My name is Mike and I love baking. I mean I really, REALLY love baking. I’m not sure if it’s the smell of a good levain, the crackling sound of a loaf of bread straight out of the oven or just the endless possibilities that come from just four ingredients: flour, water, salt and yeast. The best part of all is the smile you see on people’s faces when they bite into one of your delectable creations.
I started baking about 15 years ago and gradually became more and more serious as time went on. See the breads below? They were the first loaves I ever baked and I was very proud of them!
I’ve come a long way since then. Besides a great deal of trial and error, my knowledge was catapulted when I started taking professional baking courses at the San Francisco Baking Institute. Wow, what an amazing place. People from all over the world come to this school to learn about industry best practices.
As I’ve come to learn, baking really consists of three areas: Breads (obviously), viennoiserie and cakes/pastries. Under my belt now is professional coursework in each of these categories as well as additional advanced bread classes with world-renowned and award-winning baker Didier Rosada.
The point of Wheat Beat is to explore how to overcome the limitations of our modest residential equipment and humble home-baking-skills.
Join me as we work together to achieve baking greatness!