Bread Training, which is now part of our overall Bread Education, is our way of teaching people how to bake bread. Although everyone has different styles and will make their own unique breads, we educate people in Sour Flour’s methods and philosophies of baking.
We initially started training people how to make bread as we got help with our goal of giving away 1000 loaves of bread. But as we continued baking, more people became interested in learning. Over time, the classes have changed a bit in format, but the general purpose is still the same; to help people improve or start their bread baking. One of our main goals that we have had for a while is to train and mentor 100 SF Bakers. Each of these bakers will have their own starter, and so each of their breads will be unique. Also, considering how much came out of me personally giving away 1000 loaves of bread, if we get each SF Baker to give away 1000 loaves of bread, a lot of good will be able to come out of it.
From the beginning, there has been an idea of creating a Training Manual to help people learn how to make bread. There was even a Bubble Chart created (similar to the main Sour Flour Plan Bubble Chart), and I have a small collection of things I’ve written, but much more work needs to be done on it. The Training Manual will supplement all training and practice, and will also include photos and videos.
Alongside with the Bread Training, we also do Dough To Go. It started off by making some Pizza dough for Pizza Hacker, but we have also done Naan and Flatbread doughs for Soul Cocina, as well as shaped loaves and dough that people have taken home to bake themselves. Right now we only have Dough To Go by request, but as we get our infrastructure more setup, it will be easily available.
Our classes were initially out of my house, but as things have grown, the operation has steadily moved elsewhere. We did our first home visit in January, and taught one of the labs at Local: Mission Eatery, and held a workshop for the Underground Farmers Market. We have had plans to setup classes in many different home ovens, and have even gotten volunteers to donate their space, but have yet to set it up. For the time being, we have a general sign-up for Bread Education, but are still working on organizing classes for the dozens of people who have expressed interest. For the time being, Bread Education happens heavily at 331 Cortland; I can talk to you about different bread subjects for as long as you’d like, and am generally there from 2:30PM-7PM every day except Bagel Monday. The Sour Flour Hotline, (415) 509 – 3380, is also always open in case you are working on a loaf, and need advice.
Katie Kwan, who was an early contributor for Gourmet Gastronomer, and runs Kitchen Sidecar, has now offered to be helping out as a Bread Education Program Coordinator. We are always looking for people who are interested in helping teach, as well as people who would like to learn. As we get more SF Bakers, we will be learning from everyone’s experiences, and the bread will continue to improve.