This month we are celebrating all the clever and talented home bakers we see week after week, rain or shine at the Grainstand. Constantly adapting to changing availability and fluctuating protein levels, our home bakers have always been ahead of the curve. We sat down with one of our devoted home bakers, Becky, a few weeks ago to discuss why she bakes with local grain.
GrowNYC:
How did you first become involved in baking?
Becky:
I’ve always loved to bake. In high school and middle school, I baked as a form of stress release, and it’s always been a way for me to show people that I care. I baked a lot of homemade cupcakes and cookies. I had a chocolate truffle phase.
GrowNYC:
Lucky friends!
Becky
: Because I baked so much in high school, I was known as a baker. I had this idea in my head that I wanted to open a bakery at some point. But…I had never baked bread. That seemed a little daunting to me. It wasn’t until this past summer that I started baking sourdough bread.
GrowNYC:
Did someone give you a starter?
Becky:
Well, sort of. I took a bread baking class with Sarah Owens. She’s a baking angel. But I will say this to anyone learning to bake bread for the first time – I don’t recommend starting with sourdough in a hot summer. What that’s what I did. I baked sourdough bread all summer long.
GrowNYC:
Is there a particular flour you favor for your bread?
Becky:
I am in love with einkorn flour. When I first got my starter, it was fed with rye flour. But soon after I went to visit my family in Portland, Oregon. I brought the starter with me but I only had einkorn flour, so I used that to feed it. I feel like my starter is so much happier and bubblier with einkorn. I love einkorn for feeding my starter, but I also really love it for the flavor, which is so nice and almost sweet.
GrowNYC:
Do you have any advice for home bakers who are just starting to work with regional grains?
Becky:
Just know that there will be failures. The only benefit of industrial flour is that it’s pretty consistent. With local grains, you get more variations. That’s the fun part. I think I’m getting pretty good, but sometimes I still produce something weird, like a loaf that looks like a giant fat pita. The thing is, it’s always delicious. You can still eat that fat pita!
