WELCOME TO THE

MODERNIST BREAD SCHOOL

Welcome to the Modernist Bread School—a supportive addition to the release of Modernist Bread at Home! We are thrilled to present you with free bread-making courses delivered straight to your inbox.

Our bread school features a variety of free courses that will take you through a range of topics and top-recommended tips for creating delicious home-baked loaves. These courses are carefully designed to complement our latest cookbook, Modernist Bread at Home, assisting both novice bakers and those looking to refine their skills. Don’t have Modernist Bread at Home yet? No worries. You will still be able to follow along even if you don’t have the book.

HOW IT WORKS

First, choose from our many different classes. You can start from the beginning or skip ahead—it’s up to you!

Upon signing up, you’ll receive one lesson per day throughout the course, typically consisting of five to seven lessons. Each course will include recommended tips and tricks, scientific insights, and discoveries that we made during our extensive bread research. At the same time, courses will also help you navigate and bake through Modernist Bread at Home.

EXPLORE OUR CLASSES

1. Getting Started with Bread Basics
2. Navigating Bread Making from Start to Finish
3. Making Bread with Busy Schedules
4. The Role of Bread Ingredients
5. How to Make Sourdough Starter and Keep It Alive

COURSE 1 | Getting Started with Bread Basics

Course 1: Getting Started with Bread Basics is designed to help you stock up and get ready to make bread. This course focuses on equipping you with the knowledge to prepare both yourself and your kitchen before tackling that first recipe.

Lesson topics include:

• Essential tools for home bakers
• The cast-iron combination cooker
• How to improvise a home proofer with gear you already own
• Stocking your pantry
• And more!

COURSE 2 | Navigating Bread Making from Start to Finish

From mixing to proofing to baking, we’ll break down each step of the baking process, as well as explain the key terminology used in our recipes so that you can bake with confidence and success every time.

Lesson topics include:

• Stages of mixing
• Bulk fermentation basics
• Shaping basics
• Final proofing
• Scoring
• Baking and evaluating doneness

COURSE 3 | Making Bread with Busy Schedules

Baking can pose challenges, especially amid a hectic schedule, unforeseen interruptions, or uncertainty about your recipe’s time commitment. This course addresses the fundamentals of scheduling your bread-making process and provides valuable tips to navigate any challenges that may arise.

Lessons topics include:

• Understanding the steps of your recipe 
• Understanding how environment affects a recipe
• Time-saving techniques for busy home bakers
• Baking interrupted: how to troubleshoot when timing doesn’t go according to plan
• Choosing a recipe

COURSE 4 | The Role of Bread Ingredients

In this module, we delve into the diverse array of ingredients present in bread and explore their pivotal roles in the bread-making process. Grasping the scientific foundations of these essential components not only enhances your comprehension of bread dynamics but also empowers you to refine your recipes and explore innovative approaches.

Lesson topics include:

• The role of flour
• The role of yeast
• The role of water
• The role of salt
• The role of sugar
• And more!

COURSE 5 | How to Make Sourdough Starter and Keep It Alive

Working with a live sourdough starter, or levain, can pose a lot of challenges. We get a lot of questions about caring for a levain, which is why we’re dedicating an entire course to the topic. You’ll discover essential strategies for starting and maintaining your sourdough starter, as well as insights into feeding frequency and quantity considerations.

Lesson topics include:

• The function of a levain
• Starting a levain
• Levain maintenance
• Levain storage
• And more!

Modernist Bread at Home

Ready for more? Learn more about how Modernist Bread at Home can further your bread education.