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If you are one of those people who used the extra time spent at home becoming a pandemic baker, this is the podcast for you.
Jason Lindsay, our artisan bread program specialist, joins our hosts Chef Lesli Sommerdorf and Brandon Young in the latest episode of our Taste of Harmons Podcast, and he is passionate about bread, including sourdough.
The following video gives you an idea who Jason is and what he believes in, and also a look behind the scenes of our artisan breadmaking program.
Artisan Bread
The word artisan, defined, means a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand. Jason dives deeper into that definition by explaining that an artisan baker is a craftsperson trained to mix, ferment, shape, and bake a handcrafted loaf of bread. And that is exactly what he—and all the artisan bakers that he trains—does every day.
As pandemic bakers learned, making bread is a science, and baking the best bread means knowing all the elements of climate and altitude, along with using the best ingredients (properly measured) and finest pieces of equipment, to insure a wonderful product.
Harmons uses Miwe ovens from Germany, and their importance in our end product is something you will want to hear Jason explain.
Jason hard at work making bread.
A Baker by trade
Jason is a baker by trade and has worked at it for 33 years, including owning his own bakery. He has been with Harmons for 14 years. When he started at Harmons, he knew he had found his home. One of the most important things about the company is “We never stop innovating.”
The bread program was in its infancy when he arrived, and we now make numerous kinds of bread every day, a bread of the day, and seasonal varieties.
One of the questions we often hear is why is our bread crust so dark? Jason explains this in detail (hint: caramelization makes for the best flavor) along with sharing many other fascinating facts about bread. From our “touchiest” bread—brioche—to our classic sourdough, all our breads have their own process and it takes time and expertise to put out the quality artisan breads you’ve come to expect from Harmons.
Take a minute to check out all our artisan breads and try one today. You won’t be sorry.
Jason Lindsay
Jason Lindsay is currently the artisan bread program specialist at Harmons, and has been with the company for 14 years. He trains all the artisan bakers that work for Harmons.
Jason is a baker by trade, and has worked in the industry for 33 years, including time spent running his own bakery.
He is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about bread, and enjoys sharing his skill with others.
If you enjoyed this podcast, you’ll want to listen to our other episodes. You can find them here. Recent episodes include Meet Harmons Cooking School Chef Daniela Oliveira and The ABCs of Bean-to-Bar Chocolate with DeAnn Wallin from Solstice Chocolate.
At Harmons, we’re lucky to have incredibly talented artists at each store, and we’re sure you’ve seen their amazing chalk art as you wander throughout every location. We’re excited to be able to feature some of their work as the featured art on our podcast blog. This art is the work of Suzanne Morris, the artist at our District location.