Plan or improvise

Choose to Plan or Improvise

Like growing a plant, certain parts of baking naturally fermented bread cannot be rushed. But unlike gardening, which can be disrupted by an unexpected rainfall or heat wave, Maison Fare's methods provide bakers many ways to control the environment to get the desired outcome (a delicious loaf of bread) with repeatable, predictable timing.

Instead of looking up a recipe online and letting it dictate what kind of bread comes out at what time, our products aim to turn the tables and let flavor preferences and personal schedules determine the best approach.

Key principles of planning:

Nature cannot be rushed

In today’s supermarket, we can get certain fruits and vegetables any time of year. But have you found that oftentimes a supermarket tomato doesn’t taste like a tomato should? Similarly, there are ways to make bread in 30 minutes, but calling it bread is a stretch at that point.

With our method, the key constraints of natural fermentation mean that the minimum time from start to a finished loaf is 18 hours. However, if desired, the process could be stretched out to as long as 60 hours in order to provide flexibility or to target a more sour, complex flavor profile.

A baker could start their dough on day 1 but not bake until day 3 so that she/he can attend a party on the evening of day 2 instead of babysitting the oven. Alternatively, if the goal is to serve delicious bread as an appetizer instead of an ("oops! it took longer than I thought!") dessert course, our method provides a repeatable way to have a beautiful loaf out of the oven at the perfect time.

Covered pan with rising dough

Key drivers of planning are ambient temperature, your schedule, and flavor preference

Thanks to our proprietary culture and blend of ingredients, our method allows for a high degree of predictability compared to processes that rely on a wild starter. For bakers who value precision and predictability, our guide provides a timetable of fermentation times based on ambient temperature. And unlike a wild starter, there is no need to worry about feeding times or ratios, which can easily derail a loaf from the get-go.

Warmer temperatures mean your bread is done sooner (but, just like certain seeds simply won’t sprout if it’s too hot or cold, you must stay within the ideal range of 68°-85°F).

Longer and colder fermentations mean a bolder, more sour flavor and more flexibility. After an initial 16-20h time spent at room temperature, the dough can go in the fridge and then go straight into the oven at any point within the next 2 days.

Sounds complicated? Not to worry - just start baking with our guide and over time, it will become clear what tastes and works best.

A man holding a dough

Try letting go

While our method does offer many options for predictability and flexibility, we realize that over-thinking and over-controlling has the potential to lead to unwelcome stress. At the end of the day, sourdough means connecting with nature, and people have been baking bread long before thermometers and mixers were readily available.

Therefore, another way to bake is to not worry about the numbers and instead pay attention to key points during the process via our senses - smell, sight, and touch. No need to guess - our guided instructions suggest what to look for along the way. Baking in this way allows the baker to worry less about the outcome and enjoy the process by connecting with the dough on a very grounded level. It might just offer the mindful break that we often crave in our busy world.