I have heard from so many people how much they have learned at SFBI, and how much they recommend the program. Although I have learned a ton from reading and practicing over the last year, I still have not gotten any formal training from an experienced baker. Michel Suas, who started SFBI, wrote Advanced Bread and Pastry, and from Wikipedia: “Acme Bread was his first client, and La Brea Bakery was his second, followed by many others throughout the United States including Metropolis, Grace Baking, Boudin Bakery, and Thomas Keller’s restaurants.”

I have not been in a school environment in over 3 years, but I am looking forward to being a student again.

First of all, I had some awesome tasting baked ricotta, cream cheese, and caramel. I also got to taste a lot more interesting things, but the thing that impresses me more is the community of people. There were 4 people that I saw there that I had seen the day before at BASIL Seed Swap just the day before (one of who gave me the garlic I had been looking for). So many people are making great food, and getting it out to people who have never tasted these things.

On the bread front, I got 10 people to sign up for Bread Education. I can easily gloss over the this fact, and forget that each one of these people are truly interested in learning how to make bread. In just 1 night, I potentially got 1/10th of the way to reaching our Goal of 100 SF Bakers. Now it is going to be necessary to follow up, and connect with each one of these people.

I had brought a sign up sheet for people to preorder bread for the upcoming week, but couldn’t bring myself to show it off or talk about it. I’m still going through some issues and internal conflict with selling bread. But, at the end of the night, I still had 2 extra loaves, and I decided that I needed to work on on the Goal of selling 1000 loaves of bread. Many of the other people around me were selling their products, some for quite a bit of money. I had a giant, delicious, healthy loaf of bread, and I was standing in a room full of people who were passionate about food, and had just tasted and loved the bread, but couldn’t quite figure out how I was going to sell it. I just kinda stood around, contemplating making an announcement, or going up to people, or doing nothing at all. After about a minute or so, I mentioned my conflict to the guy standing next to me. He instantly said that he’d buy the loaf, and gladly gave me the $4. Its so funny that really all you have to do is ask.

As I was browsing around the internet looking up some of the people I had met, I came across a video of Alan Scott, one of the most respected oven builders in the world, and the writer of one of the most useful bread books I have read. I almost devoted this entire post just to link to the video, but had to finish up what was on my mind from last night. The video got me thinking again about building my own oven, and I now realize that there is another Goal for Sour Flour. Much more research needs to be done, but we will begin the process of building an oven.

One thing that I realize is that the money has already started coming. I’ve been stressing about Short Term Finance, the only starred item on the Sour Flour Bubble Chart, for too many months now. Short Term Finance should have been covered back at the end of 2009, when we received generous donations from a few individuals. Since December of 2009, Sour Flour has now received over $5,000 through Dough Nation, Bread Training, Dough To Go, Bagel Monday, and finally as of 2 days ago, bread sales.

Although the initial plan for Sour Flour was to sell bread (1000 loaves a day, 250 days out of the year, $4 a loaf), I resisted actually selling it for more than half a year. Now, selling bread is clearly defined as one of Sour Flour’s Goals. I have been a bit uneasy about selling bread, because I’ve seen so much value created through free bread, but I realize now that you can do both. To begin the bread sales, we are using United Market, which has been asking us to stock bread for them for many months.

And now that there are bread sales, I can finally get comfortable looking for investors. Sour Flour is a for profit organization, that happens to have values that align heavily in the non profit world. Many of our activities fall under the non profit jurisdiction, so we have partnered with Joyful Living to allow donors a tax deductible way to support us. But that does not take away from the fact that we will be making money. Sour Flour is at least a million dollar organization, and considering we have 1000 shares of stock, we will begin selling shares for $1,000.

If you would like more information about Sour Flour, you should come pick up some bagels on Bagel Monday, get some Bread Education, or just come over to the Sour Flour Lab to hang out and eat bread. I’m available by phone at 415-509-3380, or email at danny@sourflour.org.

It’s available to the first person who wants it. It costs $4, and is made with high-extraction flour.

