The Approachable Loaf | Proof Bread 

Im from a time when you would leave two tickets on the screen door. Then magically you would get two freshly baked loaves in the doorway. My great grandfather was a baker. Love to see your passion for quality bread. My wife makes 6 sour doughs a week for our kids and grand kids. The grand kids prefer the sour dough now asking for it as " the adult bread". We are very proud of you especially for the back to basics and education you provide the public and very happy to see your business proof and rise.

The passion you show when "talking sourdough bread" is contagious. . I've been listening for 2 years and have learned so much. . Many thanks ♥️

Wow, I am absolutely blown away by the amazing bread-making skills showcased on this channel! The attention to detail and passion for the craft really shines through in each and every video. I have learned so much about different types of bread and techniques for creating the perfect loaf. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us.

Been a baker for over 35 years and still love to make proper bread unfortunately most people like the chemical stuff but I will keep trying to educate like you do

Before plastic bags I remember them being wax paper bags. Bread still went moldy if you didn't eat it soon enough. Refrigerating slowed that process down. The bread delivery trucks rotated the stock at the market every day. In the 50's and before, plastic was not very common. Drinking cups and straws were waxed paper, they were biodegradable.

I slice all bread with a standard chef's knife, but ultra sharp. Beats every bread knife I've tried, and that's because it was made to cut everything in the kitchen. Even the hardest bread will slice like a tomato if the knife is sharp enough.

I wish our local baker would sell linen bread bags. In Europe people have them at home and they bring them to the bakery. But they also buy fresh bread every day!

Love your channel. You should write a book on what you know about bread. I just started making sourdough bread. Having a lot of fun including the failures. 😊Hoping some day making the trip from Maine to Arizona to visit your bakery. Keep up the good work.

How cool would it look if they put a giant Proof stamp on the brick wall behind him?!?

Love the fact you do offer the bread pre-sliced many elder folks & people with hand issues can't use the knife. I hear this from my mothers friends when I give them a loaf of homemade sour dough bread. I bake 2 to 3 loaves of sour dough a week but I end of slicing a loaf for my mother she can't handle the knife very well. I'm thinking you are reaching more people by offering it sliced in the store next to the bakery. Yes, cutting down on waste for sure! Loved the demonstration with the bread knife. Enjoy your passion for artisan breads. Thank you and keep up the amazing job you are doing with educating us on artisan bread. P.s. My favorite is the crust toasted with my home made jams...it never goes to waste in my house.

Thought provoking conservation on all points. I just don't understand why people wouldn't want a fresh, sourdough artisan loaf. I am 66 and grew up with bread in a plastic bag. For some reason, a few months ago I got the urge to learn to make bread. Now I have a sourdough starter and can't wait till it's ripe. It's a skill that can help sustain you. Thank you for all the education you offer. I love my "Proof" shirt!! God Bless

Excellent video and thank you for bringing up this topic. So important! For me it is about weighing up packaging waste against food waste. Educating consumers on proper storage of food, and yes freezing bread!, we help them reduce food waste. I live in Singapore, and we absolutely cannot keep sourdough bread out on a cabinet for more than a day. I always advocate to my baking students to slice bread, wrap and freeze fresh. It is really sad seeing good food wasted due to improper storage.

Haven't you heard, the best thing since sliced bread. I like the uniformity, the pre-slicing saves crumbs and clean up and time. Don't want the time involved making other bread products from the waste. Keeping in the bag in the fridge, it last long and quick time in the toaster is ready to use. Just don't want to be a bread snob. lol

Every video you guys make makes me want to go learn the craft at my local bakery and actually work in this industry because it seems so fulfilling (although also difficult lol)

I have been baking for more than 40 years and even had a dessert recipe in The New York Times Magazine. But for the past couple of years I have been working on my sourdough and giving it to neighbors in the 50 storey building I live in. Your channel is so wonderful and I commend you for the focus on the challenge of moving away from standardized commercial bread. Every single batch of my bread is different and that is a sign of interesting quality in good breads...

