Breadness Buzz - Crunchy Crisps, Randall on Recycling, Delivering the Goods..

Introducing our artisan sourdough flatbreads!

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NOTE: If this is your first Breadness Buzz, or if you've been part of our tribe but missed earlier posts, visit the Breadness Buzz Archive here and catch up on this content written especially for you (by me!). It's a great way to meet like-minded artisan sourdough aficionados and be part of this journey I started back in 2016. And now for this week's Buzz...

After a rather lengthy research and development period in our test kitchens (home and bakery), I'm proud to announce the debut of Breadness Crisps! After experiencing some crispy flatbread on the charcuterie board we ordered at Castaway restaurant back in March, I thought I'd try coming up with a flatbread based on our two artisan sourdough loaves. Easier said than done — there were many test batches and evolving techniques that occurred during the process — but the end product was worth it! Here's what it takes to make Breadness Crisps...

We start with our organic Artisan Sourdough Country Loaves and Cinnamon Raisin Maple Pecan loaves. These already take 3 days to make and another day to cure. Then we cure the bread an extra day so it will be able to withstand being sliced 5mm thin. The loaves are carefully sliced by hand and then the slices are arranged on two 18x26 sheet pans that are lined with toxin-free parchment. Both pans go into our bread oven at 360 degrees for 12 minutes. When they are ready, the pans get moved from the oven and placed in our Proofing Cabinet to cool naturally. I keep the cabinet door open to help the process along. After 30 minutes, the slices get placed in a gallon size BPA-free zip bag to cure for another day or so. The last step is placing several slices into a quart-sized BPA-free zip-slider bag and weighing them so as to have the same weight in each bag.

The Country Loaf Breadness Crisps are airy, light and crispy. You can buy them plain, or have us spritz the slices with a bit of Organic Tuscan Herbs Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil, or do the same with Organic Applewood Smoked Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Having four additional flavorful ingredients, the Cinnamon Raisin Maple Pecan Breadness Crisps are a treat all by themselves. They're crispy but also chewy in parts where a touch of moisture remains from the raisins and maple syrup. But if you're at home and have the time and the space, feel free to have a little butter on the side...

Breadness Crisps. It's a nourishing snack. It's a classy flatbread. It's fun to eat. It's all of the above! Come to our micro-bakery for free samples...

July 4th at Burbank's Starlight Bowl was a blast! The sold-out crowd (close to 5000) enjoyed performances by Hollywood U2 (U2 tribute), The Rising (Bruce Springsteen tribute) and a killer fireworks show. In between U2 and Bruce, the intermission raffle drawing was held and we had our first winner of a $50 Gift Card for Random Acts of Breadness!

Next Starlight Bowl Concert (and another chance to win a $50 Breadness Gift Card) is Saturday, July 15th featuring Yächtly Crëw performing a highly entertaining set of Yacht Rock. Visit StarlightBowl.com for concert and ticket information.

I'm sure you do your part to help the planet by recycling and buying items packaged in recycled materials. I also encourage our customers to reuse the BPA-free zip-slider bags we cure our bread in. (There's lots of things these gallon-size bags can be used for.) At Breadness, I'm always looking for ways to minimize waste, especially plastics. We use Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water for our dough. All the empty gallon containers get put in the trunk of my car and when the trunk and part of the back seat are full, I take the bottles to the Glendale Recycling Center. Most of the boxes we get our ingredients and inventory in are broken down, and along with the paper packing material, every week I personally take them to the Burbank Recycling Center. Our flour bags are also recyclable as are the maple syrup glass bottles. But here's where I go even further with recycling...

Most of our Breadness accoutrements (jams, honeys, olive oils, balsamic vinegars, tapenades) come in glass jars and bottles; they usually get packed in bubble wrap and fastened with clear shipping tape. I figured out a way to carefully remove the tape from the bubble wrap, preserving both, and reclaiming them to use again.

In the photo above, you can see strips of reclaimed shipping tape that's as good as new, just waiting to get it's second use. And below is the recovered bubble wrap ready to protect another delicate shipment (like the loaves in our Breadness Boxes). By reusing these plastic materials, we are doing our part to help the environment.

We're fortunate that we have so many customers that live close to our bakery in Burbank. But what about folks who live across town, or over the "great divide" that separates the Valley from Hollywood and parts south and west? Or people who live closer to the coast, from Ventura to Orange County? Or Palmdale or Palm Springs? Some of these folks happen to drop in when they're in the neighborhood, and we love that as they get to see our shop and sample our wares. But if you (or someone you know) don't live close to Breadness, have Breadness delivered to your door! Because our bread takes 24 hours to cure after it comes out of the oven, we can package your Breadness the day it's baked and have it on its way to you that evening. The next day, you'll have your Breadness ready to slice and just as fresh as what we serve and sell at the bakery (and the shipping rates are very reasonable)!

We're looking to really expand our delivery business and once we reach a certain point, we will be baking on Wednesday and opening the bakery on Thursday. Spread the word so that your extended family and friends can get on the Breadness train, too!

We're baking 180 loaves of Breadness this week (156 Country Loaves + 24 Cinnamon Raisin Maple Pecan Sourdough Loaves). Plus we've restocked our Extra Virgin Olive Oils, Balsamic Vinegars, Tapenades, Honey's, Jams and Raw Butter! Come by Friday or Saturday between noon and 1pm and you might catch bread coming out of the oven. Friday afternoon you can see dough being stretched, divided and shaped.

Random Acts of Breadness is located at 2214 West Magnolia Blvd. in Burbank (2-1/2 blocks east of Buena Vista on the south side of the street). Come to the bakery and sample our artisan wares, or order on line for bakery pickup, or have Breadness delivered or shipped to your door. You may also order by phone at 818-562-7303 and pay when you come pick it up. We're open Friday & Saturday 12 to 6 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Reminder: If you (or someone you wish to gift) live within 120 miles of Los Angeles, we can ship on Thursday (via UPS Ground) and in most cases your Breadness Box will arrive on Friday (Saturday at the latest). Place your order before Thursday at noon here.

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