*** Next events:  "Show-and-Tell" on Sunday, March 11. March's focus is Decorative Dough & Pate Morte. 

 "Taste-and-Smell" on Sunday, April 1. April's focus is Soughdough. A special guest will bring yeast cultures for us to look at and sniff.

 Please join the group for event details and to RSVP.

Who are Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers?

We are avid home bakers of yeasted, artisanal breads. Each month, we come together in-person to share our bread-baking experiences and learn from one another. All levels are encouraged--from those who have just begun bread baking, to those with years of experience.

Begun in January 2011, Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers is a grassroots non-profit that strives to support and inspire those actively baking bread at home.

Follow us on Twitter: @AmateurBakers

Recaps, recipes, and news on our blog: www.amateurbakers.org

What do we do?

Each month we hold one or more "Taste-and-Tell" events. To the "Taste-and-Tell," each baker is required to bring his/her own freshly baked, yeasted bread. Bread in this context includes baguettes, boules, batards, pizza, focaccia, rolls, challah--in short, anything made by fermenting grain with yeast. We sample each bread, ask questions, and learn. Bread "failures" are encouraged; they are often the best teachers.

The goal of our events is to encourage our bakers to bake bread regularly at home, and to share their experiences with other home bakers. There's nothing quite like getting together with other like-minded folk. The benefits come bit by bit, as one develops the experience to better predict bread-baking outcomes, and the skills to bring into being the bread in one's mind's eye. Over time, one's baking improves by leaps and bounds.

What may I learn?

Each month we introduce a focus topic related to baking bread with yeast. By "yeast" we refer to both wild yeast (present on the surface of grain and often cultivated as sourdough) and commercial yeast (e.g., the active dry yeast available at supermarkets, and the instant yeast often used by professional bakers). 

These focus topics are chosen to challenge and inspire our bakers, to deepen their knowledge and experience of working with yeasted dough. Recent focus topics:

      Soakers for Multigrain Breads

      A Bread You've Never Baked Before

      Holiday Breads

      Using as Little Yeast as Necessary

      Breads That Don't Need Slicing

      Something Sweet + Yeast Swap

      Cold Fermentation

      Basic Shaping 

      Basic Scoring

Baking to a given focus topic is not requirement, rather a suggestion to inspire one's baking. The only requirement to attend an event is bring one's home-baked yeasted bread.

We have relationships with a small, local farm, from whom we may purchase wheat berries; and a small, local mill, from whom we may purchase flours and meals milled from locally-grown, organic grains. We encourage our bakers to incorporate fresh, locally grown ingredients into their breads whenever possible. And we seek to increase our access to, and knowledge and appreciation of, ingredients that go into making delicious, nutritious bread.

How experienced are our bakers?

Our bakers range widely in experience, from newbies who have recently baked their first loaves, to veterans who have been baking for decades. We are continually impressed by how thoughtful, patient, polite, curious, respectful, encouraging, pedagogic, and rigorous our bakers are. All of our bakers have curiosity and interest for developing their bread baking skills, and a desire to share what they learn with others.

How can I get started baking bread?

If you are just getting started bread baking, you may find helpful these Words of Encouragement for New Bread Bakers. You may also find much to inspire you at www.thefreshloaf.com, an active, online, social network of amateur bakers.

Why is our group private?

Our group is private so our members may have a safe place, out of the public eye, to learn and grow in their bread-baking skills. 

Is there a cost to participate?

Our events are free or very low cost, e.g., the price of a cup of coffee. We are grateful to our generous sponsors, who make this possible.

Group Rules

1. To attend an event, a baker must bring his/her freshly baked, yeasted bread to share with the group.
2. For events at which the number of attendees is capped, the organizer addresses no-shows: A baker who RSVPs "yes" to such an event--and then neither attends nor communicates his/her absence--will be temporarily removed from the group.

Not in Chicago?

If you are in another city and would like to observe our group--perhaps you are thinking of starting your own bread group?--please click "Join Us!" and tell us about yourself. Welcome!

Some of our favorite online resources from the wide world of bread:

     The Fresh Loaf

     The King Arthur Flour Blog

     YeastSpotting

     Bread Experience

     Breadtopia

Some of our favorite bread books:

    Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread

    Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice

    Emily Buehler's Bread Science

Other bread groups around the world of which we are aware. If you know of another, please let us know!:

     Bread Making Club  (Cotteridge, Birmingham, UK)

     Hudson Valley Baking Society (Hudson Valley area, NY, USA)

     Kansas City Area/The Fresh Loaf Meet Up (Kansas City, MO, USA)

     Saint Paul Bread Club (Saint Paul, MN, USA)

     Tacoma Bread Club (Tacoma, WA, USA)

Our generous sponsors:

     Andersonville Chamber of Commerce

     Hamburger Mary's

     Floriole Cafe and Bakery

     Gold'N Pear Catering

     Las Manos Gallery

     LillStreet Art Center Textiles Department

     Urban Orchard

     Winston's Internet Cafe (A former sponsor, Winston's sadly closed in summer 2011.)

Questions?

Please email: jacqueline [at] amateurbakers [dot] org.

Education:

If your school or community center would like our bakers to give a workshop free of charge, please email: education [at] amateurbakers [dot] org.

Press and Publicity:

For media inquiries, or to request our press packet, please email: press [at] amateurbakers [dot] org.

© 2011-2012 Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers

The materials on this website may be freely copied and distributed so long as our copyright notice (© 2011 Chicago Amateur Bread Bakers) and website address (http://www.meetup.com/Chicago-Amateur-Bread-Bakers) are included.

--Updated February 20, 2012--