Wednesday 7th October – Bad Abbach, Germany

I went back to the museum at 9 o’clock when it opened. I have my own wood-fired oven and I often bake an oven-full of bread in it. I was very keen to see how they made their bread and how they used their oven.
First stop was the bakehouse to see the oven. We had noticed the smoke rising from the oven before the museum opened and, sure enough, the fire was roaring away. Walking back to the farmhouse, I found the kitchen and asked permission to enter. A large saucepan of water was boiling on the stove and the kitchen was very warm and humid. The two bakers, Angelika and Rosemarie, were kneading the dough in a massive trough. It takes 30 minutes to knead the 65 kg of dough, then it is smoothed over and wetted. The dough isn’t covered but the very steamy atmosphere stops it from drying out. After half an hour, they shaped the dough and put it into floured baskets for the final rise. I was really surprised to learn that the traditional Bavarian loaf size is three pounds, not measured in kilograms. I know that they use imperial pounds in Brittany but I had no idea that the measure was used in Germany.
Rosemarie pulled the fire out of the oven into a large tray that was then stored under the oven. Angelika ferried the loaves from the house kitchen to the bakehouse whilst Rosemarie mopped the oven to remove the ash and residual pieces of charcoal. They checked the temperature of the oven by throwing a little flour into different parts of the oven. If the flour turns black, the oven is too hot but if it slowly turns brown, the temperature is correct. Satisfied that the temperature was correct, it was time to put the loaves in. Working as a well-drilled team, Angelika brought each basket across, tipping the dough onto the peel and Rosemarie expertly placed it in the oven. The door was closed and the loaves left to cook for 30 minutes before they were all removed and checked. With a wood-fired oven the floor temperature will vary in different areas. Each loaf was checked and the ones with a darker bottom were then placed back into the cooler areas. The door was closed again and, after a total baking time of approximately one hour and forty five minutes, the loaves were taken out. This seemed to be a very long baking time even given that the loaves are very large. However, they had a digital thermometer and I checked the temperature of the oven before the loaves were put in and it was 220°C. Putting 65 kg of dough would reduce the temperature despite the size and thermal mass of the oven. I checked the temperature straight after the baked loaves had been taken out and it had dropped to 115°C. That explained why the baking was so long – my 1 kg loaves only take about 45 minutes but the oven is normally hotter when I put the dozen loaves in and it is certainly well over 115°C at the end.
The loaves were taken over to reception and I paid for my loaf. Angelika and Rosemarie were very patient, especially as much of the conversation had to be done with Google Translate. They kindly let me photograph the recipe and showed me the ingredients. One of these was intriguing and I will probably not be able to get it in England – Brotgewurz, ground bread spices. Like many German breads, this loaf has added spices and, although the packet listed coriander, caraway and fennel but I don’t know the proportions – I will have to experiment when I get home. Angelika asked me to send photographs when I make the bread at home and we exchanged email addresses so that I could do it. With many thanks to the master bakers, I made my way back to the van to have lunch with Jane and we enjoyed the delicious warm, crusty loaf.
After lunch we set off for our next port of call – Regensburg. We had identified an ACSI campsite that would give us access to public transport into the city – Campingplatz Freizeitinsel at Bad Abbach. The campsite is separated from the town by the Danube and a canal but there are bridges that will allow us to cross. The journey was very pleasant, mostly on small roads through more of that lovely Bavarian countryside with its open fields and woods set in a gentle rolling landscape.
Photos: The oven; Kneading the dough; Smoothed dough rising; Shaped loaves in their baskets; Putting the loaves into the oven; All loaves in the oven – beautifully placed; Tapping the first loaf out to make sure that it is properly baked; The final results; Wood stacked in the oven for the next day of baking; With the master bakers.