Most bread is baked in a few hours. Ours takes two days. That's not a mistake — it's the whole point.
A lot of customers ask us why we run out of certain loaves by noon, or why we can't always guarantee a specific bread on a specific day. The honest answer is: bread has its own schedule, and we've learned to work around it instead of the other way around.
Here's what actually happens in our kitchen.
Monday: The Mix
Every Tuesday and Wednesday loaf starts on Monday afternoon. Our head baker mixes the dough by hand — flour, water, salt, and our house starter — and begins a series of stretch-and-fold cycles over the next three hours. This isn't about efficiency. It's about developing the gluten structure slowly, letting the dough build strength without mechanical force.
The starter, by the way, has been alive in our kitchen since we opened in 2018. It's fed daily, kept at a consistent temperature, and treated with the same care you'd give a sourdough that's part of the family. Because it kind of is.
Monday Night: The Cold
Once the bulk fermentation is done, the shaped loaves go into the walk-in refrigerator — not to stop fermentation, but to slow it down. This cold overnight proof is where most of the flavor develops. The longer, cooler fermentation means more complex acids, better crust, and that characteristic tang that you just can't fake with commercial yeast.
The loaves sleep in the cold until early the next morning.
Tuesday (or Wednesday): The Oven
We bake starting at 5:30am, before most of Eagle Rock is awake. The oven runs at 500°F with steam injection — the steam keeps the crust supple long enough for the loaf to reach its full height before it sets. Then the steam cuts and the crust blooms dark and crackly.
The result is a loaf that's ready when you arrive. Still warm if you get here early enough.
Why Not Just Go Faster?
We get asked this. You can make sourdough faster — with more starter, higher temperatures, or additives. But faster bread tastes like faster bread. The two-day process isn't slow because we're inefficient. It's slow because that's how long it takes to make bread that's actually worth eating.
We run out some days. We're working on it. But we'd rather sell out of something great than have plenty of something ordinary.
Come find us at 2131 Colorado Blvd in Eagle Rock — Mon through Sun, 7am to 3pm. Get here early for the loaves.