When you arrive in the bakery first,
go turn on the Proofer. This big box of humidity needs at least ten minutes to temp at 100 degrees, with 55 percent humidity. I recommend laying down your safety mat by the baking counter, because you’re going to be on your feet rather a lot. They’re rolled up by the lockers. (Not anymore! I always find them down, now.)
We share a corner of the Meat Department refrigerator, the coolest room in the house. That’s why we call it: The Cooler- where three racks of prepared dough await. The metallic transit cooler is filled with French breads, which need to be wheeled over to the table for preparation.
The ovens won’t be needed now for an hour, but turn them on by the time you finish the Transit Case, at least, just before checking stock for Today’s Prep. That’ll be how we close out our first hour.
There were three wheeled racks for us in the Cooler. Transit Case goes first. I recommend waiting on the others.
I recommend a rack with 16 slots, here. Wheel it up beside you. Mind how some racks have 10, some have 16, and two have 20 slots for pans. I slapped a post-it on one rack that, I discovered, doesn’t have the hooks you need to secure the rack in the oven. Why tray it up with any goods to bake? I call it the Tray-Holder Rack. It’s rounded, rather than hooked, at the top. I’d keep everything on this rack consistent: all Transit Case doughs. You will probably add the Hoagies for Proofing with this rack, but remember they bake separately.
We have Everything breads, which is to say, we dip them in this dried onion-based mix. Be sure to roll your Everything Italian loaves with separate gloves. I like to locate all my trays with food contaminants at the bottom of my rack. For example, I put Asiago, Sesame and Everything Bagels in the bottom slots, when I fill a rack with the day’s bagels to bake.
I was given three diagrams for these bread trays. None go on a flat tray with parchment paper! That’s just how they thaw, in the TC. Your Sourdough Rye loaf should be distinct, and it’s going to get its own particular tray, the kind with three compartments, which you spray to prevent sticking.
This is the Transit Case breads, baked. They will be ready about two hours after we start the day.
French bread, italian, hoagies- I call these the Horizontal trays. No parchment. Just kneed, leave a couple fingers’ room at each end, and parcel out all but your baguettes and SD Rye in a manner you would regard as horizontal to you, just like these letters.
The baguettes get the Vertical trays. You’ll need six, I believe. Seems like about seven or eight Horizontals.
There! Your first half an hour is off to an easy start.
This is roughly enough time for the Proofer to be ready! You can put the croissants in, fifteen minutes ahead, or time them to go with the bread.
You can put on the ovens for their default temps, just On, and go grab a Zebra, our handheld inventory device: it’s time to set up for Today’s Prep! Remember your ID and Password, and let’s punch up Fresh Production, then Bakery. You match the items on the floor to the ones listed in the Zebra. You might start with the LaBrea and Izzio breads, as they are displayed close to one another.
As you make your way to the boxed deserts, look closely, to distinguish between Private Select and Bakery Fresh products. Your store will carry numerous others that are simply put straight out of their frozen boxes.
We punch in the number of items remaining on display- always Zero for Baguettes. We start with freshly-baked ones, every morning.
Make sure you’ve reviewed all 71 or so items, then Complete. Your production needs for today, and prep for tomorrow, will be calculated on the Zebra, which we’ll check in with, momentarily. I can do this now in about 14 minutes. For now, we pan up forty bollilos for the Deli, along with four Prime Time Bread and all of your 400 degree rolls. The numbers for your Bolillos, Sub Rolls, Kaiser Rolls, and Telera all await you on your To Do List on the Zebra! The rack needs space for all your production, but get what you can on a 16- slot rack, to leave space for baking. The more things go on a tray, the more energy it takes to properly bake it all. Better to use two if your load requires it. Bollillos go in the Horizontal trays; sub rolls, in the Verticals. Consult notes for tray layouts for each bread- general rule, they need space to bake fully and not grow into each other- unless it’s hamburger buns. By now, how are your Croissants in the Proofer? They should finish around the time you’re glazing. You want to start your oven rotations with them. That second oven chamber will be good for setting your glaze, soon. Before those Danishes go in, visit the small fridge for our four fruit toppings, all together on one tray. Keep one in stock and day-dot it for the day you make a new bag of topping. That first fifteen minute break will sound good, after you unwrap the donut rack and get to glazing! Depends on what part of sunrise you’d like to watch. I think I'll save the rest for more blogs! You just read almost 1000 words devoted to the first hour of what I just learned how to do. It's kind of like the saying about the Marines, where we get more done before six a.m. than some people do, all day.
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