, or sourdough, breads. I sampled some sourdough at lunch last week and I can’t wait to learn more about this complex topic.

I have energy like never before and wish there was a way to bake for you all over the weekend while I wait for the next class to start. I hope you are all well and I look forward to talking with you all in a couple more weeks.

Last Friday was exactly like the picture I had in my mind about baking in winter. Mild, mostly sunny, but with a delicate snowfall off and on throughout the day. Huge snowflakes piling up on my staging table that were easily swept off between loads. It was beautiful and relaxing – completely unlike the bitter cold, windy mess we have outside today.

We’re not baking this Friday, or for the next few weeks, as I’m off to San Francisco for some serious training at the San Francisco Baking Institute. Serious in that I fully expect a hard three weeks spent investigating each part of the baking process in detail, from the basic ingredients through mixing, fermentation, shaping and baking. I won’t be surprised if every part of our current technique is broken down, modified and rebuilt. It will be worth it if, when I get home, I can improve our existing varieties and bring you some new recipes too. I’ve got my chef’s jacket and check pants packed and ready to go!

My time at SFBI is actually three separate courses:

- Artisan I is focused on the basics of bread making and will form the foundation for the other courses. I expect we’ll be making as much bread in the first five days as we’ve made at Orange Boot since October.

- Artisan II is all about wild yeast breads aka sourdough. Our wild yeast loaves haven’t scaled up as well as I’d like compared to the small batches we’ve made over the past 5-7 years, so I’m eager to get some good theory and practical experience working with large batches of wild yeast dough. And if you’re going to learn about sourdough, San Francisco is the place to do it!

- The third week is focussed on whole grains and specialty flours. We’ve had several requests for whole grain breads along with lower gluten flours like spelt. Here’s a chance to get skilled in this new and exciting area of artisan baking.

As an aside, have you noticed how whole grains are ‘new’ and the current hot topic of nutrition? That’s one of the ironies of what we’re doing at Orange Boot Bakery — taking ‘old’ ingredients and techniques to make better bread. When you’re not making 50,000 loaves per day you can focus on flavour and nutrition which means going back to the way bread was made over 100 years ago.

My evenings will be spent making some changes to our website and email lists along with sending you the odd update from the field. Don’t worry, I won’t plug up your inbox, but if anything especially interesting goes on I’ll let you know. I’ll be describing things in more detail on my personal blog.

On the weekends I’m hoping to head up to the Sonoma Valley north of San Francisco to see the bakeries I’ve only read about. Places like Artisan Breads, owned by world champion baker Craig Ponsford, Della Fattoria, who use two huge Alan Scott ovens just like ours, and Schat’s Courthouse Bakery in Ukiah, whose owner wrote the best book on running a bakery that I’ve ever seen. There are 6-10 others I want to see too. I’m taking the camera and laptop so hopefully there will be some nice pictures to share with you.

I’ll be back in Regina on the Feb 23rd, hopefully with big burly shoulders and a head full of new ideas. If everything works out I hope to get back baking in time for all your Leap Year parties on the 29th!

Best wishes,

Mark, Cindy, Ben and Robyn
522-1592
http://orangeboot.wordpress.com/
skype: Mark Dyck

When I built the brick oven in our yard, one of the questions people asked (and I asked myself) was “Will it work in the depths of a prairie winter?” I always figured we’d be OK so long as we didn’t let the oven freeze solid but until last week I admit I felt a little trepidation. Well, things went amazingly well, even with temperatures around -25C and the wind chill at -40C. A couple notes:

• The oven heated up pretty much as usual. Maybe a little longer burn, but nothing too crazy.
• The oven did cool a little quicker than normal. Once the mass is saturated, it usually cools about 10F per hour. In the freezing cold last week, the temperature dropped 20F per hour, which is still very manageable
• The door is still the biggest source of heat loss. I had to switch the loaves around a bit but, again, given the temperatures outside it was more than acceptable
• Whoever thought to position the oven so the back blocked north winds was pretty smart! We were as sheltered as possible, without having the oven indoors
• I can load the oven really, really quickly when my hands are freezing
• Those human interest stories on the news are true — exposed flesh does freeze in a minute or so. I got a mild case of frostbite on my hands by the end of the bake day. Nothing too bad but I had purple fingers for a couple hours.

So all in all, a great learning experience and I was really pleased with the quality of our midwinter bread. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed baking it for you.

I’m really excited about introducing some new bread to the list over the coming weeks, but this week we’re going to stick with some old standbys to keep your bellies full during the short days. Comfort food to enjoy wrapped in a blanket, in your favorite chair with a good book and a cup of tea…

#1: Orange Boot Multigrain Loaf: Our best seller, this large loaf is bursting with corn meal, rolled oats, brown rice and local organic unbleached flour. A touch of honey and plenty of buttermilk gives a touch of sweetness and tang too!

