I know, I know, more philosophy. But I’ve shared almost all my recipes on here so I want to take some time to give back to the community and share my thoughts and whatever wisdom I’ve gained, especially for those who are new to making artisan bread. In particular, I want to discuss something that every experienced baker knows: There are no shortcuts in baking. If you want to bake great-looking and great-tasting bread, there are certain steps you have to follow. There’s no getting around them.

I’m bringing this up because I’ve gotten comments or been in discussions with people who don’t get this. They’d love to bake bread, but want things to be simplified. They want the process to be easier. And it’s not their fault. We live an a world where we have instantaneous information at our fingertips and readily available things. We’ve become accustomed to – and perhaps a little complacent in – being able to get many things done in our lives quickly. But arts and crafts; those things that we make from scratch require the development of skill and, let’s face it, lots of repetition.

Think about the words: Artisan bread. The operative word in that phrase is “artisan” which implies art or artistry. To do any kind of art requires development of skill. For instance, for a painter to get the right color and hue, they must understand how to mix paint colors to achieve it. “Blue” to a painter isn’t just a single color, even if the primary is a specific shade.

Likewise, in making bread, there are certain, specific ways a baker processes and works dough to create various kinds of bread. There’s no getting around those steps. Also, there’s no getting around the time it takes to execute those steps. Experienced bakers learn the processes and inherently know that they must follow those procedures if they are going to be successful. It’s like the painter mixing colors. There’s a prescribed way of doing things. Detract from that and the desired effect, or loaf in the case of bread, won’t turn out as expected.

So, especially for folks who are new to baking artisan bread, I realize that it can be a little overwhelming at first. There are usually lots of steps in making any kind of bread. But as I said, there are no shortcuts. Slow down. Put on your patience hat and as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, trust in the process. After a while, all those steps will become second nature. You won’t even think about them. You’ll just do them.

Happy Baking!