HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1976-05-05, Page 21Page 22 -Citizens News, May 5/76
Bake me some bread
Bokery starts
m
. ► • as fast as you can
eking bread
arid
at It's a
When you walk into the Tasty-
Ntt Bakery in Zurich and pick
up a•loaf of bread off the counter,
pay your money and head for
home to enjoy it in sandwiches
or some other way, you are seeing
mi•
Doug Oesch lifts 'sponge'
2. Coming out of mixer
Allan Gascho at roller
only the final result of a complex
operation which goes on in the
bakery's bake shop every day.
As more and more bakeries
phase out their bread -making
operation, opting for bread
purchased wholesale from large
city bakeries, the unique flavour
and freshness of bread made
on the premises is rapidly be-
coming scarce. Even at Tasty -
Nu in Zurich, the local bread -
making operation had been
phased out but recently owner
Doug Oesch decided to get back
into the bread business.
So far sales have been en-
couraging. Two weeks ago,
bread production was sold out
every day. With the production
bumped to keep a supply on
hand, the total number of loaves
baked on Zurich's main street
went over the 1,000 mark.
When you pick up a loaf of
bread, you probably don't
realize the long, and complex
operation starting at about six
o'clock each morning, which
results in fresh bread. Mr. Oesch
and employee Allan Gascho, a
baker with long experience in
Zurich, start each morning by
making a batch of "sponge".
This is the initial flour, water
and yeast which, when mixed,
sits for about four and a half
hours. It is then put into the
mixer, a Large cylindrical ap-
paratus, with sugar, milk, shor-
tening and salt along with more
flour and water. An eight minute
spin in the mixer sees the dough
flipped out with much skill into
a hopper. It is then taken to the
rolling machine.
A. complex piece of equipment,
the rolling machine takes the
dough and precisely measures
and weighs it into little round
balls about as big as a fist. As
these come off the rolling mach-
ine they are gathered together
in fives and lopped into pans.
A "batch" of bread, about 250
loaves, goes through the rolling
machine in 12 minutes. Once the
entire batch of dough has been
placed in the loaf size pans, the
pans are placed in a proof box.
Here the temperature and
humidity are controlled to result
in the perfect conditions neces-
sary to allow the bread to rise
as desired.
After an hour in the steamy
proof box, the pans of unbaked
dough are placed in a large
circular oven with eight rota-
ting trays. The entire 250 loaves
are placed in the oven at once
and baked for 25 minutes at 425
degrees. When they are at just
the right golden brown stage,
they are pulled from the oven and
allowed to cool for one hour
before they are sliced automati-
cally and bagged.
GOOD TEACHER
While Mr. Oeasch is a re-
latively, young man, he has a
much experienced craftsman
to learn from in his employee,
Mr. Gascho. Allan is a former
owner of the Zurich bake shop,
having purchased it in 1947
from Leland Willert. At that time,
old brick ovens were used as
the bread was hand made in
much the same fashion as it
would be in a home. Mr. Gascho
added the complex machinery
over the years. He estimated
it would cost well over $50,000
today to replace the present
machinery with new models.
In ' addition to bread, the
Tasty -Nu Bakery in Zurich also
makes the wide line of cakes
and cookies and other goodies
enjoyed at small town bakeries
all over the country.. At present,
there are two full time employees
assisted by five part-time workers
but Mr. Oesch is considering
some expansion and may soon
be hiring more staff.
6. Over 1,000 loaves a week
5. Ah.., it's done
4. Raw dough into oven