Wish it could come in a pretty paper bag.

I get a CSA box from a local farm by me here in Northern California that uses waxed paper bags for some items, so there is a possibility to have something like this for bread as well. I think what you're presenting in the plastic bag is interesting. I think part of the difference for people is in determining if people see bread as a convenience food or do they see bread as just simply a food, with convenience being that pre-sliced sandwich loaf. There's the bigger conversation of seeing bread, especially sourdoughs as their own thing, and something superior, in order to shift the conversation away from convenience and into it being what it really should be.

Pre-sliced bread is a wonderful product. People love toast. If you use a slotted bread toaster you're not going to mess about slicing a loaf to the correct thickness. It's a no-brainer and I applaud you for offering this product.

This is a huge conversation about so much of what has been on my mind since I began learning how to bake sourdough bread. I’m not a big bread eater, my partner is. (I’m eating a lot more bread lately.) I slice and freeze any sourdough bread that won’t be eaten the second day and it’s delicious when I pull it out of the freezer. I’ve always done this with all my bread. My partner likes soft sandwich bread, as do a lot of our other family members. I’m looking forward to trying to make a sandwich style sourdough bread they will like. I like chewy, crusty, and whole grain or multigrain breads. Since I started eating my own sourdough all other bread is very bland to me now. I need one of those knives.

can't wait to try the bread from your store and looking forward to hopefully meeting you.

My husband and I fight for the butt ends of sourdough loaves 😂 We both love the crunching of the crust!

Thank you for explaining all the options that we can do with a baked sourdough bread. I love to slice my own sourdough bread be it thin or slightly thick, I eat some and put all sliced ones in the freezer. Will take it out next time few pieces and put in a airfryer for few minutes and it's like fresh bread again. : )

Here’s a thought. Sell a slice of toast with butter and jam in your bakery. AND; make the toast from a frozen slice to educate your customers. Ive need doing it for the past month or so since I started baking. I never would have believed in the quality had I not tried it myself. It’s actually a bit of reverse marketing for those who don’t care for frozen or canned foods.

Bread looks AMAZING

I have to confess, I was multitasking while listening to/watching the video so I may have missed it. But what is the objection to offering the artisan loaf sliced? I became a sourdough baker during the early days of Covid lockdown. And even now, the only time store bought bread comes into our house is when I am out of town and my husband buys a supermarket loaf. I mostly bake lean sourdough but do the occasional yeasted enriched loaf when we want a more supermarket like sandwich bread or burger buns. Last year I bought a meat slicer with a serrated blade so that I could slice my loaves into even slices for sandwiches, toast, etc. I probably only use it on 1/3 of my loaves but it makes a huge difference in convenience and enjoyment of using the loaf for those purposes. To me, it seems that offering the artisan loaf (or all the loaves) sliced would just be an awesome service to your customers if they requested it. And you could still send it home with them in a paper bag.

As usual, you are right on the money! I'm a cottage sourdough baker and sell loaves locally. I have the exact same concerns as you. Thanks for explaining it all so well!

10:35 I've noticed that with my homemade sour dough loaves as well. I keep them in a large Tupperware container (probably 2-3x the size of the loaf) and they'll go stale faster than mold will form. The only one I've ever gotten mold on is a small end piece that I forgot about for over a month. Contrast that with some cheese bagels my partner bought at a grocery store that got mold after only 3 days in the bag. Maybe next time she gets them I'll take them out of the bag and put them in the Tupperware too.

you can use small cotton bags for freezing bread. The freezing time isnt that great (not keeping the bread in there for longer then 2-3 Month), but it would suffice. Same for paper bags.

I found this very interesting and thought provoking. Thank you!

"The approachable loaf" Hey, that was my nickname in college!

