FAQ
ORDERING
How do I get bread?
Things are slowly ramping back up to regular bakes after our recent move to Bainbridge, but not there quiiite yet :)
I am planning a few pop-ups in Seattle, though! Keep up to date with those via Instagram (@pennyloafbreadco) or the newsletter (sign up on the homepage). We’ll be set up for regular weekly bakes on Bainbridge soon!
Where are you located?
I bake/live on Bainbridge Island, WA, 1 mile from the ferry dock. All necessary pick up info will be sent via email when you place your order.
What is the best way to reach you?
Email, please! hello@pennyloafbread.com
I clicked on the order page and it’s blank! Help!
This means the ordering window is not open.
ABOUT THE BREAD
What are the ingredients in your bread?
Flour, water, wild yeast, and sea salt. That’s it. I source amazingly fresh stoneground flours from Cairnspring Mills in the Skagit Valley, grain berries for home-milling from various PNW family farms, solar-evaporated sea salt from San Juan Island Sea Salt, and the bread is naturally leavened by my beloved sourdough culture, Granny. The baking process is nearly 3 days start to finish, so I suppose the true main ingredient is time, and lots of it.
I am deeply committed to using the highest quality, most local ingredients I can find. My goal will always be to support, advocate for, and actively participate in our local food system and grain economy. Plus, bread tastes approximately 100x better when made with fresh, stone milled flour :)
What does “naturally leavened” mean??
That the only thing rising my bread is Mother Nature herself! I leaven my doughs with a naturally occurring array of yeast and bacteria I’ve “caught” from the wild (the air, the grain, the water, my tools and hands) and nurtured into a sourdough starter. I feed my starter 2x per day with fresh-milled flour and water, keeping it strong, lively, and ready to make delicious bread every week.
Is your bread gluten free?
Not in the slightest. Sorry GF friends, nothing made in the bakery can be safely consumed by those highly sensitive or allergic to gluten. It’s worth mentioning, though, that well-fermented sourdough made with quality ingredients is often digestively tolerated by those with mild gluten intolerances. The magic of sourdough, y’all!
How long does your bread last? What is the best way to store it?
Fresh crusty sourdough is most delicious the day it’s baked, and I highly recommend you leave it out on the counter (cut side down) and steal bites slathered in salty butter alllllll day. After that, keep it in some sort of airtight bag or container for 5-7 days.
The absolute best way to store bread is in a beeswax wrap or bag like these. Next best option is to wrap the loaf in a paper bag and then in a kitchen towel. This combo mimics beeswax wrap in that it keeps plenty of moisture in (so it doesn’t dry out) and also lets it breathe (so it doesn’t mold). If neither of those are an option, an air-tight container like a plastic bag or tupperware will do, but it may mold before its time. Freezing is also a fantastic option, see details below.
Whatever you do, please don’t store your bread in the fridge. Refrigerators operate in the exact temperature range that stales bread the fastest. Don’t do it!
How do I freeze bread and what do I do when I want to eat it again?
Get ready for a bonafide LIFE HACK, y’all. Sourdough freezes fantastically. And there are a couple ways to do it depending on how you want to use your bread post-freeze.
Slicing Method: Slice your entire loaf of bread (or what’s left of it), and pop it a big ziplock or other air tight container and freeze. Grab slice by slice out of the freezer and toast to your heart’s content. It will thaw as it toasts.
Whole Loaf Method: Wrap your whole unsliced loaf in plastic wrap as tightly as possible (or foil + air tight container of some sort), doing 2 layers if needed to seal it all in. Freeze. When you’re ready to eat it, pull the loaf out of the freezer and let it thaw completely while still wrapped. (If you want fresh bread for dinner, pull it out at breakfast.) Preheat your oven to 350ºF, unwrap your loaf, and – trust me here – wet the loaf under running water until you’ve thoroughly dampened the entire crust, top and bottom. Place your now-damp loaf in the heated oven, directly on the rack, and bake about 10-15min, until the crust is no longer soft and it looks and smells like a fresh loaf of bread. And there you go! Crispy crust and a moist, custardy crumb.
