2018 Kneading Conference

Baking at home is full of all kinds of shoulds. There's a lot of pressure to craft the perfect loaf, even though the perfect loaf is the one that fits into your life. This is a baking brainstorming session, covering history, methods and ingredients to help you sort out what you want to make for your daily bread. Emphasis will be placed on whole grains, and understanding how their flours function.

Join Blair Marvin of Elmore Mountain Bread for some wood-fired baking fun! In this 3 hour class Blair will discuss key concepts and artisan techniques to give you greater control of the baking process and improve the quality and consistency of your hearth breads. Together you will bake 3 breads, all the same formula, but with different varieties of wheat. Attendees will experience hands-on shaping and baking tips for a wood fired oven and discuss the merits of the different flours used before examining a side-by-side comparison of the breads at the end.

Three years ago, Ellen King of Hewn Bakery teamed up with Andy Hazzard of Hazzard Free Farm, a Midwestern family farm that has been in operation since 1847, to grow a heritage wheat as a way of connecting the past with the future. Andy and Ellen began their quest to find a wheat variety that had been grown in the Midwest by researching old farming journals. They compiled a list of several possible varieties, only to realize how difficult it was to source heritage varieties. The marquis was the last variety in a list and Andy was able to find 1 kilo of seeds that would be planted to rebuild the seed stock. After three harvests, a great deal of work and a whole lot of love, the wheat is ready to be used to make bread. Working with The Mill at Janie's Organic Farm the marquis was stone milled and is a high extraction wheat. Marquis is a hybrid that was created in the early 1900's by George Saunders. It was a hybrid between Red Fife and Hard Red Calcutta. This workshop will teach students how to make bread with Marquis wheat and 1-2 other heritage varieties used at Hewn Bakery. We will use a sourdough starter and be able to taste test Marquis, Turkey Red, Red Fife to name just a few of the varieties. This workshop will be hands on where students can work with different doughs, shape some loaves and bake some bread.

We will cover all aspects of the leavening of bread starting at the level of bakery science, looking at the microbiology, physics and chemistry of the process to get a full understanding of what we are doing in the bakery.  Along with this, there will be practical coverage of fermentation and pre-fermentation techniques used to maximize dough quality and bread flavor.  The various types of baker’s yeast will be discussed and compared with the use of sourdough cultures.  Creating and maintaining sourdough cultures will be covered in detail.  Participants will be given a series of test recipes whereby the resulting breads can be compared.

Three years ago, Ellen King of Hewn Bakery teamed up with Andy Hazzard of Hazzard Free Farm, a Midwestern family farm that has been in operation since 1847, to grow a heritage wheat as a way of connecting the past with the future. Andy and Ellen began their quest to find a wheat variety that had been grown in the Midwest by researching old farming journals. They compiled a list of several possible varieties, only to realize how difficult it was to source heritage varieties. The marquis was the last variety in a list and Andy was able to find 1 kilo of seeds that would be planted to rebuild the seed stock. After three harvests, a great deal of work and a whole lot of love, the wheat is ready to be used to make bread. Working with The Mill at Janie's Organic Farm the marquis was stone milled and is a high extraction wheat. Marquis is a hybrid that was created in the early 1900's by George Saunders. It was a hybrid between Red Fife and Hard Red Calcutta. This workshop will teach students how to make bread with Marquis wheat and 1-2 other heritage varieties used at Hewn Bakery. We will use a sourdough starter and be able to taste test Marquis, Turkey Red, Red Fife to name just a few of the varieties. This workshop will be hands on where students can work with different doughs, shape some loaves and bake some bread.

We will cover all aspects of the leavening of bread starting at the level of bakery science, looking at the microbiology, physics and chemistry of the process to get a full understanding of what we are doing in the bakery.  Along with this, there will be practical coverage of fermentation and pre-fermentation techniques used to maximize dough quality and bread flavor.  The various types of baker’s yeast will be discussed and compared with the use of sourdough cultures.  Creating and maintaining sourdough cultures will be covered in detail.  Participants will be given a series of test recipes whereby the resulting breads can be compared.

Learn how to create traditional Iraqi flatbreads in a tandoor oven alongside alongside executive chef of Ameera Bread, Ahmed Abbas.

Doughnuts are the perfect marriage between bread and pastries. Learn how to make a simple yeasted ring and turn it into a decadent delight using farm fresh ingredients, local & seasonal fruits and whole grain flours. All the basics of dough, fillings and glazes will be covered, including tips and tricks to help you modify them and make them your own. You can use doughnuts to highlight relationships with your local farmers, millers and community members.

Join Sarah Owens of BK17 Bakery and Susannah Gebhart owner of Old World Levain (OWL) Bakery in Asheville in a workshop exploring seasonal wild yeast waters and other foraged elements and their infinite possibilities for baking.

Sarah and Susannah are both enthusiasts of ingredients sourced from the garden and the wild. Sarah's background in horticulture provides a deeper understanding of natural materials and how to use them, and Susannah's collaborations with wild food experts in Western North Carolina informs her approach to finding creative applications within the craft, including indigenous nuts and nut flours. In this workshop, you will learn how to create yeast waters from local, sustainably harvested flora, explore their potential for leavening and flavoring baked goods, and make a variety of pastries utilizing foraged ingredients. Participants will take home their own YW and sourdough cultures. Examples of breads and pastries using various yeast waters, nut flours, and nut milks will be available for sampling.

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Join Sarah Owens of BK17 Bakery and Susannah Gebhart owner of Old World Levain (OWL) Bakery in Asheville in a workshop exploring seasonally wild yeast waters and their infinite possibilities for baking.

Sarah and Susannah are both enthusiasts of foraged ingredients. Susannah approaches foraged ingredients from a pastry perspective while Sarah approaches them with a horticultural angle. In this workshop, we will study the botanical components of creating yeast waters and their potential for leavening and flavoring baked goods. Using local, sustainably harvested flora you will create both your own YW and also a sourdough culture to take home. Examples of baked goods using various yeast waters will be available for sampling. The class will also explore nut flours and milks (acorn, hickory, etc.) that Susannah has been using in her pastries.

Steamed Breads ….no oven no problem!

Steamed bread in the form of brown bread has had a place on New England tables and at bean suppers and clambakes since colonial times. Brown bread is made with rye, corn and wheat a trinity of grains that were grown on most colonial farms here in Maine. These days most folks are only familiar with the canned brown bread available in New England supermarkets which is a pale comparison to the incredibly flavorful brown bread we’ll demo in this class. From there we’ll move on to a variety of non-traditional steamed breads that explore taste and textures offered by a variety Maine grown grains, including buckwheat, rye, oats, barley and corn. We will also take a look at sweeteners, spices, nuts and seeds that contribute to the beguiling comfort food nature of these breads.