Hi Jon I have a vacuume sealer and the bags made for it might mean you add another .25 to the consumer price but they are super solid and you can remove the air from around the loaves before freezing - it really works well

We used to always have just whole bread, the plastic bags came much later and still are (I think) not as widely used as buying whole bread. We also have a long tradition of baking bread. In traditional supermarkets, you mostly find bread made from yeast or poolish but there are multiple artisan bakeries around to get your plain sourdough. We eat the sandwich bread sporadically. Our "sandwiches" are made from ordinary bread and we actually fight for the right (in between the siblings) to eat the start/end (heel) of the bread. (I live in the Czech Republic)

Eat it I love the ends bits but I am Australian lol I was brought up on fresh bread straight from the bakery

Also no hate man, i know people hate on sandwich loaves but imo they are just as great and I think we can embrace them just as much as the artisan loaf (as long as it’s not the store bought additive stuff) but i keep homemade sourdough artisan and sandwich on hand at all times. Both are amazing, and i think you’ll help American culture embrace both

the closest thing we have to Proof in Sacramento is Faria. best bread i have found but it is eight miles away. i keep a cold house and haven't had a successful Harriet equivalent yet.

Where I live in the UK we have a brand called warburtons which comes in wax paper of different colours depending on the slice thickness That being said they are a massive established brand which is probably why they can sell bread without being able to see the product

You folks are doing so well. That Dexter serrated knife is great for bread and soft veggies. You put it in plastic because people usually do not eat a whole loaf of bread in 2 days. There are so many things that can be done as you had touched on with the waste, but once again people are not going to, or do not have the time to do so. Maybe wax paper bags may be another option. Do not know of cost, but the cheapest method is the basic plastic bag. That might cause a cost raise which is something that right now is a touchy subject. The garbage is always hungry and people due to time restraints, lack of knowledge, or just lack of caring. it will never go hungry. the other items you mentioned are always waste revenue streams for you to look at. hey what about annisette toast?

Have you thought of offering BYO bread container for sliced bread. You could even market your own bread suitable container. Years ago a lot of product were purchased by this means. Today I am only aware of this being done with coffe cups.

why don't you sell a BYOBB!! bring your own bread bag!! your logo on it!! keep up the good work . is shea area open ?

I use linen bags to store my bread and even freeze it. It works great without compromising on quality. In 2 artisan bakeries here in NL they use bags from Compy Packaging. You can throw these just in your garden and in 2 weeks they composed completely. Send me a direct message if you want to see pictures or learn more about these bags

Very interesting video full of knowledge for bread lovers like me. We appreciate for your walk & talk on Quality of bread & its presence!

you should sell reusable waxed fabric bags and also bread boxes in store because those things are not so easy to find, and it would encourage your shoppers to use less plastic.

Excellent discource. Love how passionate you are.

Paper bags here in the uk have a tracing paper window thus can go in the recycling bin for collection. As for trying to satisfy the market do you not do a sourdough tin loaf? That way you can satisfy the average bread buyer with the sandwich shape while still doing what your good at with preservatives etc.? Or is that too commercial an option?. Keep up the good work, as a baker myself I am in awe of your skill and your attempt to normalise healthy bread.

Long time fan, first time commenting an honest question: are small boxes an option? Like for take out food or shoes? Thin cardboard box no the corrugated one

I just got some of your Proof blend flour from Hayden. So delish man, really good balance of grain flavor without being too whole wheat earthy

Composting bag question: what about wax paper (slightly see thru) or butcher paper that you can freeze meat in? If you can freeze meat in butcher paper you can freeze bread, etc in it without it drying out. I realize this idea would need some 'finessing' to make it more marketable but it is biodegradable packaging and along the same price as plastic bags.

I admire your dedication and passion.

