Wild yeast is another name for sourdough starter. A sourdough starter is made by letting flour and water sit exposed to the air for several days, catching the ambient yeast and beneficial bacteria. So while sourdough starter does have yeast in it, it's wild yeast and not commercial yeast.

Yes! All my breads (except rye, due to the properties of rye flour) undergo a long – close to 24-hour – fermentation. The long fermentation increases the acidity and the bioavailability of nutrients in the bread, lowers the glycemic index, and reduces phytates. These benefits will be most pronounced in my wild yeast loaves.

Since I have an ever-changing roster of wild yeast breads, it’s easier to tell you which aren’t. All my breads except baguettes, ciabatta and focaccia are made with wild yeast. My New York Rye is made both with a sourdough starter and a small amount of commercial yeast. Due to the nature of rye flour, this dough can’t withstand a long fermentation. As a result, this bread is the only one I mix the same day I bake.

That depends on the bread. The wild yeast breads stay delicious for about a week. The commercially-yeasted breads are best the first day, and great toasted or made into a sandwich after that.

I never refrigerate my bread and never wrap the crusty loaves in plastic (though the Sourdough Challah keeps well in a plastic bag). If you freeze the bread, though, that's the time to wrap the bread tightly. Mostly I just turn the cut side of the bread down to face my cutting board and keep the bread that way, sometimes cutting off a sliver of the dry end before getting a fresh piece.

My baguettes are made from high quality flour and the finest yeast available (I've found that only one yeast works for this bread). They are hand-mixed and fermented overnight before being hand-shaped and baked in my imported French deck ovens. This is the only bread made with nonorganic flour as I found that my organic flour, depending on the season, can lack the strength and lightness these loaves need.

Day old baguettes can be returned to almost-new by lightly spraying the crust with water and putting them in a hot (400-450 degrees) oven for 5-7 minutes. Or they make great toast, slathered with chocolate spread or butter and salt. Or you can cut them into pieces and saute them in olive oil, butter and garlic, salt and pepper to make croutons. They also make great French toast!

No, all my bread contains wheat. However, due to its acidity, wild yeast bread generally contains less gluten than yeasted breads. In addition, the long, slow fermentation process I use with my doughs makes the bread easier to digest. As a result, some people who are gluten intolerant can enjoy my bread. 

If you need gluten-free bread, check out 8Arms Bakery.

Great question! There are two reasons: tradition and taste. Baguettes as we know them today were developed in the last century, after commercial yeast and steam ovens became widely available. The long, thin loaves and the faster-acting commercial yeast enabled bakers to produce a breakfast loaf relatively quickly. This helped bakers get around a 1920 French law that prohibited bakery employees from working before 4 a.m. So traditional baguettes are a commercially-yeasted bread.

In addition, wild yeast baguettes have a nontraditional, thicker crust and sour taste. The same holds true for ciabatta and focaccia: I just can't get them to be light and crisp with wild yeast.

No, I work in a fully-licensed commercial kitchen that I built in a space next to my house.

That's a loss, I know! But after years of working when my family and friends are off and having time off when they're working, I decided I needed my weekends back. I am looking to hire a co-baker, though, and when I do, I hope to expand delivery days.

Again, this is so that I can try to lead a more normal life. I'm hoping people will enjoy getting bread fresh from the oven just in time for an evening meal.

Not at this time. But I'm looking for another site. If you know of any business interested in becoming a pick-up site, please let me know! And you can still buy WYB bread at both Olympia Food Coops, although it's first-come, first-served.

Yes! We'd like to give you the 13th loaf free, but couldn't make that happen with our software. Instead, when you place $100 of bread in your cart, you'll automatically get $10 off your order.

If you need to make any changes after placing an order, please contact us. We will credit you for any bread you change your mind about 24 hours or more before your pickup day.

If you need to cancel within the 24-hour window, I've already started your bread! If I can sell the bread to someone else, I'll be happy to give you a credit. If not, your bread will be donated to the Thurston County Food Bank.

My goal is to make bread people love. If you don't love it, I want to fix that! Please let me know if you have any problems and I'll do everything in my power to correct the situation.

Because of the long fermentation time of my doughs, I need about 48 hours’ notice of an order. The shopping cart is set up to make sure I get that notice.