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July 7, 2024

 Rusty's Log:

Stardate: -299515.94 

Perth Ontario: Temp 24.9 C Humidity 86%

Basic Kneads: Temp 29.8 C Humidity 58%

Barometric Pressure: 29.50 inHg


It is our final day of preparations. Yoshie has gotten ahead on prep for olives bread, a last minute addition of our mixed herb blend to the olive loaf has us excited and relieved to have found the little touch that had been missing during our test bakes. 

Our sultana raisins have been saturated in our chai spices and dumped ceremoniously in the cinnamon loaves before being rolled to proof overnight. 

The rest of the batches have jumped ahead in their fermentation process, rising faster than any of our test days. As if the dough is as eager as us to begin this journey.

Fortunately this was caught in time for me to be able to punch the air out of them and put them to rest for the evening. The morning will tell if my efforts were in vain and if I will arrive back to Kneads to a mess of over fermented dough. My experience tells me all will be well but I doubt I will be sleeping easy tonight. 

Tomorrow will be our official grand opening. Our bake is larger than any we have done during our test week and the word has spread around town. I don't expect a line up but you never know.  I am anxious for the day to begin and the smell of baked bread to finally be a thing of permanence for this town we have come to call our home. 

Yoshie has been working tirelessly and over the past two months I have increased in respect for him, his experience and general knowledge of how things function and how to go about repairing them when they do not. His passion for this venture and the beauty of simple but exceptional bread coupled with my culinary experience makes me confident in our plans and processes. 

The hard work is about to pay off. Stay tuned to this blog for all the answers you seek:

"Will Rusty's late night punch down be enough to ensure a strong proof in the morning?"

"Will Yoshie get enough sleep?"

"Can the Yeastie Boys pull off their first day flawlessly? Or do the Fates have other plans in story for their elusive top deck oven?"

These stories and more to be revealed in tomorrow's addition to the Basic Kneads Bread (B)log   



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