This year for my birthday, I was given an amazing gift: An intensive bread baking course at the San Francisco Baking Institute. I love to bake (I may have even applied to be on the Bake Off when I lived in London), but bread is one of those tricky things that seemed hard for me to handle. Sometimes it would be great, and sometimes I ended up with a flat disc. What was I doing wrong? I felt like I needed some professional input, so this course was right up my alley.
You do a lot over the five days (with early mornings!), but a lot of it is learning about how different techniques you apply to the bread and dough can affect the final outcome. I learned how to ferment for long periods or what to do when you want something quick and dirty. Most of the bread ended up being baguettes, but it was great to have the same loaf with different techniques to really see the differences in what you do.
Of course it wasn’t all baguettes, as we learned how to make bread with different grains like dark rye and whole wheat, as well as different shaping techniques like braiding, baskets or boules. There were also enriched doughs, and we had so many loaves we could take home at the end of each day that my freezer was full (and it’s still not empty yet)!
It wasn’t all hands-on, they also provide educational lectures about a variety of topics like how water affects the proteins in the bread or how salt affects the hydration. We learned why you might use a pre-ferment on your bread before baking, and the different ways gluten will develop in your bread. The instructor we had was also so kind and helpful, that you really felt welcomed and like they really wanted you to improve and get everything you wanted out of the course.
The San Francisco Baking Institute was such an amazing experience, and they offer so many courses for professional or home bakers depending on what you may want to do. I want to go back for more, as they have another five day course for sourdough which sounded amazing, but also some shorter courses for how to make pastries at home too. If you’re looking for a great way to really improve your bread skills, I can’t recommend them enough!
Score: 5/5
San Francisco Baking Institute
525 DNA Way
South San Francisco, CA 94080
