Breadmaking, in recent years, has experienced a renaissance and moved into the mainstream. What started as a pandemic pastime has evolved into a fully bloomed trend, with amateur bakers and professionals alike experimenting with new techniques and tools.
“So many people were at home [during the pandemic], and a lot of people were into sourdough baking and bread baking in general. And I think there was a question of, ‘Will this continue?'” said Erin Merrigan, social media manager and resident baker for Brod & Taylor, which markets appliances and tools for breadbakers, pastry chefs and coffee and tea lovers. “It really seems like it has some staying power, at least for now.”
Social media has played a significant role in the revival of breadmaking, with Instagram and TikTok serving as places to share recipes, techniques and products.
“Social media has really contributed to the enormous growth that we saw during the pandemic and has helped maintain it,” Merrigan said. “It is a social media trend. And social media is a great tool to learn about baking because before it was a little bit harder. Maybe, you could buy some books or you could be on some specialized websites or forums. But there are so many people now that are willing to share information about, ‘Here’s my process or here are the products I like.’ That’s been really helpful, I think, in spreading the word and getting more people interested in baking and showing more people that, ‘Yeah, you can do it, too. Here’s how I do it, and you can also do it.'”
Breadmaking has fostered a sense of community, online and offline. “[Social media] is running in parallel to this very crunchy, earthy, my grandma made bread, and I’m going to connect to the world that grandmother lived in and the security and comfort of that. I think it’s a fascinating space because it’s both luxury and home comfort,” Fabian stated.
As home bakers have spent more time breadmaking, the demand for professional tools has increased, sparking a wave of innovation in the marketplace. This has blurred the lines between amateur and professional baking, with more sophisticated and specialized equipment now available for people to use at home. “There used to be two distinct categories, home bakers and then professional bakers,” Merrigan said. “But it seems like there’s a lot more crossover these days. People who are home bakers are more interested in more technical products or more specialized products. These tools can empower home bakers to take their craft to the next level.
Sourdough Home from Brod & Taylor and Goldie by Sourhouse are designed to store and proof sourdough starters. The Sourdough Home is a larger device that can warm and cool starters from 41°–122°F. It has two shelves for flexible storage and a refrigerator-like design. The Goldie consists of an electric base and a transparent borosilicate glass cloche that keeps a sourdough starter consistently in the “Goldilocks Zone” of 75°-82ºF, where it is most active and healthy. It includes a Sourhouse Cooling Puck for the occasional need to cool down a starter in a room that is too hot in preparation for baking.
“We’ve made bread for thousands of years without these electronic gadgets,” Merrigan said. “And we’ll often say to people, it’s true, you don’t need any of these tools. You can certainly make bread without them, but it helps a lot in the process. And we’re trying not necessarily to overcomplicate it by making these products but to give people more options because it can be very hard to control fermentation or to dial in on specific aspects of the bread baking.”
In addition to the high-tech tools, baking equipment such as high-quality Dutch ovens, specialty proofing baskets and precision scales have found their way into more homes. For example, Brod & Taylor’s Dough Whisk is used to mix dough without overworking it to ensure that the final product has the right texture and consistency. The Bread Blanket by Sourhouse is an alternative to the traditional bread bag. Made from muslin cloth, it is designed to wrap bread in a way that keeps the crust crisp while protecting it during transport. Challenger Breadware’s Bread Pan is a black cast iron pan with a domed lid designed to deliver powerful radiant heat to the bottom and the top dough. Its handle design and placement make it lighter for easier lifting and handling. The DoughBed by Sourhouse (pictured top), is an easy-to-store tool for home bakers who want to proof bread dough correctly every time, combining a warming mat, a glass dough bowl and a cork lid to create an efficient warming solution.
Discussing Sourhouse products, Fabian said, “We try to provide things that make things easier, to reduce stress, to help new bakers get started or to help people who really want to geek out about shaping or scoring or doing inclusions. We just want to take away some of the things that may be a hassle, so people bake more often because that’s our mission. I think that it is easy to create bread machines that do things for you, but that is not our agenda. We want you to be able to see your starter, see your bread and keep interacting with it so you become a better baker and understand the roles of temperature in producing bread. Ultimately, you’re able to enjoy it and make the bread you want to make more often and consistently.”
“I’m just really excited about the category,” Fabian continued. “I think this has a lot of room to grow, and I’m expecting that we will see more innovation in it on the product level. I think there’s a lot more to do. I think that at the end of the day, we imagine a world where people are going to be eating and enjoying sourdough and other fermented foods regularly and sharing it with their friends and family.”
As the breadmaking trend continues to evolve, the market is primed for more innovations that cater to the needs of new and experienced bakers.