I love whole bread

This is Awsome topic …I think u nailed it with the convince factor many people now are not taking the time to really look at food in general ..it’s just to consume..not like an active part of life..the process of making meals with the seasons ..teaching younger kids..generations how to carry on traditional food..if anyone is interested Dan barber has a book out on audible it will like give u a whole different perspective! And I really wish I could eat some of ur bread! When u guys comming to ny lol

Growing up our sliced bread was wrapped in waxed paper. Dad often took me down to the bakery to watch the production. They had a machine that heat sealed the sides. What a shame plastic has taken over our lives.

We "kneaded" this video!🤓🙏🏼❤

The artisan sourdough end pieces & an excellent olive oil, with a little pool of centered balsamic vinegar into it. Try it! Edit: served with grilled green olives, unforgettable, and simply the most awesome bites.

Could you store fresh bread in a waxed canvas type material reusable bread bag instead of the plastic? If it’s a safe, viable option, perhaps you find another small business who manufactures the waxed fabric bread bag(perhaps customizable for your business) add a slicer, and then offer the reusable bag for sale such that if people return with the reusable bag, they can get their fresh bread sliced for no additional charge 🤷🏻‍♂️

A lot of bakeries use wax paper bags to put their bread in . Surely you can use that to put your bread in. I find it refreshing that you are not a bread snob . An elite mentality wouldn’t care about bringing the unwashed into the light. You are an inspiration to all of the sourdough world!!

What is the knife you recommend for slicing sourdough bread?

Love what you guys do. Keep it up. Really inspiring

If I want to eat bread the same day, I want a whole loaf not in plastic. If I want bread and not buying the same day then I want it sliced and frozen. Toast straight from the freezer, just barely thaws and the crust gets crusty again. Zero waste and excellent bread anytime in a minute. The comment about things being different in different parts of the world holds very true. I run a microbakery in Sweden and only sell whole loaves, nothing sliced. I can count on zero hands the requests I've gotten on selling sliced bread.

The green bag will compost at home it just takes a lot longer.

I always go to Google to see if it agrees with me. at the beginning of this video my head went straight to wax paper bag maybe even just a paper bag for your Bread I've never had your bread but I think it would be consumed quite quickly in my house

Oh, I thought I had just gotten better at slicing my bread. It was my new curved bread knife?

How about using paper bag lined with parchment with a see through window for viewing?

Stay true to who you are & your vision. Whole sour dough bread is what you're based on. Maybe experiment with poolish style dough starter to compete with grocery breads. At the end of the day, Your true Artisan bread= a true craftsmanship bread that is fully customized to be structurally wholesome according to your consumer needs! It shouldn't & cannot be compared to the supermarket loaf of bread that is treated like a mechanical bread thing for its consumers.

Can I get a link to a good angled bread knife like what is shown? Thanks!

This is the lazyness in supermarket products, that has teached people to be satisfied with lesser quality products. My grandmothers would not touch a plastic bagged bread, my mother lives of sliced bread. I pretty much loved my grandmothers bread, so I started baking myself to get what I want, and hopefully my only daughter will learn to bake. I know I will spoil her kids with homebaked bread. I recently started baking sourdough for a few months. I did learn basics from cookery school ( I dont know if that is correct english since it is my third or fourth language) where I choose eventually to be a sous and grill chef. I never ended up working as a chef, but it was fun, and with my grandmothers teaching as artisanal family chefs I decided to take the last step and start myself a sourdough. And now, I am fighting my wife for access to the kitchen. She always wants to bag and freeze my bread since I am baking more than what we can eat. But I rather give away if I can and rather dump it in the garbage than freeze it. And I do feed her and my family as much as I can, because they are no bakers but me left (my mother is not well anymore with arthritis and reumathic pains that stop her from cooking anything really). So It fell on me to make the family cooking herritage valuable enough to pass on. And there will never ever be anything but cloth and wooden boxes as containers, no matter what kind of baking goods I make. I will never advocate frezing, as bread can be gifted or reused for something or just become soil again in my food compost or in the comunity compost. Never settle for anything but fresh bread. Flour and water and salt is kind of cheap.

