Category Archives: sourdough bread

Mini loaves a big hit

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mini loaves
Mini Smittybreads: (clockwise from l.r.) Multi-grain, rye, seeded, pain au levan.

I sold more loaves and set a personal sales record at the West Lafayette Farmers Market this past week, in part due to the perfect weather but also because of a new product I came up with almost by accident: miniature loaves.

The idea for Mini Smittybreads came about as a result not of thinking about new ways to market bread but more efficient ways to produce it.

As a small volume baker churning out three large loaves for every 30 minutes of oven time, I’ve struggled with sacrificing an entire loaf of bread to cut into sample pieces. Some days I haven’t offered samples even though they are a great way to engage customers and sell more bread.

The solution to my sample dilemma came to me a week ago: produce enough dough for the requisite number of loaves plus a little extra for a sampler loaf. The first time I tried it, it worked out well, giving me just enough samples for market without cutting into a large loaf.

multigrain miniloaves
The larger of these multi-grains is for sampling purposes.

Then I got to thinking: These little loaves are darned cute. Not only that, they are just the right size for a small dinner, a snack or an appetizer tray. They are also easier to cut and, for market-goers wanting to conserve cash, easier on the wallet.

In the past I’ve frequently had customers tell me they couldn’t possible use an entire 23-ounce loaf of bread. My only response, until now, has been to tell them they can always freeze half for later. In my experience that argument seldom worked.

With miniature loaves, however, I can offer a solution to the too-much-bread dilemma while at the same time appeal to that part of human nature that thinks miniatures are cute (Shetland ponies, tiny houses, toy poodles. Well, maybe not poodles …) A customer unwilling to spring for a large loaf of rye might well buy one small one and a couple more besides.

Incidentally, while I was at the market Wednesday afternoon pushing mini-loaves, a child of neighboring vendor, Holy Cow Farm Fresh, was playing behind the booth with a set of miniature farm implements. The parallel between his fascination with 1/64th scale combines and sprayers and my fascination with 1/3rd scale loaves of seeded sourdough didn’t dawn on me until days later.

To be honest, I worried that the sale of mini-loaves might cut into sales of the larger loaves, but I don’t think it did. I quickly sold out of mini-loaves of rye, multi-grain, seeded and pain au levain, each weighing 7 ounces. Several customers bought more than one. To my satisfaction, most of the small loaves went to new customers while my regulars continued buying the larger loaves. I went home with seven large loaves but was able to sell them all by the next day.

The large loaves sell for $7 each. The mini’s, weighing a third of their larger cousins, sold briskly at $3 apiece, or 3 for $8. I don’t know if I’ll make mini-loaves for each and every market, given that they require a little extra labor to produce and package. But they appear to be a novel and effective way to sell more bread and bring a smile to the faces of me and Smittybread customers.

 

Outstanding in My Field

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I’ll admit the past few farmers markets have been a bit of a struggle. It’s been hot. Hot and wet. Hot and humid. Did I mention hot? This made baking more of a challenge and kept crowds at bay.

Thus I breathed a sigh of relief this past when a cold front moved through, bringing temperatures back down to the upper 70s. Moreover, the ugly patch of rain clouds that had been moving steadily toward West Lafayette on the radar all morning steered far south, leaving the West Lafayette Farmers Market pleasantly warm, breezy and dry.

I think some vendors stayed at home fearing a rain-out, but I baked the same number of loaves I’d been bringing all along, amounting to a little more than 73 pounds of baked bread. Between the bags of rolls, baguettes and full-size loaves, it’s a sizable amount to bake three or four loaves at a time!

Anticipating a surge in hearth bread fans with the resumption of Purdue University classes, I baked several loaves of rye sourdough that disappeared quickly.
Anticipating a surge in bread fans with the start of Purdue University’s fall semester, I baked several loaves of rye sourdough. They went fast.

Preparing for market, I anticipated a bump in market attendance with the return of Purdue University students and faculty after summer break, and I wasn’t disappointed. I saw many new faces, including several Europeans who stopped to check out hearty breads they’d been unable to find elsewhere locally.

For the occasion, I baked half a dozen loaves of 40 percent whole rye sourdough, the recipe for which I found in Jeffrey Hamelman’s excellent book Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes. I sold two loaves before I even got to market, and the remaining four didn’t take long to disappear.

My booth location was a bit of a challenge. Because I’m a relative newcomer, I don’t get to pick and choose where my booth will be located, and this past week I drew a spot practically by myself. Even so, loyal customers sought me out, and those unfamiliar with Smittybread could hardly miss the booth. I sold out, down to the half loaf of Lafayette sourdough I’d cut into for free samples (half price of course!) It’s a nice feeling loading empty bread boxes into the car when it’s time to go home.

Seeds of Success

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Seeded sourdough, featuring a coating of white and dark sesame seeds outside and toasted sunflower, toasted sesame and flax seed inside.
Seeded sourdough, featuring a coating of white and dark sesame seeds outside and toasted sunflower, toasted sesame and flax seed inside.

We were blessed with great weather at this past week’s farmers market in West Lafayette, Ind., and I was happy to see many returning customers and a few new ones. I also had the opportunity to chat with several acquaintances who came by say hello, which is always fun even if they don’t always buy a loaf of bread. (Hey, I don’t buy bread unless I really need a loaf so why should they?)

My daughter Kaytie helped set up, and as has happened before I had to send her home to get an item I’d forgotten to pack (this time it was a digital scale.) While running that errand she received a call from my youngest son, Adam, who had tried without success to reach me all morning. He broke the news that he and his wife, Laura, had welcomed into the world that morning their first child, a baby son they christened Henry Nicholas. It was exciting news, particularly because it is my first grandchild. (I have a ways to go to catch up with my wife, Kathleen, who has seven and is expecting her eighth!)

This week I reintroduced Seeded Sourdough in place of the rye with walnut and raisins I’d been selling with mixed success the previous two weeks. Although I received several compliments on the rye, they didn’t sell out like the other breads. The Seeded Sourdough loaves sold out, as did most everything else I took to market, so I went home with a good wad of cash and a nice feeling that all those hours in the home bakery were worth it.

IMG_4734This week I debuted a French baguette. Although in a way they are more trouble than they are worth for my size oven, I wanted to give it a try in honor of Bastille Day and because someone last week suggested I bake a few. I also wanted to see how well I could pull it off because in the past my experiences with baguettes have been hit and miss.

To streamline the production process, I chose a baguette recipe that calls for the dough to be refrigerated overnight. I divided the dough into 3-loaf batches the previous evening. That way I could take them out of refrigeration every 30 minutes so as one batch finished baking the next would be ready to go. The technique worked but it was like a three-ring circus with four different batches of baguettes in various stages of production.

There’s something about making a good baguette that is truly satisfying, and judging by the comments we got, customers are equally happy to see real French baguettes instead of those puffy imitations they find in the supermarkets around here. I think I’ll try them again next week.