Sunday · 10:00am–approximately 5:00pm
Basic Breads
A complete introduction to mixing, developing, shaping and baking reliable bread at home.
The course
Our most accessible bread-making day takes you step by step through the complete process. It suits complete beginners as well as occasional home bakers who want to understand why their dough behaves as it does and make their results more consistent.
What you will make
- White farmhouse loaf
- Country loaf
- Granary loaf
What you will learn
- Choosing flour, yeast, salt and the equipment that genuinely helps
- Accurate weighing, mixing and developing gluten
- Fermentation, bench rest, shaping and proving
- Scoring, baking and judging when a loaf is ready
What the day looks like
- Welcome, tea and coffee, followed by getting set up at your bakery station.
- Ingredients and flour: what each ingredient contributes and how to choose well.
- Practical weighing, mixing and the first doughs of the day.
- Developing gluten and understanding fermentation.
- Sandwich lunch and refreshments at your workstation.
- Bench rest, shaping and proving.
- Baking equipment and how to reproduce good results at home.
- Scoring and baking.
- Bake timings, diagnosing problems and planning your baking day.
- Tasting, questions and packing your bakes to take home.
We normally finish at around 5:00pm. Dough works to its own timetable, so the day can finish a little earlier or later; we will give you a clearer indication after lunch if you need to arrange a lift or evening plans.
Everything included
Good to know
- Complete beginners are welcome on every course. Matt and Garry teach the day together and keep the group small enough for practical help.
- Dietary, allergy and accessibility information is collected for each participant during booking and checked again on arrival. Serious allergies may need to be reviewed before the booking is accepted.
- There is no fixed minimum age, but younger participants must attend with an adult participant.
- Any course-specific item to bring, arrival information and final practical details are included in the Monday reminder email.