If you write a book on bread, I will buy it

I so wanted to try your Proof Bread flour blend sold by Hayden Mills, but…its just too expensive at $19 for 4.4lbs, plus the shipping on top. Very disappointed because I learned how to make my first couple loaves from watching your small hand mix video! I used the Tartine Bread recipe because I could not get White Sonora and the other flours you use. Love your videos though!!!! And thank you!

This is where i tnink governments, world-wide, need to change packaging and recycling laws. There is far to much single use plastic still in the supermarkets and as consumers we are penalised for the lack of options the suppliers and supermarkets provide.

Is it possible to do a sealed wax paper wrapped sandwich loaf like the 50’s and 60’s?

There going to make paper no matter what you do I think it's definitely less evil then plastic and better to package bread in

I would add that end peace to my meatballs as breadcrumbs

What about paper bags? You didn't touch on that and I'm curious as to why. Just like you stated, It's amazing to me how over the years we've been "brainwashed" to choose uniformity. How far do you think I have to travel to get a whole loaf of bread with five ingredients? Almost 30 minutes. It's actually sad to me that this is the bread I want and I have to "travel" to get it. I did try making my own several times and I just couldn't get it right so I gave up, it just wasn't my thing. The bakery I frequent uses paper bags.

Here in Norway, bread is usually sold in plain paper bags

John, I'm curious if you've tried the more cellophane - like microporous bags? I easily get 4 loaves of use with them and they seem to keep my unsliced loaves fresh and edible for about 2 weeks.

How about Wax paper bags?

doesnt mold? sorry i stay in the tropics... it's so humid... your leather bag can grow moldy

Give me that artisan loaf any day 🤟🏼

Do you get a better crumb with a traditional loaf vs one made in a bread pan?

If need to “ build a better mouse trap” . Your skills in human behavior match or exceeds your baking skills. Realizing to start with people “ where they are at” is genius. Your the Jordon Peterson of bread. Chicago Chris, Polish Baker

could you use paper or waxpaper bread bags?

Can I ask..... what do you charge per loaf?

I stopped buying industrial bread. I buy the bakery bread from Real Canadian Stores and it may not be as good as proof bread but it is better than the factory made

I will eat that little end piece of bread just straight up

About The Approachable Loaf | Proof Bread "Sourdough slices cannot be tamed, it is the nature of the whole sourdough loaf!" Straight slices somehow defeat the purpose of eating a loaf of sourdough bead...it boarders on sourdough sacrilege! Did you ever think of creating an agreement with the curved bread knife manufacturer to provide a bread knife for a reduced price if you purchase ?? number of fresh loaves from your bakery? OR perhaps offer a "punch card ticket" - You order ?? number of loaves from you and when customers fill the punch card (on your computer file of the customer who signs up) you get to purchase the bread knife for cheap or even FREE? Of course, it doesn't address the fact you still have to cut all the loaves you purchased to get the knife! Did you consider waxed paper bags? I have bee hives and I have plenty of wax which I used to make waxed paper bags to store my bread in. I paint the wax on the OUTSIDE of the bags, put them on a sheet pan in a warm oven ( below 200 degrees) and the wax soaks into the paper. Even frozen and then defrosted, the sourdough I bake stays somewhat crispy. As a bonus, the bees wax bag is somewhat antimicrobial as well! The bags stay soft (when not frozen) and any excess moisture is absorbed by the inside paper of the bag and I use my bags over and over. AND because it is bees wax and paper, the bag can be composted in your compost pile when it gets really old and ratty looking. For the record, I purchase/make whole loaves and I splurged/purchased a bread knife with an adjustable slicing guide. ( It wasn't curved.) To cut the loaves, it adjusts the width and it cuts slices that are consistant in size. To start with, I cut the loaves by flipping the loaf over - bottom side up on the first 2 slices. People should try that, who said you have to start on top? I also have a use for the "ends". I cut them in nice sized cubes and place them on top of my toaster oven covered with a paper towel (for dust prevention). When I make toast, it dries the cube naturally. When they harden they go into a bowl with lid and some turkey stuffing mix... (We all know which one if that rings any bells?) I then put the plastic container with a sealing lid , label it: STUFFING and put it into the freezer until November to use for my turkey! BOY, sougdough stuffing bread - seasoned for XX months! YUM! I also, sometimes cut the whole loaf in half and because I control the amount of bread I eat per week, I do freeze the other half so I do not let the bread go to waste by molding. Thanks for bringing up the discussion on plastic bags, it is something to consider seriously especially with all the plastics floating on the ocean surface creating a light/heat/pollution barrier.

