We Bake It Here! The Art of Stone Hearth Baking

We've recently fielded customer inquiries about who bakes the "Wedge label bread" for us. A few shoppers may assume we outsource our baking. Not so! That little "tail" on the south side of the building, built in 2001, houses the premier hand-made whole grain and artisan bakery in the city. It is also certified organic.

Several thousand members have joined since we built our bakery. In that time we've expanded the offerings considerably (see page 4). Here's an update and peak into the life of the bakery, starting with some impressive numbers. Over 15,000 from-scratch, handmade artisan breads & rolls come out of our oven every month. Another 2,000 or so loaves of the pan breads (sliced and bagged), along with pizza crusts, bagged dinner rolls and sandwich buns are also on the weekly baking schedule.

We built the bakery to offer our shoppers the highest quality flavorful, wholesome, nutritious breads. Both whole grain and white breads are made without any of the artificial additives, preservatives or dough conditioners found so commonly in commercial breads.

Artisan breads are made by methods that originated hundreds of years ago in peasant villages of the Middle East and Europe. Bread was baked daily in large communal brick or stone ovens, which created loaves with crispy crusts and creamy centers, and a flavorful texture that characterize rustic breads. We achieve this same effect with an imported French oven with stone tiles and steam injection pipes, heated to 500&Mac251;F. to get the crusts just right. (Putting it together was a challenge. The directions came in French, and were no doubt as clearly written as the ones parents struggle with on holidays and birthdays.)

Baking is a way of life, not just a job. Here's how one of our staff enrolled. Bakery Manager Tony Montana came to baking from a cooking career. When his father arranged for him to work at a friend's restaurant as a teen, Tony discovered a natural affinity for working with food. He developed his passion sufficiently to land a coveted cooking job at the New French Café. The café bread was all baked in-house, and when a Bastille Day festival required thousands of loaves, he volunteered to assist with baking. Thus he discovered his calling in the food world: baking bread. He honed his skills at a number of Chicago bakeries and a corporate natural food chain, joining us as we created our bakery. He developed recipes as the final touches were put on the building.

Around 2:00 a.m. each day the bread bakers arrive. Their first task is to shape and bake the dough they made the previous day. Dough that is "proofed" overnight in a temperature controlled "proofing box" develops the full flavor and wonderful texture of our artisan breads. Same-day production cannot match it!

The bakers work with more than a dozen types of dough. A number of breads start with the same "mother dough" and branch out when other ingredients, such as nuts, savory vegetables like onions and garlic, dried fruits or herbs are added. The white breads are ready first, followed by denser whole grain breads with more ingredients. The artisan loaves are warm and ready for the customers by 9:00 in the morning, seven days a week. Certain breads are made daily, with other specialties on a weekly rotation. (The schedule is posted on the side of the refrigerated case next to the artisan breads.) After delivering the loaves to the display case, the bakers turn their attention to creating the pan loaves and artisan dough for the next morning.

Tony and the crew create several lines of sliced pan breads. Two living sourdough starters are cultivated, fed daily and maintained over time, while another "sponge" type starter is made daily with yeast. Our sliced pan breads include the Milk 'n Honey line, a soft certified organic sandwich bread developed with kids in mind, which uses the sponge starter, giving the bread a mellower flavor. Another old-fashioned basic yeasted hearty whole grain selection includes multi-grain and sunflower breads, made with mostly organic ingredients. The certified organic sliced sourdough breads are leavened with a traditional European-style levain starter developed in our bakery, instead of using commercial yeast.

At 4:00 a.m., Pastry Baker Amy arrives. She pulls out the two types of dough she made the day before and puts on the finishing touches, rolling out layer after layer of butter filled dough to make them flaky and flavorful, before turning them into a variety of traditional European Danishes, sweet and savory turnovers made with handmade puff pastry dough, and of course, sweet rolls and croissants. As with the artisan breads, these delicacies are in the case, warm and fragrant, when the store opens.

The traditional perspective is that bread is best eaten the day it was made. If you don't shop for bread daily, I've found that warming the bread in the oven at 350 degrees F, inside one of the white paper bags we provide, for about 15-20 minutes "revives" the crust and delivers a most satisfactory bread experience. Experiment with your own oven to find the best combination of time and temperature. Also contrary to European practice, we are happy to slice your artisan loaves upon request. Bring them to the deli counter and our staff will slice and bag them for you.

Early this summer look for an authentic Pumpernickle in the case.

So there you have the real Wedge Bakery story. The grain, the whole grain, and nothing but the grain. Sorry. Try the Pumpernickle!