BakeryPedia™ - The Bakery Encyclopedia

Welcome to BakeryPedia™ -- The Bakery Encyclopedia

Bakery News Links:
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Our Mission:
To create the most complete and definitive source of information about the past and present of Bakeries.

Our Goal:
To be your source for Bakery related information. We will supply our visitors with up to date news, stories, and latest news in the Bakery News Links section above.

Bakery:
A bakery is an establishment which specialises in the production and sale of either bread or sweet pastries such as cakes, cookies, chocolates, etc. Many retail bakeries are also cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who wish to enjoy the freshly baked goods on the bakery's premises. Bakers work here.

What is a Baker:
Someone who primarily bakes and sells bread. Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades. The place where a baker works is called a bakehouse, bakeshop, or bakery.

The First Bakers:

1. Egyptians - The first group of people to bake bread were ancient Egyptians, in 2600-2100 BC. It was believed that their learn their skills from the Babylonians. In the royal bakery of Ramses, bread and cakes were often made in shapes of animals and used for sacrifices.

2. The Roman Empire - The Greek culture influenced the Romans a lot after the Egyptians. From there, Bakery was transformed and flourished. The Romans were lusty and festive, soon the art of Bakering were a highly respected profession during the fourth century (A.D). The 'job' was so profitable that in the time of Christ there were about three hundred Bakers around Rome.

3. Europe - From the Roman Empire, the art of Bakery spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world! During the Middle ages, it was common for each landlord to have a bakery, which was actually more of a public oven. Housewives would bring dough that they had prepared to the baker, who would use the oven to bake it into bread. As time went on, bakers began to bake their own goods, creating numerous tricks. For example, some bakers had trap doors that would allow a small boy to pinch off a bit of the dough to later sell off as his own. This practice eventually lead to a regulation known as the Assize of Bread and Ale, which provided harsh punishments for bakers who were caught cheating. In response, bakers commonly threw in an extra loaf of bread; this tradition lives on in the modern "baker's dozen".

Modern Bakers:
Today bakers work in varying environments both as employees and sometimes owning their own stores. Bakers can be found working in:

1. Large Factories - These produce bread and related products which are then transported to numerous selling points throughout a region. These normally include supermarkets, convenience stores, and the like. Bakers in these environments are largely there for quality control as machines take care of much of the labour intensive aspect of the job.

2. Small Independent Bakeries - These are largely family-run businesses. They may specialise in particular types of products, such as sourdough. In Australia many such businesses are owned by members of the Vietnamese community.

3. Chain Stores - Recent years have seen the rise of chain stores (supermarkets) selling the same range of products. Bakers in these stores bake according to a pre-determined recipe book. This can lead to frustration as some bakers do not agree with techniques used by the franchising model. However, the recipes used tend to be well-founded, and popular with the paying public.

Dough:
Dough is a paste made out of any cereals (grains) or leguminous crops by mixing the flour with a small amount of water. This step is a precursor to making of breads, pasta, noodles, pastries, cookies, and muffins.

In many parts of central India, native people use the quick method of making an instant roasted dough ball or baati. Flat unleavened breads known as roti, lavash, yufka, matzo, lafa, and tortilla are used in many parts of the world today.

Leavened or fermented dough, made from dry ground grain cereals or legumes mixed with water and yeast are in use all over the world. These includes all kinds of breads made from wheat, maize, rice and other cereals or similar crops used today in the world.

Fried dough foods are common in many cultures. In America, "elephant ears" is a common name for fried dough.

Dough is usually a Non-Newtonian fluid which is relevant for kneading and kneading machines.

Types of Bakers:

1. Pastry Chef - A pastry chef or pâtissier is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bistros, restaurants, and bakeries.

A professional pastry chef presents a traditional French croquembouche.The pastry chef is a member of the classic brigade de cuisine in a professional kitchen and is the station chef of the pastry department. As with other station chefs, the pastry chef may have other chefs or assistants within their department. Bakers may also be members of the pastry department in bakeries and larger establishments such as hotels.

The responsibilities of a pastry chef can include duties such as menu planning, costing, and ordering. Day-to-day operations can also require the pastry chef to research recipe concepts and develop and test new recipes. Usually the pastry chef does all the necessary preparation of the various desserts in advance, before dinner seating begins. The actual plating of the desserts is often done by another station chef, usually the Garde manger, at the time of order. The pastry chef is often in charge of the dessert menu, which besides traditional desserts, may include dessert wines, specialty dessert beverages, and gourmet cheese platters.

2.Konditorei - The German word for a confectionery shop. A Konditorei is like a little café and it normally has a wide variety of pastries on offer. In Germany and Austria it is a very popular custom to go to a Konditorei to have a cake and some tea or coffee mid-afternoon. Cakes vary from Creamy cakes to apple strudel; one can also often purchase pizzas or sausages.

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