Orange Boot Multigrain, 800g Batard, $4.00

#2: Potato, Cheddar and Chive Torpedo: This is a huge favorite with the folks who like cheese bread (like, everyone in our family for example.) With real potatoes, sharp cheddar cheese and a healthy portion of chives in each loaf, I think of it as ‘perogie bread’. Either way it’s a really tasty treat and is great on its own or in a funky sandwich.

Potato, Cheddar and Chive Torpedo, 750g Batard, $5.00

As is our custom — please order by 6PM on Wednesday by sending an email to mark@madbaker.com or calling 522-1592. Your bread will be ready for pickup between 3PM and 6PM on Friday and can be picked up at 2904 Wascana Street. If you need the bread delivered I can do that after 6:00PM Friday but please call in advance to arrange for delivery.

Robyn promises to reply and confirm every email order we receive. So if you don’t hear from us within 24 hours please call or email again.

Best wishes this week!
Mark, Cindy, Ben and Robyn

Wow, last week was a bit of a challenge, to say the least. I got hit by a nasty flu bug on Thursday and I’m still working my way back to full fitness, so the vast majority of the firing, baking and packaging fell to Cindy last week. I helped where I could from a respectful distance and wrapped in a blanket, but it all worked out in the end. Sorry I wasn’t able to say Hi to everyone who picked up bread but I’m sure you’ll agree it was for the best!

You could tell we were a little out of kilter because for the first time in our history, Friday didn’t have the nicest weather of the week. I know it wasn’t too terrible, but I’m used to seeing sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures when we’re baking. Perhaps we’ll be treated to a chinook this time round.

This week, we’re making two slight modifications to some old favourites:

#1: Orange Boot Birdseed Loaf: This is a “transitional” multigrain loaf — that is, it still contains white flour but has lots of healthy additions like wheat bran, buttermilk and of course, fresh-roasted pumpkin, sunflower and flax seeds. The roasted seeds give the loaf a unique flavour and crunchy chew. Yum!

Orange Boot Birdseed Loaf, 750g Batard, $4.00 [Note that the shape is different than pictured, but the insides are the same!]

#2: Our Semolina Loaf is a simple loaf with a deceptively complex flavour thanks to an extremely slow rise. We start building the dough Wednesday for a Friday bake and the dough does most of its rising in the cooler. The bread contains a mix of white flour and durum semolina flour from locally grown, organic grain and when shaped in the traditional ‘S’ and topped with sesame seeds becomes Pane Siciliano, which makes it more fun too!

Pane Siciliano, 500g S-shaped loaf, $3.50

As is our custom — please order by 6PM on Wednesday by sending an email to mark@madbaker.com or calling 522-1592. Your bread will be ready for pickup between 3PM and 6PM on Friday and can be picked up at 2904 Wascana Street. If you need the bread delivered I can do that after 6:00PM Friday but please call in advance to arrange for delivery.

Robyn promises to reply and confirm every email order we receive. So if you don’t hear from us within 24 hours please call or email again.

Best wishes this week!
Mark, Cindy, Ben and Robyn

The weather has warmed up a bit and we’ve found a source of seasoned firewood, so we’re back to baking this week!

As we’re getting back into the swing of things, we’ll be sticking to two of your favorites this week:

#1: Orange Boot Multigrain Loaf: Our best seller, this large loaf is bursting with corn meal, rolled oats, brown rice and local organic unbleached flour. A touch of honey and plenty of buttermilk gives a touch of sweetness and tang too!

Please note: We’re no longer making sandwich loaves in the brick oven. You’ll get the same great flavour in an oblong shape — it’s still a nice high loaf which is great for your morning toast.

Orange Boot Multigrain, 750g Batard, $4.00

#2: There’s nothing ordinary about our Pain Ordinaire – our french loaf is given an extra slow rise starting Thursday night to extract the most flavour from our organic flour.

French Loaf (Pain Ordinaire), 700g Batard, $3.50

As is our custom — please order by 6PM on Wednesday by sending an email to mark@madbaker.com or calling 522-1592. Your bread will be ready for pickup between 3PM and 6PM on Friday and can be picked up at 2904 Wascana Street. If you need the bread delivered I can do that after 6:00PM Friday but please call in advance to arrange for delivery.

Robyn promises to reply and confirm every email order we receive. So if you don’t hear from us within 24 hours please call or email again.

Best wishes this week!
Mark, Cindy, Ben and Robyn

Happy New Year everyone. We hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season. December has been a very busy and exciting month for us and it was nice to take a few days off to relax and have fun as a family.

We’re getting ready to start baking again and we’ll have a ‘bread order’ email shortly. This isn’t it, though. There have been several inquiries about what we’ve been up to so this email is a summary of the events of the past couple weeks…

The Bakery: We spent most of December attempting to purchase the existing bakery in the River Heights mall on Regina Ave and Montague St. Pretty much did it too, but on December 18 we finally decided to hold off for now. The space was larger than we needed, the equipment much older than we’d like and the layout is pretty awkward too.

