The Artisan Bakery School  – Real Bread-ucation!

The Artisan Bakery School today focuses on teaching people how to bake bread with integrity.  That means authentic techniques, and ethical ingredients: no chemicals, no preservatives, no cheating and no cutting corners.  We also show people who are time-poor how to fit real, slow-rise bread into their hectic lifestyles with minimal effort.  We think baking should be fun and there’s no reason why  you have to be a slave to your dough!

Teaching the craft of artisan bread making is our main trade.  This is because we believe that such skills need to be passed on to future generations – for their pleasure, for their health and for the health of the planet.

Agribusiness (industrial farming) is having an alarming impact on the soil as well as on people’s health.  If the soil is sick, we suffer too.  Everything is connected.  Evidence is gathering on the harmful effects of the excessive hybridisation of wheat (let’s not even talk about GM!) which was carried out in the sixties and seventies, in the interests of improving yields.  Increasing numbers of people are reporting intolerances or allergies to wheat and to gluten.  (For more on this go to www.perfectloaf.com)

Our response to this  is two-fold.  By using traditional, long-fermentation sourdough techniques, we can modify the protein effects in wheat flour, and improve the bio-availability of nutrients. By choosing not only organically grown but heritage types of flour, we can avoid the negative effects of excessive hybridisation.   We are always on the lookout for new sources of heritage flours, so please contact us if you are growing any!

Our interest in a healthy future is increasingly leading us to work with low-gluten  flours  and even with gluten free flours, which require totally different baking techniques, and offer a rich range of uniquely exciting tastes and textures.

Put simply, we’re here to help you bake better bread, in every sense.

If you have questions or comments on our techniques, ingredients or views, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with either Dragan or Penny: bakers@theartisanbakeryschool.com

If you haven’t already done so, we  encourage you to join The Campaign for Real Bread , a highly dynamic source of support and information for artisan bakers, and The Soil Association . This charity is doing vital work in promoting organic and bio-dynamic farming and food consumption practices. We also support The Campaign for Real Farming  – you only have to read author, biologist and activist Colin Tudge  to see why.