It has been a while since I had anything to write about but I think this will be something people might enjoy.

I am in Burlington until Friday taking a Basic Bread class at the King Arthur Bread Lab. They opened up in 2018 and there was an article in the Seattle Times about it in November.

After reading the article I signed up for the class the same day. They have had a classroom on the East coast but are working with WSU and the grains they grow. The classes are from 1:00 – 5:00 Monday-Thursday.

Since Burlington is an hour and a half (at least) away from home, I am staying at Candlewood Suites in Burlington. It has a small kitchenette and is perfect for the 4 nights and 5 days I will be here. I just found out I could have even brought Misty! Next time, Misty.

I got to the facility early and walked in and there were about 5 men already there. I looked at a spot in the front row but saw something on the one chair remaining. One of the men said, “Come on up front” and I saw that it was an apron and towel that was on all the chairs.

We all introduced ourselves, but then more people started coming in and we didn’t keep it up. The man next to me is Roger and he is very nice and easy to talk with, which is good because we work together on some of the projects.

There are 8 men and 5 women in the class. Most people were from the Seattle/Bellevue area but there was one from Montana and one from Tennessee. Roger is from Elma.

My partner, Roger

Each station had a bowl, scale, beaker, a folder with recipes and other information and all the ingredients needed for the first breads.

My workstation

Today was Basic Bread and Pita Bread. The format is that the instructor has everyone come to the front of the room and she talks through the ingredients and why they are important, then demonstrates the recipe. Then we go back to our workstations and do our own dough. Her dough is for samples so we can take ours home.

She showed us a different way of kneading the bread that is actually pretty gentle compared to how I was used to doing it. The Basic dough was very soft and wet so the object was to keep the wet on the inside and use as little flour as possible when kneading. When you think it is ready you do the ‘doorbell’ test as soon as you stop kneading. That is taking the flat of your finger and touching the dough to see if it springs back right away. Even letting is sit for a few seconds can make the glutens relax and the dough doesn’t spring back as well.

Then the dough was put in a giant proofer. (I kept thinking of the proofing drawers on the Great British Baking Show.) I will take pictures of all the ovens and proofer tomorrow.

After the first rise or proofing.

Then we watched and made a pita dough with 50% all purpose and 50% whole wheat flours. That dough was easier to work with and was a much smaller portion. Roger and i worked together on that one, taking turns kneading it.

After the Basic was done proofing, Leah, the instructor, showed us how to divide it and make a loaf in a pan and 6 rolls. She had a unique way of rolling the dough for the rolls to make them higher. They were put back in the proofer for the second rise.

Next she demonstrated rolling out the pitas. The pita is the kind that has a pocket, not the Greek thick kind. Roger and I finished ours first and took them back to the oven. Leah’s sample ones were already in and we watched them puff way up from the steam in the thin dough.

Then we used a pizza peel to put ours in the oven. The ovens are so hot that it only takes a few minutes to cook. She pulled them out for us and I held my apron up and she put them into it. I took it back to the workstation and wrapped them up in the apron. This keeps them soft and pliable.

The puffing pitas

The assistant for the day, Jen, called us back to show us the rolls and bread that was proofed again to show us how we could tell they were ready and not over- or under- proofed. They kind of jiggle like jello and if you touch them, you can feel the air inside. Then they went into the oven.

We went back up front and Leah cut up her sample pitas and we had those with some hummus while waiting for the bread and rolls to be done.

Pita and hummus time

Then it was time to get the hot, hot, hot rolls and bread and put them into paper bags so they could cool without steaming and head back to the hotel.

So, I got a loaf of bread, six rolls, and 4 pitas! I will end up sharing with the hotel staff but I wanted to watch the championship game so headed straight to my room.

My take for the day. The rolls are misshapen because I dumped them in the bag while they were still hot but they were perfect.

Tomorrow is enriched dough – sweet rolls! Then Wednesday is multi-grains and Thursday is French day! Yay! Each day is a different instructor but they all take turns being the assistant.

More to come. Go Clemson!