Just walked into a bakery in Denver that had no scales anywhere

I was grabbing a croissant from this place on Colfax called Golden Crust last Tuesday and noticed none of the bakers were weighing anything. They were just scooping flour from bins and dumping it in bowls like it was casual. I asked the owner about it and he said they've been doing it by feel for 15 years and never had a fail big enough to change. I'm all for trusting your instincts but a kitchen scale costs like 20 bucks and could save you from a dough disaster. Has anyone else seen a pro bakery skip weighing stuff and actually pull it off?

2 comments

2 Comments

lilykelly21d ago

Did they tell you what they do when a different baker works a shift? I know multiple pro bakers who say they can eyeball and feel their way through doughs they've made a thousand times, but that whole method falls apart when someone new steps in or someone gets sick. Scaling by feel works great until it doesn't, and then you're stuck with a batch of ruined product that costs way more than the scale would have. I'm genuinely curious if that place only has one baker or if they've trained everyone to the same exact tactile standard. Because if someone else has to cover a shift and doesn't have that 15 years of muscle memory, I can't see how they avoid a mess.

emery_young1321d ago

Hate to hear that, that really stinks. Scaling by feel is just asking for trouble when you're on the hook for a whole business's worth of product. Hope you find a better spot soon.