The Process

Everything we make has 'fresh flour,' and everything we make has some portion ranging from 5-100%, of flour milled on site. Just like ground coffee, once milled, flour begins to loose flavor and nutrients begin to naturally degrade. By milling and using fresh flour, both nutrients and flavor are imparted to the bread--and you. You're welcome. 

All of our grains are organic and sourced locally when possible. See a detailed list of our grains here. All of our grains are fresh-milled, although in the case of the bolted (sifted) flour, we source this process to Janie's Farm. Even if it isn't being milled on site, it is still whole grain. This means that when it is sifted, only the larger parts are removed. Unlike industrialized flour that you see at the grocery store, the entire grain (germ, bran, and endosperm) are still present. Industrialized flour removes most of the outer bran and endosperm which is where most of the natural oils, and nutrients, reside.

Did you know that the majority of 'sourdough' bread sold in the grocery store is leavened (risen) with manufactured yeast and lactic acid is added to make it taste sour?

Not us. We only use a wild yeast starter to leaven our bread. No additives. Just fresh flour, salt, water. This process is slow. Every loaf of bread takes about 36 hours from starter (pun intended) to finish. The natural fermentation process that occurs during this time produces a subtle sweet/sour flavor, aroma, and helps promote positive gut health and digestibility.  We 'feed' our starter at least once a day using a combination of the part of the previous feeding, water, and flour (a mix of red wheat and a bit of rye).

The wild yeast starter that we use has been maintained here for about 10 years, although it orginated in the Beaufort region of France around 50 years ago. In honor of 'her' French heritage, our starter is named Cosette,  which means "little thing" in French. 

Most residential ovens are not equipped with the ability to inject steam (needed for the crust) into the cooking chamber, nor are they large enough to hold 'commercial' capacity. MBC uses the Simply Bread oven as a way to combat this without using commercial bakery equipment. This 3-deck oven is big enough to bake about 12 loaves at a time, but still small enough to fit in a residential space. Unlike most other ovens that dominate this market, the Simply Bread oven is made in the USA.

We bake our bread dark. Our philosophy is that a darker bread allows for complete caramelization of the flour throughout the entire loaf, not just the outside. This results in a fuller-flavored loaf. Give it a try and see what you think.