The first goal of Sour Flour was to bake and give away 1000 loaves of bread. It took 6 months to achieve this goal, and to celebrate, we had a party at the Monkey Club. The second stated goal of Sour Flour was to have 100 Blarf Babies, which effectively meant 100 home bakers using the Sour Flour methods and philosophy. Although we made some progress on that goal, it hasn’t been a focus so far. We have now refined this goal a bit, and added two more:

Goal: Open Bakery
Deadline: 1/1/2011

The basic requirements are to have a bread oven, and a location to place it. The ideal location will be somewhere in the Mission, but there are other possibilities that could work. The vision for the bakery is that it would have a Communal Oven, and we would also conduct Bread Education out of our facilities.

Goal: Mentor 100 SF Bakers
Deadline: 9/23/2010

This goal is the continuation of the 100 Blarf Babies idea. An SF Baker is someone who has completed the initial phases of the Bread Education Program. They will understand each phase in the bread baking process, know how to care for their starter, and be committed to sharing some of the bread they bake with their community and the hungry. SF Bakers will continue to learn about bread, and share their bread knowledge with others.

Goal: Sell 1000 loaves of bread
Deadline: 6/23/2010

In order to sustain operations, we need to finally start selling bread. By completing this goal, we will show that there is indeed a demand for the bread we are producing. We’d like to sell each loaf for $4, which was part of the initial projections of being able to generate $1,000,000 per year (1000 loaves a day, 250 days a year, $4 per loaf). We will begin selling our bread at United Market, and adjust our strategy based on how things go. We will continue to also provide free bread, but realize that affordable delicious bread can be part of our overall strategy.

This Bagel Monday has been running smooth from the start. I woke up at 7:00AM, which is just a bit after sunrise, and turned on the stove to boil water, and the oven. I had shaped 1 batch of 6 bagels, and had preshaped another batch the night before. I shaped the 8 bagels, and then went off to deal with the rest of my morning until everything heated up.

At 7:40AM, I put the first batch in the oven. As one batch was boiling, or baking, I was able to scale, preshape, or shape another batch. I ended up shaping 4 more batches, for a total of 6 batches of 8, 48 bagels total. The dough was 8.5X from the starter, meaning I started with 480g of starter and ended up with 4080g of dough.

I had one Bread Trainee come over, as well as a few people to pick up bagels. Sour Flour was given a hand cranked solar powered radio for the bakery by KQED, which is already working on this sunny winter day. The Bagel Monday Weekly Review will be happening later, and I am beginning to gain more clarity as to what Sour Flour is as an organization. We will continually getting people to be baking bagels and give them away. We will also continually be working to improve our breads.

We will soon be sending out our donation request to a slightly larger audience, and hope to get the necessary funds we need to continue to operate. It is currently possible to donate to Sour Flour, but more work needs to be done to show people how it will help, and explain what we are doing.

If I were able to take the Artisan I and Artisan II classes at SFBI, it would be one of the most beneficial things in my career as a baker and baking instructor. Not only would the bread that I bake improve substantially, but many other home bakers would benefit as well from the knowledge I could pass on. The only way this massive benefit could happen would be through the graciousness of receiving the SFBI Scholarship.

I’ve been baking bread for more than 2 years now, but really got passionate about it in May of 2009, when I started Sour Flour. My first breads were made following directions from Joy of Cooking, but once I created my own starter I began experimenting with many different formulas. I started reading as many books as I could (Bread Bakers Apprentice, Bread Alone, Local Breads, Bread Baking: An Artisans Perspective, The Taste of Bread), as well as participating pretty heavily in the bread forums on The Fresh Loaf. People began coming over to my place to help me bake, and we learned from each other. Through these experiences, I decided to start offering bread classes to those that wanted.

Although my bread has progressed massively over the past year, it still has lots of room to improve. I first got introduced to SFBI when I heard about the need to read Advanced Bread and Pastry if I were really interested in bread. Just about every baker I have talked to has always talked highly about the information they have learned from SFBI. I also began buying my bread supplies from TMB, which had much better boards, tubs, lames, and baskets than I had found elsewhere.

