It is time to restore real bread to Baltimore! It will be good for the city! 
Experts sniff and prod prize cottage and bloomer loaves during the 1937 Baking Trades Exhibition in london.-   source:The Blessings of Bread
 

We Can be reached via email:click here. 

Our Postal address is: 
PO 268 
Linthicum,Md 
21090.USA 

Do You need help finding or making 
Real Bread? 
Let Us know!

Baltimore Real Bread Restoration Project 

Welcome to the beginning of the revival of real bread in Baltimore. When you go out to an eating establishment for a sandwich what sort of bread do you get?  Is it soft, crust less and undistinguished?  These days when we find ourselves paying $6-$9 for a sandwich it is an outrage that the bread is not properly baked. We at BRBRP believe that real bread should come out of an oven and not out of a plastic bag! The failure of bread in Baltimore should be addressed by state and local governments and by individuals volunteering to help eating establishments re-discover proper bread. 
 
Real Bread should also 
not be expensive- real bread at 
ordinary prices is essential! 
With appropriate governmental tax relief and grants these goals can  be easily accomplished with no extra cost passed on to the consumer.  
Once bread has been revived Baltimore will become a magnet for tourism, conferences, new residents and new businesses. It will come to life! 
Well Risen Real Bread is as important to the city as high rise hotels!

To learn more go to our main menu click here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                                                                                               Main Menu
 

Our Goals and Objectives 
What is Real  Bread?
How Can I  help? Where can I get Real bread in Baltimore? Books About Real Bread
Eating Establishments  
with Real bread
Feedback To the Historic Register  
of Baltimore Eateries
Real bread recipes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




 
 
 
 
 
 
Real bread makes a city a city! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 Serving real and appropriate bread means success! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Some Real Bread Folklore: 
A loaf falling with the 
crust down  
means a quarrel, or a  
death in the family 

"Mist in May, and 
heat in June, 
Makes the harvest 
come right soon." 

Wheat should not be cut in  
the light 
of the moon or the  
bread  will be dark. 

Leave bread and coffee under  
the house to  
prevent ghosts from calling. 

If a crumb of bread drops out of  
your mouth, death will be upon 
you in a week. 

A big hole in a loaf of bread is 
a sign of an open grave. 

To burn bread means a preacher  
is coming, or your sweethart is  
mad at you.  

If a boy takes the last piece of  
bread from the plate, he'll have 
to kiss the cook. 

Never break cornbread from both ends. 

To make sure of good bread,  
mix your dough with rainwater 
collected on Ascension Day. 

Gibbet your bad or ropy bread  
by running a stick throuh it, then 
 hang in a cupboard.  This will 
prevent reoccurrence. 
 

If all he bread is eaten at table, the 
 next day is sure to be fair. 

It is bad luck to turn a loaf upside 
down, or to cut an unbaked loaf.  
In coastal villages it meant that a s 
hip would sink at sea.  It is bad to 
cut bread on baking day. 
 

"She that pricks bread with a fork or 
knife. Will never be happy maid or wife." 

"This Ile tell ye by the way, 
Maidens, when ye leavens lay: 
Cross your dow, and your dispatch 
will be better for your batch." 

Set your bread to rise with the sun 

Make a cross on your dough, 
or on the mixing trough, to make  
it rise right. 

Make a cross on your dough 
to let the devil out. 

Bread won't rise if a corpse is nearby. 
 

Cut bread at both ends and the 
devil will fly over the house. 

Bread Cures whooping cough. 

Give bread baked by a woman 
whose maiden name is the same 
as that of her husband-good for cures. 
-So you see... Real care 
with real bread is essential 
 
 
 

 
 
 
   

 When you take time to make bread real the world is a better place! 

How to Achieve a  
Crisp Crust  

1.Introduce steam 
into the oven-steam jets etc. 

2.Put a pan of water 
on the bottom of the oven. 
(use boiling water) 

3.Toss Ice cubes into oven 
while bread is baking. 

4.Quickly brush the 
loaves with water ever few minutes 
after they begin to color. 
 
Real Bread Avoids  
these Faults:  

1. The Crust is too thick 
This may have been caused by 
insufficient baking, 
with too low an  
oven temperature, 
or perhaps insufficient 
sugar. A tough 
crust means that water has 
been trapped 
beneath the crust and 
turns it hard when the 
loaf is cooling. 

2.Bread Stales too Quickly: 
Perhaps the bread has been 
made too quickly, 
The first period of 
rising terminated too soon. 
Otherwise due to too warm 
a dough, not enough 
salt or sugar, oven temperature 
too low,not enough moisture in 
dough,soft flour. 

