BAKER

:''This article refers to the cooking profession. For other uses, see Baker (disambiguation)''

A 'baker' is someone who primarily bakes and sells bread. Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades. The place where a baker works is called a 'bakehouse', 'bakeshop', or 'bakery'.

Contents

History of baking

Modern bakers

Interesting facts

See also

History of baking

The first group of people to bake bread were ancient Egyptians, in 8000 BC.
During the Middle ages, it was common for each landlord to have a bakery, which was actually a public oven; Housewives would bring dough that they had prepared to the baker, who would use the oven to bake it into bread. As time went on, bakers would also bake their own goods, and this is where numerous tricks come in place: for example, Some bakers would have trap doors, that would allow a small boy to pinch off a bit of the dough, where he could sell it off as his own. This practice eventually lead to the famous regulation known as Assize of Bread and Ale, which provided harsh punishments toward bakers who were found cheating. In response, bakers commonly threw in one more loaf of bread; this tradition now exists in the phrase "baker's dozen", which is number 13.
By examining the listed contents of modern breads produced and distributed by major bakeries in the U.S. one almost invariably sees a substantial content of corn syrup (usually high-fructose kind) or honey. In olden times (colonial through about 1950) breads were less sweet.

Modern bakers

Today bakers work in varying environments both as employees and sometimes owning their own stores. Bakers can be found working in:

★ 'Large factories'. These produce bread and related products which are then transported to numerous selling points throughout a region. These normally include supermarkets, convenience stores, and the like. Bakers in these environments are largely there for quality control as machines take care of much of the labour intensive aspect of the job.

★ 'Small Independent bakeries'. These are largely family-run businesses. They may specialise in particular types of products, such as sourdough. In Australia many such businesses are owned by members of the Vietnamese community.

★ 'Chain stores'. Recent years have seen the rise of chain stores (supermarkets) selling the same range of products. Bakers in these stores bake according to a pre-determined recipe book. This can lead to frustration as some bakers do not agree with techniques used by the franchising model. However, the recipes used tend to be well-founded, and popular with the paying public.

Interesting facts

★ Baker's yeast is a leavening agent.

★ A baker's dozen is a group of thirteen things (an old-fashioned expression). ''(See Bakers' Company for an explanation of the phrase)''

See also

★ Pastry chef

★ Dough

★ Knead

★ Baker's percentage