Most recently, I competed in the SF Food Wars: Yeast Affliction competition, and got the opportunity to meet so many other bakers and taste a huge diversity of bread. I was extremely impressed by all the breads of the students of SFBI, and all the students raved about their experiences there. I also got some great advice from Michel Suas: I need to improve my mixing. I also realize that my shaping needs a lot of work, considering I have never had the hands on training from an experienced baker. I have learned much of the theory and practice of the bread, but there is only so much you can learn from books.

Sour Flour has given away almost all of its bread for free, as well as provided free training for anyone who wants it. We have partnered with a non-profit, and received a few donations, which has allowed us to continue to operate. However, there are limited funds, and although the Artisan I and Artisan II classes are so important to Sour Flour, we cannot afford it without a scholarship. Thank you for taking the time to consider our request to participate in these classes.

Bagel Monday has been a routine of Sour Flour since the beginning. Although the bagel making process and techniques have changed, the underlying concept has stayed the same. We encourage people to share their bagels with their friends and neighbors, and also enjoy the learning and improvements that happen with each batch. The other nice thing about Bagel Monday is that bagels freeze extremely well, so you can easily have breakfast made for subsequent days in the week.

To help you get started with Bagel Monday, we are hosting a Bagel Monday Prep session this Sunday, February 21st to mix and shape the bagels. Then, in the morning you will be able to boil and bake the bagels from your home before going to work. If you would like to join in this Bagel Monday, please let me know by emailing danny@sourflour.org or calling (415) 509 – 3380.

So what is happening with Sour Flour? We are continuing our commitment to Bagel Monday, and are always accepting orders. We have also been doing two bread trainings a month; our next one will be on February 26th from 1-4PM, so let me know if you’d like to join.

We’ve also been participating in events. The most recent were the SF Food Wars: Yeast Affliction, and Corazon de la Mission at La Victoria. Next up will be a Cheese and Pairings Soiree, where I hope to meet some cheese makers to partner with.

There is so much more I’d like to give updates on (our new employee, an oven I found, a possible retail location, a possible bakery location in Jack London Square, our 501(c)3 status and donation efforts), but more to come in upcoming posts. As always, please let me know if you’d like to get involved with Sour Flour, or if you’d just like to get some free bread.

1. Bread Trainings have been set for Wednesday February 10, and February 26 from 1-4pm
2. Will begin tracking projects through a list per Area of Focus

Area of Focus Review:

1. Bagel Monday
   Project: Bagel Monday condiments still needed: Lox and Cream Cheese
2. Bread Training
   Americorps Bread Training was successful, need to follow up Americorps
   Project: Create Training Manual
3. Communal Oven
   Bread made at Mission Pie will be distributed at United Market
   Project: Map potential Communal Oven sites in the Mission
4. Communications
   Project: Translate SF Essentials into Spanish
5. Finance
   Project: Business Plan
   Project: Send out Donation letters
6. Operations
   Volunteer meeting is set for 2/17/10. This meeting will introduce people to current status of Sour flour and engage them as volunteers (especially for Bagel Monday and Bread Training)
   Project: Establish Board of Directors
   Project: Write By-Laws

This week

1. Bagel Monday-Success!
   24 bagels made, began mixing Bagel Monday morning, finished at 3:30pm
   Chris paid $5 for 6 bagels
   Used high gluten flour, needed more water, %55 hydration. Bagels tasted delicious!
   Bagel monday is doing well, focus will be on maintaining this level, rather than pushing it more.
2. Bread Trainings
   Local Eatery: Mission has offered facilities for Bread Trainings
   18 Reasons has offered use of their facilities for Bread Trainings
   Project: Training Manual
3. Communication
   People Folder reviewed: Sour flour has a massive community
4. Finance
   Donation letter will be sent out 2/3
   Need money for payroll by 2/27: $3,000
   Project: Sour Flour’s own 501c3
5. Operations
   Project: Sellers Permit
   Project: Health Permit
   Register with EDD
   Visit SBAC
6. Improve Baking
   Applied to La Cocina
   Project: Complete class at SF Baking Institute
   Project: Do shift at Brick Maiden