Meet Ben, a farmer focused on stewarding the earth whilst growing grains. Image: living wheat roots (supplied).  A small hessian bag printed with the mysterious, red-inked word “Bergamot” on the front was my introduction to regenerative spelt grain and the grower, Ben Ranford. A family-friend of Ben in one of my baking classes had brought along a small quantity of this aromatic and flavoursome grain. After fresh milling the grain into flour, the resulting wholegrain spelt sourdough loaf had a soft and tender crumb with a rich nutty flavour; it was spelt bread at its finest. Being a home ..read more

Protein percentage is often what bakers (home and professional) focus on. Here are some quick considerations.  A short summary: simply find out from the mill (or supplier) what the flour is designed for... and bake!   Image: bread wheat growing in our backyard.  Protein The protein content on the nutrition panel tells how much protein is in the food (e.g. flour). What it doesn't tell is what type/s of protein. For bread-making, we typically want a balance of two proteins to form gluten. The ratios and quality of these heavily influences how the dough will ..read more

Fun. Boredom. Relaxation. Stress-relief. Hobby. Necessity. Why you bake at home could be lots of different reasons, and one of these could be to save money. Do you love fruit-filled fig and walnut rolls, but not love the double-digit dollars?  Is a weighty and wholesome rye sourdough loaf your favourite, but not the weight and hole it leaves in your pocket at payment? Do you enjoy a premium organic sourdough loaf, but not enjoy handing over the premium price? This blog is my encouragement to you to bake at home. I’ll show you a guide to the costs so you can weigh the costs for yourself ..read more

Society is extreme. For example, that sentence. But in the niche of society that bakes (especially bread) I’ve observed this: someone posts a photo of their bread asking how it can improve. Comments seem to be either “it's fine, just eat it, it doesn't need to be perfect” or "here's 5 reasons it's bad but I'm not going to offer helpful advice". Or is that just the pages and group/s I’m (sporadically) part of? For me, the balance is celebrating and enjoying and seeking to improve; because you are reading this you’re probably similar. So, four simple RRRRs for you to improve your baking.   ..read more

Here the five most common myths I see for sourdough starters. These myths are common in books, blogs and videos. Why? Because much of the internet and publishing is just replication (maybe this blog is too?! Although I did write it from scratch.). Maybe something here will help your baking…        Image: firm-textured sourdough starter using wholegrain durum wheat flour. “Refresh/feed the starter daily.” In theory, it’s ideal to maintain the starter at a constant temperature with consistent refreshment timings. The microbes will be happy and optimised. But it’s no ..read more

There are a lot of assumptions, rumours, and often-quoted statements about supermarkets and their breads. Some are true, others are not. Here are 6 myths about supermarket breads.* Image: not a supermarket loaf. I made it. MYTH #1: supermarket breads are full of sugar Certainly, some savoury/plain breads do contain added sugar. However, it's rarer than is commonly believed. In fact, some major brands promote their loaves as No Added Sugar. Obviously, sweet buns and breads have added sugar.  Why do many mass-produced breads taste sweet? Because wheat is made up of a lot of sta ..read more

This series of blogs is to join the movement to understand where our food, especially baking and bread-making ingredients, come from, and to appreciate the farmers and families involved. I hope you, like I am, enjoy the interview and find it insightful. Farmers, we thank you! Pangkarra Foods is well-known in SA for premium stone-ground durum pasta and chickpea and bean high-protein snacks. (This is not a sponsored post.) Baker’s Treat also has Pangkarra’s delicious and unique stone-milled wholegrain durum flour—great for breads, pizza, pasta and general baking—available to home bakers. See t ..read more

As someone who (regularly) teaches baking classes, is (irregularly) on social media, and (sometimes) active on online forums, and (always) exists on planet earth, I observe many reasons why people bake. Does it matter? I think it does. Because different reasons can mean different processes and outcomes (that will be blog part 2).   However, often what I see is people (professionals and home cooks alike) pursuing someone else’s ideal loaf/roll/pastry/cake, instead of their own baked good goodness—whatever that may be. I’ll narrow this down to just discussing bread and home cooks, but the ..read more

ABOUT A BANNETONBanneton baskets (also known as brotform/brotformen/rattan basket/cane basket/proofing basket) are used to support 'free-form' (not baked in a loaf tin) shaped bread dough as it rises (final 'proof/rise'/final fermentation). These baskets can be used for sourdough and instant (quick-rise) bakers yeast breads and gives a traditional rustic finish to the loaves.  *DO NOT PUT BANNETONS IN THE OVEN* The dough is gently tipped out of the basket before baking. Bannetons can be used with the included cloth liner (recommended for wet dough) and/or generously duste ..read more

A note from Matthew: I wanted to highlight some of the farmers and growers in my network to understand where our food, especially baking and bread-making ingredients, come from. I trust we can all appreciate the farmers and families involved. I hope you enjoy the interview and find it insightful. Farmers, we thank you! David and his family joined one of my classes to better understand and show the children how (some of) the produce they grow (wheat) becomes food (bread).   Image (supplied): harvesting barley grains near Sheaoak Log. Your name/family name: Dave Heinjus Farm Name (if ..read more