3.Texture of the crumb too open 
or contains large holes. 
Usually due to excess leavening 
failure to punch down ,or  
insufficient  salt. Also due 
to insufficient Mixing. 

4. Crumb is too dense and  
close textured.  
Not enough leavening, or 
use of weak sourdough 
starter, oven too hot, 
too much salt, 
insufficient proving. 
Also caused by hurried  
fermentation, or over-kneading  
producing a tough dough. 

5. Too much volume-loaf  
rises over the tin. 
There may have been too much 
dough for the size of the tin, or 
insufficient salt. 

6. Crust blisters, cracks or 
br eaks 
Dough was  too weak or too 
much liquid used, 
or oven too hot. 

7.Crust too Pale 
Oven temperature too low, 
too little sugar used, 
or loaf placed too low in the oven. 

8. Crust too dark 
 Oven too hot, too much sugar, 
too much glazing or  
egg wash. Also occurs with  
bread  that requires a long  
period of ba king and needs to be 
covered by foil or paper. 

9. Crumb too Tacky or  
"chewy" 
A moist dense crumb may mean  
that the loaf has had insufficient  
baking, that the oven temperature 
was too low, or the fermentation  
too rapid. This also occurs with  
poor leavening, especially in  
sourdough breads. 

10. Loaf is too crumbly: 
Due to a slack dough, too 
much liquid having been 
used, or insufficient 
kneading. Also due to oven  
Temperature too low, 
or dough left too long at 
proving stage. 
-Source-The Blessing of Bread 

Also - bread that is kept in 
plastic bags without 
ventilation will loose any crispiness 
and the proper crust will 
be damaged. Bread should be 
stored in the open air and be 
served fresh. One may revive 
a damaged crust 
by careful baking however the  
product  will loose some of  
its fresh original quality.  

Now you know what's 
wrong! Fix it! 



To Refresh Crust! 
When bread sits after being 
baked its crust may become 
tough  and leathery. Never 
Never! Eat  it  when it  is 
this  way. Simply 
wrap  bread  loosely in foil and 
place  fora short while in a 
warm to  hot  oven-check 
frequently. You do  not 
want to  dry 
the  bread out! 
You want to  remove the 
bread from the 
ovven  when  the crust is 
once again crisp. 


To Slice Bread 
Never slice bread 
until you need it. 
Businesses slice bread thin 
to maximize profit. I 
trust that your slices will be 
thicker! Bread is best sliced when 
cool and using a 
very sharp 
serrated knive.  Never cut across 
the long dimension if the 
loaf is oval in cross 
section. Hold bread on 
its side and cut across 
the narrowest width. 
You may wrap the cut 
end of the loaf 
in plastic. Never keep 
an entire loaf in plastic 
-it will turn soggy 
and loose its crust. 
Store bread in 
paper or in loose 
foil wrap. 

 
 
Our Goals and Objectives-What is Real Bread? 

Goals and Objectives 
The Baltimore Real Bread Restoration Project seeks to restore real bread which is appropriate to its setting to Baltimore. We wish to focus regional and local governmental concern upon this goal.  It will be important to recognize establishments which currently produce and serve real bread appropriately.  We shall also foster the exchange of information between individuals, bread producers and eating establishments which will assist in the restoration of Real Bread to the eateries and bakeries of Baltimore. 

We do not attempt to advertise for any company. 
Our purpose is only to identify and characterize. 

What is Real Bread?  
For our purposes Real Bread   has two essential 
qualities: 

1.The recipe selected must be followed properly and the product should be cared for so that the bread reaches the consumer  with its essential characteristics intact. 

2.The recipe selected must match its context or purpose. Greek Souvlaki must have real Pita bread 
a corned Beef Sandwich must have real crusty jewish rye bread.  While we realize that individual  
establishments have their traditions the global tradition 
of relationship  between bread and meal or food must dominate. This global tradition is  not a single recipe but a number of variations in an  acceptable range   which produce an acceptable product. 

Of course you may offer a selection of breads! However, your selections must be real  and appropriate.  The bread representing the global tradition should be available. 

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How  Can I Help? 

Send  us Information- 

  • Recipes
  • Names and  addresses/phones  of Real  Bread Bakeries
  • Places that serve "Real  Bread"
  • Convince  local  governments to help provide tax breaks and funding  for those  who wish to restore real bread  to Baltimore 
  • Support seminars and  events designed to promote real bread
  • Send a donation to the  webmaster to keep these pages and this project going-  Note we are not a non-profit we however operate on an at cost in-kind basis.
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Where has Real  Bread Survived in Baltimore? Does Baltimore have its own Bread? 