You may want to explore the world of compostable cellulose and compostable celluloid food bags. I did just a quick search and found that the largest bag of a particular company ran about $.25 per bag. They are compostable in regular composting practices with variants of a few days to a couple weeks to totally degrade. I think that there will always be a demand for food packaging, especially coming off a pandemic where surfaces (including food surfaces) can hold a virus for a prolonged period. There's also the convenance of simply carrying a loaf away from the bakery. Not many people will be in favor of taking a whole loaf out the the car and setting it on the passenger seat, or the floor of the trunk. Old European custom might be to carry a reed basket to the marketplace, buy produce and set it in the basket, then purchase a loaf of bread and set it on top before heading home. We just don't shop like that any longer, and I think it would take a while for that to become a trend, and only with a few people. Keep exploring the composable cellulose options. Open, unprotected food isn't going to become trendy in a world where pandemics can pop up so easily.

Most countries in Asia use plastic bag for breads

Sounds like a great way for us as a society to move away from fossil fuels. Incrementally, with education and discussion

This may be of interest: January 26, 1943, a letter appeared in The New York Times from a distraught housewife: I should like to let you know how important sliced bread is to the morale and saneness of a household. My husband and four children are all in a rush during and after breakfast. Without ready-sliced bread I must do the slicing for toast-two pieces for each one-that's ten. For their lunches I must cut by hand at least twenty slices, for two sandwiches apiece. Afterward I make my own toast. Twenty-two slices of bread to be cut in a hurry!

I would say your good for maybe 7 days

What about paper

*been

how about people bring bags.

gateway sourdough

Cause we have forgotten the value of bread

Why can’t you just cut the bread and put into a paper bag?

no rustic farmers loaf will ever make a great pb&j. it just doesnt suit it. sandwich bread is the best for some things. i do like rustic farmers loaves. and i make my own. but i also like a good quality sandwich loaf. which i buy from a local baker that makes high quality natural breads.

Again a quick Google search arr maybe not so quick wax paper without petroleum based wax. soybean vegetable oil waxes beeswax will all decompose in your compost in 4 to 6 weeks you can use recycled paper for your wax paper bag

What about a cellulose or paper bag with a cellulose viewing window? Bio degradable. I've seen these used in some upscale markets for baguettes and other artisan loaves. Perhaps the old timey use of waxed paper, that gets iron sealed on the folded ends, like they did during the industrial revolution?? Personally, I never buy factory bread. Too many ingredients. I can't wait to visit AZ and drop in and get some croissants.

I am baker .I am very understand what's your meaning but in the market also for health now because we have had a many kind sickness ,illness in this life of society . so that FDA must do that for many, many years also How did you get any provide from health of your state even your recipes have you get any information from health or FDA USA to production of you product .How can you maintain of your product Ex {safety, ,shell life , nutrition value etc...to sale your products in your market . If you are true baker or business man in baking you must know about life of people for long term .How people eat and how people feel .Thanks

NOTHING fresh should be left in a SWEATY PLASTIC BAG, neither bread nor fruit and veg. Replace with a PAPER BAG-NEVER THROW PAPER BAGS AWAY. We are fortunate in the UK that many many stores and companies are switching to paper bags-even the Pharmacy. 🇬🇧👍