My Introduction to Mass Baking

My very first experience in a bakery was back in Tambach-Dietharz, and that was almost three years ago. At that time, I worked with the brother-sister duo (master baker and, she, a master pastry chef), but I also was working with a journeyman baker. She was a couple years older than I; she spent the most time of the three to explain the concepts to me. In other words, she was nice.

After my departure and before my master baker education, there was major drama at the bakery and this journeyman left on bad terms. In any case, she kept in contact and I asked about the possibility of interning at her new bakery. She asked, I set up a phone call with the owner, and he grudgingly accepted.

So, I found myself back in Waltershausen. I had spent a week there for my second butcher internship two years earlier. As I had kept in contact with that establishment, it was nice to be back. Furthermore, one of the butchers agreed to put me up for the week as trains from Erfurt to Waltershausen for a midnight starting time would have been challenging.

I had originally asked for a two week experience, but the owner seemed to think that that would be too long, so he suggested a couple days to see how things went. I possibly should have mentioned that I was a master baker, but I did not want to have him set expectations that I would not be able to live up to. So, I assume that he thought I was some guy off the street that was considering a career switch or auditioning for a future possible job, which seems to be often done here.

I began my internship and it was made clear that the owner would be busy, so I was to work with one of the journeymen. I did some miscellaneous tasks for this guy, who was probably 25 or so. He was starting to explain some of the theory behind what we were doing, when I had to stop him because he said something blatantly false. I helped him clear up his theory when it became obvious that I had some background. After the boss guy learned of my designation, we became fast friends. And I do not mean to imply that he was arrogant about it; he simply was busy and had not seen value in spending any time with me. Now that we could talk shop, he found time.

He walked me through some of his processes, growth plans, staffing concerns, and tips and tricks. He gave me some great insights into practical knowledge in working with sourdough and starters; things not mentioned during my baker training. I was also able to witness his team-building efforts in having traditions of Thursday morning breakfast snacks, which he personally prepares, or Wednesday morning burgers and beer. Yes, burgers and beer at 6 am as that was lunch time for the bakers.

I continued to support the young journeyman in his daily tasks and was introduced to some cool mechanisms. For instance, there is a stamp that one can press into a bread roll dough in order to make it look like you folded it into a Kaiser bun. Note that folding a Kaiser bun is super hard and requires a very specific (and otherwise useless) skill set. Using the stamp was much easier.

Second, they had a machine for rolling out Hörnchen. This was something I made in the practical exam for my certification. I did not know there was a machine that made them quickly and more consistently. This was also the first experience in a bakery that used delayed raising for breads: the use of specific yeasts and temperature control to delay the raising of a baked good so that the final steps could be done either later or at a different location. I had learned all of the theory, but it was good to see the practical side of things.

As per his suggestion, I had reminded the boss on day two that the next day would be my last. I had to teach tap dance back in Erfurt and it did not really make sense for me to the come back that same night. He was surprised and disappointed even though he was originally against a long internship. Still, we left on good terms, and he even packed up a bit of his sourdough so that I would have some fresh at home. Seriously, a good guy.

Before I conclude, I do need to point out that spending time back in Waltershausen was fantastic. When I was done with my shift, I walked past the butcher on my way ‘home’. This just happened to be the time when they were eating breakfast. So, I always stopped in for a bite to eat after my nine hours at the bakery. My hosts even brought out the bicycles and showed me around the area. It made for a very relaxing and nice week.