Bread

At the Grey Barn, we love bread.

We believe in simple, good food, which is the result of organic farming; it is better for us, our animals and the environment. When it came to baking our bakers opened the team’s eyes to regionally grown grain. At first we were misled by our own past in thinking; that our bread would not taste as good or that we would not enjoy the breads made with these other grains. We recognized that utilizing  regionally grown grain would be beneficial in supporting our farm's larger ethos. Not only should we consider where and how our grains are being grown, but how far are they traveling to our bakery. We began to learn about grain variety selection, growing and milling methods - and how all of these factors contribute to flavor. Why had we not thought about this at the beginning of opening our bakery? Tomatoes taste better from our own garden than tomatoes from the store so it makes sense that grain grown close to home would have a much greater flavor profile especially if it was milled as close as possible to when we would use it.

Looking for our weekly bread schedule?

Ground Up Grain

This is why we choose to work with Ground - Up Grain in Holyoke, MA to provide all of our flours. All of the grains that are milled at Ground-Up Grain are grown in the Northeast and provide a unique flavor only found in our corner of the world. Their whole grain flours provides our baked goods with a real taste of place. Ground-Up Grain works with a select group of New England grain growers who sweat all the details from their multi-year crop rotations, to the microbes that contribute to the health of the soil, to the flavor and versatility that each variety offers. By sourcing regionally grown stone-milled flour, we are able to support other New England farmers and strengthen our community through food.

Making the Bread

Our bakers make hundreds of fresh loaves of bread every day from sourdough to enriched breads. We are obsessed with hand-shaping. Each loaf’s individuality comes about because it is shaped by hand and left to cold ferment overnight, allowing the flavor to develop further. Slow proofing allows the characteristic flavor that all of the freshly milled flours we use develop into a perfectly balanced loaf. Inspired by European techniques, our breads yield a tender crumb, complex flavor and a crisp crust.

We use a number of different preferments including leavens, poolishes and bigas. These different methods allow us to develop different flavor profiles and achieve different characteristics in each of our breads. There are always great loaves to nourish you and your family in our farmstand and if you get here early and are extra lucky you will find Challah on Fridays.

Click here to see this week’s bread & pastry schedule and keep scrolling for an overview of all the bakery’s breads that we are currently making.