Send in your suggestions: Bakeries,Eateries,Stores. 
Please indicate which breads are sold click to email 
Businesses listed below arelisted for information purposes only.  We accept no advertisements and we will list any establishment which provides Real Bread only after we have tested it.    We do not wish to sell products, however if you find your favorite eatery trying to pass off poorly made bread from plastic bags- we would suggest that you pass on to them the names below in the hope that they might improve their offerings in the future. 
Stand by for further details. Editing is in process.  Let us know if there are corections. e.mail click here

Uptown Bakers
301 864-15600

-Artisan bread. They turn up at the weekend farmer's markets in Baltimore:

http://www.uptownbakers.com/

Editor's Note- imho...profit taking when it comes to simple, inexpensive to produce bread is an outrage. Uptown's prices are quite steep. The product is desirable but no one should turn bread water salt and yeast into such a high cost item.

But a reader writes....(what do you think...let us know)

Unfortunately I highly disagree with you that Uptown Bakers is "Artisan Bread".  Maybe when the company first started. Now that it is under owner Mike McCloud, the company has become the equivalent of Godzilla in the guise of the Pillsbury Doughboy. They are a 10 million dollar a year operation, have been sued for discrimination, churn out 30,000 loaves a day, and have just entered into an agreement to add bar codes to their plastic bagged loaves in a big expansion effort to move into Pennsylvania supermarkets.  Not that there is anything wrong with pursuing corporate expansion and profits, but I would hardly call their product "artisan"  It is mass produced on a scale larger than any other bakery in the area.

Euro American Baking Company 
Wholesale Only 
Linthicum, Md. 
410-789-7896 

F&S Maranto Hearth Bread 
Since 1912 
(410)625-1591 

New Systems Bakery 
529 E. Belvedere Ave. 
(410)323-7224 

Near East Bakery 
2919 Hamilton Ave. 
(410)254-8970 

Fenwick Bakery 
7219 Harford Rd. 
(410) 444-6410 

Big Sky Bakery 
509 West Coldspring Lane. 
(410)662-6070 

Graul Bakery  
(In the Market) 
11800 Tullamore Rd. 
Timonium(410)308-2100 

Stone Mill Bakery
(410) 532-8669

(This list has been prepared with the assistance of Mr. Jacques Kelly of the Baltimore Sun) 
 
 

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Eating Establishments with Real  Bread 

Send in your suggestions, Include a phone number. 
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Books about Real Bread 

Please let us know of your favorite books!  click to email 
 
Bread Bibliography 
Bailley, Adrian, The Blessings of Bread, Paddington Press, New York and London,1975. 
A good history of breads and good ethnic recipes. 

Jeff Smith,  The Frugal Gourmet Series (On or Immigrant Ancestors etc...) 
Several books which pay attention to good bread take your pick. 

Time Life Books,  Foods of the World.   
A series of volumes on regional Quisines which pays attention to real bread. 

Malgieri, Nick  How To Bake.,Harper Collins,N.Y. 1995.  

Johnson, Ellen Foscue,  The Garden Way Bread Book, A Baker's Almanac.,Garden Way, Charlotte,Vermont.1979. 
 
Elizabeth David, English Bread and Yeast Cookery, Viking Press, New York. 
Intro and Notes for the American Cook by Karen Hess. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Real Bread Recipes 
 
I will not complain unless I can provide a solution! 
So see below.  Print them out and give them to your eatery chef or local bakery! Spread the word. Maybe they have lost their recipe or just don't know better! 

These recipies have been  tested and they produce great Real bread. Just work on it- Breadmaking takes practice! 

(This is a  work in progress more later as the recipes are tested!) 



New York Style Jewish Rye 
Application: Deili Sandwiches 
(note that there is no mention of plastic bags) 
For best results hand slice bread as needed a slice at a time. Store in a paper back and refresh crust in oven. 
(see note on left side) 
SOURDOUGH (Starter) 
Ingredients 
2 cups of rye flour 
1 cup plain yogurt at room temperature 
3/4 cup warm water 
2-1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar 
1 tablespoon dry yeast 
1/2 teaspoon crushed caraway seed 
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 
To be added each of the last three days: 
1 cup rye flour 
2 tablespoons brown sugar dissolved in 3/4 cup warm water 
Mix first 7 ingredients in a large bowl and beat until  blended. Cover and let stand at room 
temperature for 24 hours. 
Beat in 1 cup rye flour with brown sugar/water mixture. Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours. 
Repeat previous procedure again. Let stand another 24 hours. 
Repeat previous procedure again. Let stand another 24 hours after which the sourdough starter will 
be ready. You will have far too much but you can give some away and use it for other 
sourdough purposes. 
Now that you have the sourdough, you are ready to make the bread. As you take from this supply to 
make the bread, you must replenish it with a mixture of 1 cup of rye flour, 3/4 cup of warm water 
and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar for each cup of sour you have taken. 
Allow this replenished mix to sour at room temperature for 24 hours before storing in you 
refrigerator. 
If you do not use the sour for a month, it would be wise to replenish it even should you not intend to 
use it. It is a living thing and needs to be fed. If left alone for more than 6 weeks, it is likely to die and 
then you have to start all over again. In the referigerator, it may be stored in a jar with the lid loose to 
avoid pressure build-up. 

