Introduction

I am starting this blog as Baking 101 because I want to start at the very beginning experiencing the joy of baking artisan bread. I love home-made bread. The number of bread recipes that I have collected over the years number in the hundreds. I am determine to bake all of them.

Today the term “artisan” has taken on many different interpretations when it comes to bread. The term has, unfortunately, become a superficial marketing strategy of large commercial bakers. Too often their machine-processed products are labeled as artisan and thus premium.

My goal is to apply the concept of artisan to the process of baking bread, a hands-on approach to preparing dough I know I’m going to make mistakes along the way. Artisan baking requires a certain level of skill in mixing, kneading, fermenting, shaping and baking But practice can move one along the spectrum toward perfection, and I am willing to learn from experience.

There are many excellent books on making artisan bread. I am going to make the investment in building a small library of books that I hope will improve my skills as bread baker. This Blog will document my quest in achieving that goal.