The bakehouse
One mill, one oven, four bakers on Calder Row
Maltgarth opened in 2016 in a former cooperage with a stone mill, a second-hand deck oven and a sourdough culture brought from the founder’s last kitchen. The same culture raises every loaf today.
Why we mill our own flour
Stone-milled wholegrain flour is alive: it keeps the germ, and the germ keeps its oil and its flavour for days, not months. So we buy grain, not flour, from two farms fourteen miles away, and mill it on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.
It costs us more in time than ordering flour by the pallet. It is also the difference people taste in a Calder Country loaf and cannot quite name.
Read more about the mill
A day at Maltgarth, by the clock
The bakehouse works backwards from the moment the door opens.
-
The first bakers arrive
Loaves come out of the cold room in their baskets. The deck oven has been heating since midnight on a timer.
-
Shaping and scoring
Each loaf is turned out, scored with a razor and loaded on the peel. Baguettes are shaped from the overnight poolish.
-
The last loaf is out
Croissants and buns go in as the bread comes out. The wholesale van leaves with the first crates.
-
The counter opens
Pre-orders are bagged and shelved by the till. A second round of baguettes goes in at ten.
-
Tomorrow starts
Pre-orders close. Tomorrow’s doughs are mixed from what was ordered, plus what we expect to sell.
Twenty-seven layers in three folds
Our croissant dough is folded in thirds three times, with a rest in the fridge between each fold, so one sheet of butter becomes twenty-seven. It takes two days, and it is why the pastry shelf is empty by half ten on Saturday.
Who bakes your bread
-
Hannah Moss
Founder and head baker
Twelve years in restaurant kitchens before she bought a stone mill and a lease on Calder Row.
-
Joe Whitlock
Pastry
Runs the lamination bench and the three-day croissant schedule. Refuses to rush a proof.
-
Sam Achebe
Miller and wholesale
Mills three mornings a week and drives the van. Knows every café’s order by heart.
-
Leah Brennan
The counter
Opens the shop, runs the pre-order shelf and knows which regular wants which loaf.
Come and see the mill
The mill runs Wednesday and Friday mornings while the counter is open. Ask at the till and someone will show you round the back.
