On Beau’s first day I was walking him through the science of what was happening. The gluten strands were stretching. The yeast was expanding rapidly. We looked for certain visual cues of when the loaves were ready to be thrown into the oven.
After a lengthy lecture, Beau asked me if the bread was ready to go into the oven. I turned around to check on the proofing of it and stopped in my tracks. The loaves had poofed out seemingly instantly. The toasters (that’s what we call the rectangle ones) were spilling beautifully out of their strap pans. The rounds were expanding like a slow motion bomb detonation.
Maybe it’s just me but there’s something about training that helps you see the task you’re teaching someone through those innocent eyes you used to have. I threw my training notes out of the mental window for a couple of minutes as I looked at Beau and said, “This is so cool, man.”
It was so cool. The bread was alive. It was breathing, sucking in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide. It was sweating alcohol as the yeast ate the honey around them. The gluten strands in the wheat were almost at the breaking point as they tried to hold everything together. The flavor had matured into the great, nuanced flavor of Honey Whole Wheat that we try to deliver to you every time we make it.
Mentally I grabbed my lecture notes again, looked at Beau, and said “yes, it’s time to throw it in the oven.”
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Mary commented on 07-Jul-2010 06:12 PM
Mary commented on 07-Jul-2010 06:12 PM Totally awesome! Thanks for sharing your time with Beau and the mighty oven. Who knew training could be so wonderful!! ;)
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