Our Process
Our bread is made entirely from scratch. The entire process of creating and baking off the dough takes three days, so here’s three days in the lives of our bakers…
Day One: Build the Starter
Our bread is naturally leavened, which means we get our bread to rise without using any store-bought yeast. Instead, we take advantage of yeasts naturally living on the flour and in the air.
Our starter, affectionately nicknamed Fiona, is fed twice every day to maintain our signature tangy flavor. Fiona consists of three things- water, organic bread flour, and organic hard winter Turkey Red flour.
Day Two: Make the dough
Day two begins with giving Fiona one last feed to ensure the starter being used in the mix has the proper tang and strength for our recipes!
The next step is milling the wheat. Our bread uses a combination of two different heirloom wheats, White Sonora and Turkey Red. These flours are milled directly before being added to our mixer along with bread flour, water, salt, and the starter.
After being allowed to ferment at room temperature for a few hours, we move the dough to the fridge to enjoy a cool ferment and rise overnight.
Day Three: Bake the Bread
On day three, the dough comes out of the cooler as a big bubbling mass, usually about twice the size that it was the day before. Before we can bake off the bread, it must be weighed and shaped into the final product, and then allowed one final rise at room temperature.
When the bread is ready to be baked, it is floured, scored, and slid into our state-of-the-art stone hearth oven. The finishing touch involves adding steam to the oven to keep the crust moist enough to allow for the bread to expand despite the sudden heat.
The bread is removed from the oven when the crust has a dark brown, almost burnt appearance. This is due to caramelization and leads to a more complex texture and flavor profile. With its sturdy, crackly, crust, the bread is more shelf stable and able to sit out for longer periods of time without the use of preservatives.
Final Step: Your Table
We do all of this work every day so you, our customers, can enjoy delicious, flavorful breads while in the heart of the Rockies! Whether you’re buying a loaf to take home, grabbing one of our sandwiches on your way out to a day of adventure, or sitting in-shop enjoying a grilled cheese or toast, Amaza is committed to giving you the best bread that you can find for every moment!
