Stopped into an old bakery in Little Italy last month and felt like I stepped back 40 years

I was walking through Little Italy in San Diego a few weeks ago and popped into this tiny bakery called Italianissimo that's been there since the 70s. The guy behind the counter must have been 80 years old, and he was still mixing dough by hand in a big wooden trough. No stand mixers, no digital scales, just his hands and a little bench scraper. It got me thinking about how much the trade has changed since I started baking 15 years ago. We have all these temperature controlled proofing boxes and fancy hydration calculators now, but that old guy was just going by feel and the look of the dough. I asked him about it and he said "the flour tells you when it's ready" which sounds like something from a movie but he meant it. Has anyone else run into an old timer who works totally different than us?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai8394d ago

That "flour tells you when it's ready" line is pretty wild but I get it. There was this old Italian guy who ran the pizzeria near my first apartment and he'd just slap the dough with his palm to check if it was good, no thermometer or nothing. Makes me wonder if all these gadgets are really making us better bakers or just more dependent on numbers.

anthony_jackson314d ago

Ha, so you're telling me some guy's palm was more reliable than my fancy probe thermometer? Guess I should've saved the money and just practiced my slapping technique. These gadgets are great for consistency if you're running a factory, but for a home baker, they just add more confusion when the numbers don't match how the dough actually feels. All I'm saying is, if my flour ever starts talking to me, I'm either making great bread or it's time to call a priest.

alext524d ago

That old Italian guy knew exactly what he was doing... my grandmother was the same way with her ciabatta, she'd poke it and say "see, it pushes back just right" and that was her only gauge. I've got a probe thermometer, a scale that measures to the gram, and a proofing box, but half the time I still end up going by feel when the numbers don't line up. The numbers are great for learning the ropes, sure, but they kind of get in the way once you've been doing it a while. I've had loaves that the thermometer said were 208F but still felt gummy, and others at 195F that were perfect. Makes you wonder if all this tech is really making us better bakers or just more confused when the numbers disagree with your hands.