Redbeard Historic Bakery Bread Baking Workshop
Each comprehensive full-day hands-on workshop covers:
- making your own sourdough leaven to harness the power of complex wild culture fermentation
- kneading, shaping and prooving loaves in tins, cloth and baskets
- a short history of baking and ovens, and how to get the most out of your oven
- using different types of flour and milling your own
- how to recognise well made bread
- cooling and storing bread
Who leads the workshops?
John Reid, founder of RedBeard, with almost three decades of sourdough baking experience leads the workshops.
- The cultural history of real traditional wildferment "sourdough" breads - why they taste so good and are so good for you
- To knead, shape, proof and bake classic "sourdough" loaves
- To make and maintain your own wildferment "sourdough" starter culture (leaven)
- Luscious locally-sourced lunch, bottomless tea/coffee and snacks from our café
- The loaves you shaped and baked, your new leaven, a bag of organic rye flour to feed it, and comprehensive printed notes including bread recipes plus valuable baking tips
- 10% discount off any baking equipment, flour, etc, purchased on the day
- On-going support for your bread-baking journey
- Your enthusiasm and an apron (or consider pre-purchasing a special RedBeard apron for the class to take home)
Comfortable summer wear - the bakery is always warm from the glow of our enormous 19th century wood-fired scotch oven. Closed toe, flat shoes.
Anyone interested in baking - over the age of 16!
Bookings may be refunded or moved to another available date up to two weeks before the date booked. Under two weeks no changes can be made.
Vendor since 2016
We bake handmade, authentic sourdough in a 19th century woodfired scotch oven in Trentham, central Victoria. Cafe, tours and classes.
Our authentic sourdoughs are leavened with a natural, wild culture of yeasts and healthy bacteria. We don’t use bakers’ yeast, preservatives or any other additives.
Our loaves are made with organic flour, shaped by hand and baked in a woodfired oven, built in 1891 - one of only a handful of Scotch ovens still operating in Australia.
‘The best bakery in the world. It’s been a privilege to be inside. This is all about heart, passion and a love for making great bread.’ George Calombaris, MasterChef, 2013
‘I had RedBeard sourdough for breakfast and it was absolutely delicious. RedBeard is doing a wonderful job to promote the resurgence of authentic sourdough and artisan woodfired baking.’ Maggie Beer, legendary cook and restaurateur, 2010
‘It’s relaxed and charming, the location is gorgeous and their bread is fantastic.’ The Age, 2011
Bookings may be refunded or moved to another available date up to two weeks before the date booked.
09 April 2019 • Redbeard Historic Bakery Bread Baking Workshop
What a wonderful day spent in the RedBeard bakery learning the art of sourdough bread making. John and his staff were very welcoming. We learnt about the finer points of sourdough bread making in a very relaxed environment,. All questions were answered and there was lots of opportunities for hands on bread making skills. Loved that we got to bake our own bread in the 125 year old wood fired oven. We enjoyed fabulous tasty food and got to take home lots of our own baked bread. I came away from the workshop very empowered. I can highly recommend this day to anyone interested in bread making. Thank you John.
06 April 2019 • Redbeard Historic Bakery Bread Baking Workshop
My daughter and I attended the workshop together and it was absolutely brilliant. Highly recommended for picking up all the finer details and tips for making sourdough bread. Johns knowledge of the art is extensive, he was a fabulous host and communicator. Thoroughly enjoyed our day!!
09 March 2019 • Redbeard Historic Bakery Bread Baking Workshop
An amazing experience!