The good news is we had a really good meeting with the mall landlord and will work together to design an appropriate space in the mall over the next 18 months or so. We’re both excited about the type of bakery we want to build.

In the meantime, however, we’re still looking for some rental space (hopefully with equipment) so we can continue to bake 1-2 days a week for all of you. We have pretty much maxxed out what we can do in the house while still preserving our sanity, so if any of you know of a commercial kitchen we can rent by the hour, please let us know!

The Bread: The last four months have been a lot of fun as we’ve worked to figure out how to scale up our baking, manage the brick oven and expand on the types of breads we offer. We learned a couple really good things:

1. 60 loaves per baking day is a good number when baking out of the house. We did 75 on December 1 and that was hard, and the 155 we did on December 14 pushed us (mixer, oven, Mark and Cindy) to the limit. So the solution is to expand to a bigger space (with bigger equipment), bake two days per week, or change my mixing technique. We’re open to ideas here — please let us know if something ‘obvious’ comes to mind.

2. Bread pans are damaging the brick oven. We were disappointed to learn that the heavy pans we’re using for our multigrain and birdseed bread are causing the firebrick hearth to deteriorate. Lots of scoring on the bricks from sliding the pans in and out of the oven. So we will no longer be offering pan breads (aka ‘sandwich loaves’) and will be investing in proofing baskets so you can still get nice high loaves for your morning toast. We started experimenting with the baskets in December and are pleased with the results. We think you will be pleased as well.

At every step on this adventure we’ve been obsessive about how to provide the very best experience for each and every one of you. What new breads do you want to see? How can we make ordering easier? Can we improve how the bread is packaged or delivered? You are our ‘A-team’ and we rely on your comments to make the bread and the bakery the best you’ve ever experienced. We’re thrilled that you are part of this — please keep the comments and suggestions coming!

Happy New Year everyone. We look forward to seeing you again in January!

Mark, Cindy, Ben and Robyn

Please note: This Friday will be the last baking day for us before Christmas –- we’re frantically trying to get our head around leasing a commercial space in the New Year (more details below) and we need to get some shopping done too.

This Week: Many of your old favourites — order some extra to freeze if you need. All the loaves freeze well; the multigrain especially so.

#1: Orange Boot Multigrain Loaf: Our best seller, this large sandwich loaf is bursting with corn meal, rolled oats, brown rice and local organic unbleached flour. A touch of honey and plenty of buttermilk gives a touch of sweetness and tang too!

– Orange Boot Multigrain, 800g Sandwich Loaf, $4.00

#2: Our “birdseed” loaf is a multi-grain loaf chock-full of roasted pumpkin, sunflower and flax seeds. The seeds add extra crunchiness and pack a lot of flavour!

- Orange Boot Birdseed Bread, 800g Sandwich Loaf, $4.00

#3: There’s nothing ordinary about our Pain Ordinaire – our french loaf is given an extra slow rise to extract the most flavour from our organic flour.

– French Loaf (Pain Ordinaire), 700g Batard, $3.50

#4 (Sweet Special): Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread. This is a very pretty sweet loaf, with six strands of dough all braided together and baked till a golden brown. A luxurious treat with a hint of oranges and as many cranberries and nuts as we can cram in there!

– Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread, 850g Braided Loaf, $7.00

Note: If you’ve got a large gathering, we’d be glad to make a 1.2kg behemoth for you for $9.00.

#5 (Savory Special): Herb and Garlic Focaccia. This amazing flatbread is built over two days for maximum flavour and then we go even further with a home-made herb oil. Wow! This is sold as a slab which you can cut up for guests or tear apart with gusto.

- Orange Boot Herb Focaccia, 8”x12” slab, $4.00

As is our custom — please order by 6PM on Wednesday by sending an email to mark@madbaker.com or calling (306) 522-1592. Your bread will be ready for pickup between 3PM and 6PM on Friday and can be picked up at 2904 Wascana Street. If you need the bread delivered I can do that after 6:00PM Friday but please call in advance to arrange for delivery.

We promise to reply and confirm every email order we receive. So if you don’t hear from us within 24 hours please call or email again.

Best wishes this week!
Mark, Cindy, Ben and Robyn

=== What’s Happening at the Orange Boot? ===

It looks like we might be going “legit” sooner than we thought. An opportunity came up to take over a local bake shop and we’re seriously considering going for it. Lots of details to work out – negotiations, financing, equipment appraisals, staffing, renovations to plan, etc. and we’re trying to get a final decision made before Christmas. Exciting and scary all at once.

Mark is also enrolling in an Artisan Bread baking course at the San Francisco Baking Institute in early 2008 so we can offer up some new and interesting varieties for you to try.

As if that wasn’t enough, Mark’s researching some new whole grain breads to give you some even healthier alternatives. More news to come in the New Year on this topic too.