BREAD 
Ingredients 
3-6 pieces of rye bread soaked in water and squeezed dry; this may be either from a previous baking 
of this recipe or from a loaf of commercial rye; you need about 1-1/2 cups of soaked/squeezed rye 
bread 

3 cups of sourdough (see above) 
1 package of yeast 
1 tablespoon of salt 
2 tablespoons or so of caraway seeds 
4 cups of white flour 
In your mixer using the dough hook, place squeezed-dry rye bread, the sour, yeast, salt, the caraway 
seed, and 2 cups of flour. Mix for 5 minutes. Add flour 1/4-1/2 cup at a time and knead for 10 
minutes. The dough will pull away from the sides of the bowl after all the flour has been incorporated 
The dough should be dense.  Allow to rise for 3/4 hour. Punch down, put on floured workboard, cut in half and make each half into a loaf, round or longas you prefer. Place on baking sheet prepared with corn meal. Allow to rise for 45 minutes. 
Preheat the oven at 450 degrees keeping an empty pan in the oven while it is heating. Five minutes 
before putting the bread in  the oven , pour 1 cup of hot water into the pre-heated pan. 
Cut top of bread with knife, brush with an egg wash, sprinkle caraway on the egg wash, and bake for 
approximately 40 minutes or until done. This cooking time is for a non-convection oven. 
-Source=Dan Leeson 


Sourdough Bread: 
(Malgieri,see Bibliopgraphy p.61) 

Sponge 
1 cup warm tap water (110 degrees) 
1 cup sourdough starter (see above) 
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour. 

Dough 
All of the sponge, above 
1 1/2 to 11/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour 
2 teaspoons salt 

One cookie sheet or baking stone 
Yields one large 9-10 inch round loaf. 

1. Sponge: Place the water  in a large mixing bowl and whisk in the starter. Stir in the flour then put the bowl into a large plastic bag and let the sponge to rise at room temperature for at least 8 hours or overnight. 
2.  Dough: Stir the sponge to deflate and stir in 1 1/2 
cups of flour and the salt. Knead by hand to form a smooth elastic, and slightly sticky dough, about 5 minutes.  Incorporate the remaining flour, a tablespoon at a time, If the dough is too soft. 
In a Food Processor, put the sponge, 1 1/2 cups of flour, and the salt in a work bowl fitted with a metal blade.  Pulse repeatedly until the dough forms a ball (if the dough will not form a ball, add the remaining flour, a tablespoon at a time, and pulse until the dough forms a ball.). Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then let the machine run continuously for 20 seconds. 
In a heavy duty mixer with dough hook: 
place the sponge, 1 1/2 cups of flour, and the salt in the bowl and mix on loeed to form a smooth, elastic, and slightly sticky dough- 5 minutes. Incorporate the remaining flour, a tablespoon at a time, if the dough is too soft. 

3. Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Turn the dough over so that the top is oiled. Cover with plasic wrap and let to  rise at room temperatuere until doubled, about 1 hour. 

4. Put dough on floured work surface and press to deflate.  Form into an even sphere by tucking the sides under at the bottom of the loaf all around.  Invert the loaf into a round basket lined with a heavily floured towel or napkin so the tucked under part is on top.  Cover the basket with plastic and allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. 

5. About 30 minutes before you intend to bake the loaf, set racks at the middle and lowest levels of the oven and preheat to 500 degrees.  Place a baking stone or cookie sheet on the middle rack.  Set a pan on the lowest rack to absrob some of the excdss bottom heat.  This will keep the loaf from burning on the bottom. 

6. Invert the  risen loaf onto a cardboard , a peel or a cookie sheet covered with cornmeal.  Hold a razor blade at a 90 degree angle to the top of the loaf and use it to slash a diagonal lattice pattern on the loaf.  Slide the loaf onto the stone or heated sheet pan and quickly close the oven.  Lower the temperature to 450 degres.  If you wish, throw a cup of hot water onto the pan in the bottom of the oven to create steam which will help the loaf to rise and to crisp its crust. 

7. After the loaf has baked for 20 minutes and is completely risen, lower the temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking  for 20 to 30 minutes longer, until the bread is well risen and a dark golden color.  It should reach an internal temperature of about 210 degres. 

8. Remove the loaf from the oven and cool on a rack. 



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