Sourdough Baking Beginner’s Class

Our Philosophy

Humans have been eating bread for thousands of years. At Bread & Butter Bakery we see ourselves as part of that long and ancient tradition and we treat our breads and our people with the respect and love that its long history commands.

In all our breads we use ingredients grown using sustainable farming practices. All our flours, seeds and other bread ingredients are either certified organic or certified sustainable, meaning they are grown using regenerative agricultural principles.  We do not use any artificial ingredients, no emulsifiers, preservatives, baking enzymes, artificial flavours, colours, dough conditioners or other ‘technical’ ingredients.

How We Make Real Bread

For our breads we use certified organic and certified sustainable flours from Wholegrain Milling in New South Wales. The mill is the oldest organic mill in Australia and they adhere to the highest environmental standards, ensuring that the grains they source and the flours they mill are free from agricultural and processing chemicals.

Most importantly, we use the ancient method of sourdough fermentation, a process by which natural lactic acid bacteria and wild yeasts slowly ferment the flour. By giving these microorganisms time they are able to break down components of flour that are difficult for us humans to digest. They also make nutrients of flour that would otherwise be inaccessible ‘bio-available’, which means our bodies can absorb these minerals and vitamins.

After hours of mixing, shaping, kneading and fermenting our team of hard working, passionate bakers then bake these handcrafted portions of fermented dough in our stone oven, turning them into the most delicious and nutritious loaves of bread. Did you know that organic, wholemeal sourdough is a food that contains all the nutrients, vitamins, essential amino acids, proteins, fats, and fibre you need for a balanced diet? You can practically live off just sourdough and water, however we would recommend to at least spread some butter on it.

The Others Things We Also Love Baking and Eating

While sourdough baking is really at the heart of Bread & Butter’s identity, it is by no means the only thing we do. We offer a range of other European specialty breads like Baguette and Ciabatta, Pide, Challah and Pretzels as well as Brioche type breads and buns. These breads are made with yeast fermentation only, for which we use only fresh bakers yeast in small amounts and we often employ the technique of pre-ferments and starters made the previous day to increase flavour and digestibility.

Of course we are also extremely partial to buttery, flaky pastries and filled brioches, doughnuts, biscuits, slices and other sweet treats. We believe, if you ensure a healthy amount of fibre and fresh

vegetables in your diet and give your body a regular workout then a tasty treat every now and then is just as important for your mental health as all the nutrient rich bread we bake is for your gut microbiome.

In our pastries and sweets we do not use anything artificial, our flour is still the same organic or regeneratively grown flour we use in our breads. We use unrefined golden sugar, organic butter, dairy products without permeates and additives, dried organic fruit and fresh fruit and vegetables. We make everything from scratch, avoiding those premixes and out of the package-just add water convenience products so commonly used in the baking industry.

On our shop counters you will find daily selections of amazing sandwiches made from our favourite breads and bread rolls. We serve our own Bread & Butter coffee blend roasted by Espresso Workshop and a selection of teas, chais made by Hakanoa Handmade, and made-to-order smoothies, iced coffees and organic cold drinks.

Why It Matters Where Your Food Comes From

Our modern food system has been credited with saving millions of people from starvation and has allowed a massive expansion of the human population. The invention of the Haber-Bosch-Process, by which synthetic nitrogen fertilizer is created, can surely be credited with being among the top 10 human inventions that have completely changed the planet forever.

The ever more widespread use of synthetic fertilizer and the accompanying development of modern hybrid and genetically modified crops, the concentration of agriculture into huge monocultures, and the complexity of a globalized distributed food system has however alienated huge swaths of the population in most westernized, and increasingly in developing countries, from how food is grown and processed. Many children no longer know where food comes from other than the supermarket.

We see in this development one of the biggest problems humanity has created, leading to an epidemic of malnutrition in the form of obesity, allergies and food intolerances, digestive disorders, and mental health issues.

We think that by reconnecting with our food and the people that grow and make it, returning to careful preparation of real food, following traditional recipes and methods of preserving and fermentation, by connecting over shared meals with the people we love, we all have the power to reverse this ugly and devastating trend.

At Bread & Butter Bakery we therefore value the relationships with our suppliers, farmers and growers.So only two degrees of separation for you, the customer and eater of our bread, from the farmer. Isn’t this great? How many other foods can you count in your pantry or fridge for which this is also true?

Our other main flour supplier is Wholegrain Milling from New South Wales, Australia. This family owned mill is the oldest certified organic mill in Australia and has been milling and processing organic grains since the late 1970s.  While certified organic flours are still at the heart of Wholegrain Milling’s operation, they also introduced a fully

sustainable certified system that ensures long term environmental improvement, ensuring in a chemical free product in 2018. To read more about this standard and what it means for the flour we use, please read this.

We would also like to give a special mention to our very favourite coffee roaster Andrew Smart and his team from Espresso Workshop. Andrew is an amazingly talented roaster, who fusses and obsesses over every blend of coffee and we think our special Bread & Butter roast of Brazil Fazenda Jaguara, Guatemala Sierra Encantada, and PNG Iwaki Organic is just the bomb. Without it, no bread would get baked, no croissants rolled, and you – our most valued customers – would not be able to get your favourite morning brew.