Kneading Conference De-brief

For two and a half days baking luminaries, aspiring bakers, wood-fired oven builders, and grain afficianados gathered at the Skowhegan Fairgrounds in Maine for an intensive exchange of techniques and products.

I brought my portable oven and had my eyes opened to the world of bread baking.  Firstly, it's not as simple as it looks, and secondly, the complex approach to making bread is worth it.

Thanks to Wendy Hebb, the director for pulling it together, to Michael and Sandy Jubinsky of Stone Turtle stoneturtlebaking.com, Ciril Hitz breadhitz.com, James MacGuire of Montreal, Richard Miscovich and Chris French of Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island jwu.edu, Mitch Stamm, also of Johnson and Wales, and Jonathan Stevens and Cheryl Maffei of Hungry Ghost Bread in Northampton, Mass hungryghostbread.com.

Also thanks to the amazing caterers and all the attendees who baked in my oven and talked to me.
Admittedly, it was like a bread-baking geekfest... but don't we all hope to find ourselves among people who share our specialty interest.

These few photos are the tip of the bread loaf of more to come on specific skills and materials that interest brick oven users.