Computer-enhanced baking

(published June 2001)

Probably the most common question craft bakers (and increasingly plant bakers) ask me is ‘how can I create and develop new breads’. Often the techniques are slightly different, but though teaching courses are a great idea, very few of us have the time free to go to them. Good books can be very helpful, and though there was once a time when we produced excellent baking guides for the working baker, sadly that time has passed.

But with the advent of the internet, what seems to have been forgotten in all the excitement over the vast sums made and lost, is that it remains an excellent way to research and share information at very little cost. Out on the web there are great sites, written by working bakers and knowledgeable enthusiasts that make it very simple to find out more information about baking techniques and processes. From plant baking though to craft, there is a wealth of information, recipes, ingredient suppliers, and contact details that are available 24 hours a day.

So, first of all, get a computer for the bakery - if only for putting your recipes on. Install on it a spreadsheet program like Microsoft’s Excel or Lotus’s 123. These programs have the power to easily calculate recipes, making sure that you produce exactly the amount of dough you need each day, maintaining the same proportions of your original recipe. This saves money, time, and lets you be a better baker. If the computer doesn’t have a modem, get one and run it through your existing telephone line. From there on you will have access to a vast collection of baking information.

How to search? Go to a good search engine, such as alltheweb.com (my favorite). It also has a filter to remove any XXX websites from your search, which is helpful when a search for ‘cream buns’ returns rather too many imaginative ideas. Whenever you are searching for a subject, say for plant baking, put the term in inverted comma’s. This way the search engine will only look for sites where the words occur next to each other. This can also be done a few times in the same search, so if you type in “plant baking” “tunnel oven”, you will only return the pages that have both terms on the site.

If you know a site already, such as our own www.britishbaker.net, just type the address in the bar at the top of your web browser, usually either Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, or Netscape’s Navigator, and press the return bar on your keyboard. Other sites? Most I look at tend to be overseas, as trends at the moment seem inbound to the UK. Bakery-net.com, is very good and seems to get the balance of articles right for both plant and craft baking. It also has a small recipe index. For industrial baking, another US site bakeryonline.com does offer a good insight into plant baking across the pond. Don’t always be put off the sites that cater for the home baker. Sourdo.com is a strange site which sells freeze-dried wild yeast starters. I’ve always meant to try them, but the reports are very good.

As for books, if they are new and in print, Amazon.co.uk will have them or can get them from it’s US branch. Or if you want to help support the small high street bookstore, just get the information on the book you want and pass it on to them to buy it. Two books I would recommend at the moment are “Bread and Butter” by Tom McMakin (St. Martins Press, 2001) about creating a baking company; and an older one, “The Bread Builders”, by Daniel Wing and Allan Scott (Chelsea Green Publishing, 1999). Their book, though essentially about artisanal oven building, does give very detailed information about craft dough-making methods, and if I’d had the book 10 years ago it would have quickly helped my baking.

Finally, if you see an email address for a baker or writer whom you think might know the answer to your question, then just send a quick note and ask. Throughout the world there are bakers ready and willing to exchange information and help you bake better bread, and run a more successful business.