Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Before commercially produced baker’s yeast became widely available, British bakers often relied on something called barm, the yeast rich froth collected from fermenting ale, to make their bread rise.

And in 1468, the stuff was apparently valuable enough to cause a dispute over its price in Norwich!

In today's Strange Crumbs, we're looking at the historical relationship between brewing and baking, the science of fermentation, and what all of this has to do with modern sourdough.

Quite fascinating how much our ancestors understood about making bread rise, long before they knew what yeast actually was/

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Baking Perfect wherever you get your podcasts.

#strangecrumbs #bakingperfect #foodhistory #bakinghistory #breadmaking #fermentation #sourdough

A recipe for beer barm - https://myloveofbaking.com/recipes/beer-barm

SHOW NOTES

❤️ A little about Baking Perfect

Baking Perfect is a Brown Butter Bakes podcast hosted by Ruby, a home baker and bakery owner based in Yorkshire, England.

From baking science and recipe development to the darker corners of culinary history, starting and running a home bakery, and all the wonderfully messy bits in between, Baking Perfect explores food from every angle, one curious story at a time.

Because I don’t believe there’s such a thing as the perfect baker, the perfect recipe or the perfect business. But I do think there’s an awful lot of joy to be found in trying to get better.

🍪 Find Brown Butter Bakes

Website & bakery shop:

https://www.brownbutterbakes.uk

Shop my postal bakes, home bakery business tools, digital guides and resources. The bakery restocks every Sunday at 10am!

Substack — Brown Butter Bakes:

https://brownbutterbakes.substack.com

Instagram — @brownbutterbake:

https://www.instagram.com/brownbutterbake/

Bakery life, recipes, new bakes and behind-the-scenes updates.

TikTok — @brownbutterbakesleeds:

https://www.tiktok.com/@brownbutterbakesleeds

YouTube — Brown Butter Bakes

Podcast — Baking Perfect:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/baking-perfect-a-brown-butter-bakes-podcast/id6820645425

⸻

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider following the podcast, leaving a rating or sharing it with another curious baker. It helps more people find our little corner of the baking world.

And if you’ve got a baking science question you’d love me to investigate, come and say hello over on Instagram or TikTok.

Thanks so much for listening, angel.

Love, Ruby x

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

STRANGE CRUMBS | EPISODE 5: THE WHITE BREAD SCANDAL 🍞

Britain’s beautiful white bread had a very dirty secret.

For centuries, white bread was a symbol of wealth and refinement. But as demand grew, some unscrupulous bakers found a rather questionable way to make cheaper, inferior flour look expensive.

Their secret ingredient? Alum. A chemical additive used to make bread appear whiter and more desirable.

In today's Strange Crumb, we're heading back to Britain’s bread adulteration scandals to explore food fraud, Victorian anxieties about what was lurking in the nation's loaves, and the early fight for food safety regulation.

Turns out, worrying about what's in our food is nothing new!

Welcome back to Strange Crumbs, my little series exploring the strange, macabre and occasionally ridiculous history of food.

❤️ A little about Baking Perfect

Baking Perfect is a Brown Butter Bakes podcast hosted by Ruby, a home baker and bakery owner based in Yorkshire, England.

From baking science and recipe development to the darker corners of culinary history, starting and running a home bakery, and all the wonderfully messy bits in between, Baking Perfect explores food from every angle, one curious story at a time.

Because I don’t believe there’s such a thing as the perfect baker, the perfect recipe or the perfect business. But I do think there’s an awful lot of joy to be found in trying to get better.

🍪 Find Brown Butter Bakes

Website & bakery shop:

https://www.brownbutterbakes.uk

Shop my postal bakes, home bakery business tools, digital guides and resources. The bakery restocks every Sunday at 10am!

Substack — Brown Butter Bakes:

https://brownbutterbakes.substack.com

Longer reads, recipes, baking science experiments, recipe development, behind-the-scenes stories and extra resources for paid subscribers.

Instagram — @brownbutterbake:

https://www.instagram.com/brownbutterbake/

Bakery life, recipes, new bakes and behind-the-scenes updates.

TikTok — @brownbutterbakesleeds:

https://www.tiktok.com/@brownbutterbakesleeds

Baking science, ingredient experiments, baking tips and honest chats about running a home bakery.

YouTube — Brown Butter Bakes

Watch Baking Science Explained, my recipe experiments, Baking Perfect series and longer baking videos.

Podcast — Baking Perfect:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/baking-perfect-a-brown-butter-bakes-podcast/id6820645425

Listen to more episodes covering baking science, food history and starting a home bakery.

⸻

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider following the podcast, leaving a rating or sharing it with another curious baker. It helps more people find our little corner of the baking world.

And if you’ve got a baking science question you’d love me to investigate, come and say hello over on Instagram or TikTok.

Thanks so much for listening, angel.

Love, Ruby x

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Do you need a commercial kitchen to start a home bakery? How much equipment do you actually need? And at what point does your cookie dough take over the entire fridge?

In episode three of our ten part Starting a Home Bakery series, we are looking at whether your kitchen is suitable for running a baking business, from food safety and storage to essential equipment, insurance and permissions.

We’ll also talk about how to work out your production capacity, identify what’s holding you back and avoid spending a small fortune on equipment you might not actually need.

Your task this week: Assess your kitchen, identify what you need before you start trading and put together a realistic start-up budget.

I’ll also point you towards official guidance to help you understand the requirements for running a food business from home in England.

Useful resources:

• Food Standards Agency: https://www.food.gov.uk
• Allergen Training (free): https://allergytraining.food.gov.uk
• Food Hygiene Level 2: (this is who I did mine with but choose whichever you like!) - here
• Register a food business: https://www.gov.uk/food-business-registration
• Running a business from home: https://www.gov.uk/run-business-from-home

Find Brown Butter Bakes:

Website & baking tools: https://www.brownbutterbakes.uk

Instagram: @brownbutterbake

TikTok: @brownbutterbakesleeds

My postal bakes restock every Sunday at 10am!

Thanks so much for listening, angels! Xx