Sourdough will keep in the freezer, sliced or unsliced, for about 3 months. Basically until it gets freezer burn. Even then it can still be made into breadcrumbs :)
What can I do with day(s)-old bread?
My personal ethos: PAN FRY IT. If you can slice it, you can fry it, preferably with lots of butter and something weighing it down, like this. Pressing it down as you fry the bread steams the interior of the slice, re-hydrating the crumb to it’s custardy texture. Top with anything and everything delicious :)
If you have at least 1/2 of a loaf, you can also refresh it using the ‘whole loaf’ method detailed in the bread-freezing FAQ above. Note: the ‘open side’ will dry out a tad, but just slice that bit off and the rest is good to go.
Other ideas: Grilled sandwiches. Breadcrumbs. Croutons. Savory or sweet bread pudding. The most luxurious french toast. Panzanella. Use it to thicken blended soups and sauces. Ribollita. An apple or pear betty. The world is your oyster!
Tell me more about the flours you use.
So glad you asked ;) The base flour for my bread is Cairnspring Mills T85 Trailblazer. I LOVE THIS FLOUR. It’s nutty, strong (around 13-14% protein), responsibly grown in the PNW, lovingly stone milled, and has a gorgeous deep color and aroma. It’s milled from a hard red spring wheat variety called Yecora Rojo.
The term T85 refers to how much bran and germ are left in the flour after milling + sifting. A conventional white flour is around T50, and an unsifted whole grain flour around T150. A T85 flour is somewhere in the middle and so retains a nice portion of bran and germ. Makes it more filling, nutritionally balanced, and most importantly: flavorful.
Every loaf also contains a portion of whole grain, unsifted flour. I mill this flour in-house using a countertop stone mill, right before it goes into the dough. The grain varieties I use rotate from week to week, but are always sourced from local family farms, with an eye for unique and regeneratively grown grains.
We are so lucky to live in Washington where some of the best grain in the country – if not the world! – is grown. And to have access to passionate, expert millers as well?! That is truly special.
And what about the salt?
I source salt from San Juan Island Sea Salt, a small family business/farm on San Juan Island who collect pristine seawater from the Puget Sound, and use only solar evaporation to make their salt. It tastes like a PNW beach on a hot day; wild and briny, and is rich with minerals that add an extra layer of nutrition to the bread. I am in love with this salt, and am so honored to bake with it!
ABOUT THE BAKERY
Where is your bakery?
The bakery is my house and my house is the bakery. I live on Bainbridge Island, WA.
What equipment do you use?
I bake in a Rofco B40, a professional stone deck oven miniaturized for home baking purposes. I mix by hand in large dough tubs, and cold-proof overnight in linen-lined wicker bannetons. A portion of every loaf’s grains are milled right in my kitchen, using a Mockmill 200.
The heck is a pennyloaf?
Penny Loaves were a ubiquitous loaf of bread sold in England that cost exactly one “old penny”. They were so widely consumed that nursery rhymes were sung about them, the name came to mean several things in Cockney rhyming slang, and a highly sought-after mushroom was named for them (the bolete we call Porcini).
On a personal note, my beloved 9 year-old pup is named Penny Lou; my first (fur) baby and my forever baking companion. Mostly meaning she naps near the kitchen.
Who are you?
Hi! I’m Jessica (she/her). The solo owner/baker/operator of Pennyloaf. I am a former professional cook, self-taught baker, mom of two, and Seattle native with a degree in Biology and a deep love of microbes. I’ve been learning and baking sourdough since 2012, though it was during the quarantine years (with a newborn!) that I really became obsessed. I spent my formative kitchen years at The Pantry and Juicebox where I worked with the most wonderful people, produce, and farmers, and learned the most delicious of life skills. I lived in London for a year in my late 20’s, where I ate so. much. good. bread. and first learned about the concept of a microbakery. This dream began there.
THANK YOU!
If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it a million times: THANK YOU to everyone who supports Pennyloaf. If you have ever bought a loaf, wanted to buy a loaf, said a nice thing about a loaf, sold me flour and grain, taken one of my workshops, or supported the bakery in any way I am forever grateful to you. Pennyloaf is my dream come to life, and you all make it possible.