Need a hand? Want to troubleshoot your bread? Wondering how to keep your loaf? Scroll down for Baker's Hotline, Bread Care, and FAQs.
RESOURCES
BAKER'S HOTLINE
We're here for you.
Would you like to start using local, stone ground flour but don't know where to start? We love our flour. Farmer Ground Flour, locally grown and freshly stone ground, is special. You will find flavors, aromas, and textures you never noticed in bread made from white flour. But you may need to adjust your techniques to make your bread shine!
If you have questions about baking with Farmer Ground Flour, please get in touch! We will do what we can to help.
BREAD CARE
You’ve just picked up a loaf of our bread. So, how do you take care of it?
The best way to take care of a loaf of bread is to...
eat it, savor it, and share it! But let’s say you want to keep it around for a while, what then?
Best Practices for Bread Care:
1. Choose a bread that keeps well.
2. Eat it now. Share it.
3. If you can’t eat it now, but you intend to eat it soon, keep it at room temperature.
4. If you like a crispy crust, keep it in a paper bag.
5. If you like a softer crust, keep it in a plastic bag.
6. If you thought you liked a softer crust, but it turns out you like it crispy, put your bread in the oven, pre-heated to 350F, for a few minutes until it has regained its crisp.
7. If you have a breadbox, use it.
8. If you want to keep your bread for a longer period of time, like, say.. until the world ends, wrap it well in plastic wrap, or seal it well in an airtight bag, and freeze it. To revive it, allow the loaf to thaw, wrapped, before putting it in a pre-heated oven, unwrapped, to freshen up.
9. Cut your bread with a high-quality bread knife.
10. Accept that things change, and learn to enjoy that.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
You asked, we answered.
We've organized our questions into three sections. Have a look.
Got more questions? Give us a holler.
Frequently asked questions
CRUSTFUND
Do you bake the same types of bread every week?
Why can't I request the type of load I get when I sign up for a bread share?
I forgot to put my account on hold. Can you make an exception just this once?
PLEASE don't forget this very important thing! We start baking bread THREE DAYS IN ADVANCE based on the number of Crust Fund members. Specifically, we plan which types of bread and how much to bake plus scale out all of the flour on day one, do the mix and pre-shaping on day two, and then bake the bread on day three. If your account is active, so is your bread! One fix we like to recommend after forgetting to put your account on hold: Have a friend come pick up your loaf- they can enjoy it for themselves or freeze it for you while they await your return.
How many loaves of bread can your oven hold at once?
Do you deliver bread to New York City? Rochester? Connecticut? Ireland? South Korea? Mars?
Can I come to the Farmers Market and buy 60 loaves on the spot?
What is a Crust Fund and how does it work?
What if I have to go out of town?
Let's say…you are invited to go to Moscow to discuss a new hotel. What then? Such deals, I’m told, can take some time to work out, and you might not want to fly home just to pick up your bread! We have thought of this!
HEALTH
Is the bakery certified organic?
No, the bakery is not "certified organic". We bake with organic flours and organic grains, and we make every effort to find the best possible local, organic ingredients. We may decide in the future that organic certification is worthwhile for us, but for now we are simply making the best bread we can.
Is your bread vegan?
Do you bake any gluten free breads or cookies?
How much salt is in each loaf?
How much sodium is in each loaf?
How much sodium in each serving?
Is there such a thing as “no-salt bread”? Is there such a thing as “low-salt bread”?
How much salt do bread baker's typically use?
TECHNICAL
Can I come be an apprentice for a day, a week, a month, or a year?
How many loaves of bread can the oven hold?
70 loaves
How much wood do you burn to keep the oven going?
We burn about one cord of wood per month.
Who designed and built the Wide Awake oven?
Does burning wood produce a lot of pollution?
Not in this case. We use special design and materials to make this oven extraordinarily clea-burning and efficient.
Will you build me an oven like this for my bakery?
How long does it take for the oven to get hot? To cool down?
It takes about 6 weeks for the oven to get fully hot, and about 3 weeks for it to fully cool down.
