A Morning at Chiltern Bakery: Four A.M. to First Loaf

The bakery wakes before the street does. At four in the morning at Chiltern Bakery the deck oven has already been on for an hour, and the air inside the kitchen is thick and warm with the smell of yeast and steam.

A morning at Chiltern Bakery — before the first customer

The first loaves go in around 4:30. By the time the shop opens at seven, the cooling racks are full, the pie cabinet is stocked, and the coffee grinder is warming up. It is a rhythm that does not vary much — and that is the point.

1. 4:00 — ovens reach temperature; doughs come out of cold retard.
2. 4:30 — loaves, rolls and scrolls begin their first bake.
3. 5:30 — pies and pastries fill the second rack.
4. 6:45 — coffee machine calibrated; shop lights on.
5. 7:00 — open.

Most of the people who walk through our door on a given morning never see this part. But the bread in their paper bag — much of it the 48-hour sourdough we wrote about in our ferment post — has already had half a day of work behind it by the time they take it home.

Most of this happens before any of our customers see it. If you are in the Chilterns and want to meet a morning mid-rhythm, come by Chiltern Bakery when the shop opens — the loaves on the rack will already be a few hours into their day.