Winkler Bakery

Yesterday Danny took us to a Moravian bakery in Old Salem, NC. The Winkler Bakery is still in use after 200 years! It was amazing to listen to the Master Baker tell us about how he would make traditional breads, cakes and cookies in this oven in the same fashion that the original family would make them. First he would push stacks of wood into the oven and light the wood to heat the bricks. While the bricks were warming he would prepare his dough. He said he could bake 96 one pound loaves at a time.


As you can see this room was pretty dark and all the baker had was a small lamp to look into the oven to check what he was baking. My assumption to not having lights in the room with the brick oven, is that everything was covered in black soot, the heat, and windows would would affect the temperature of the oven. He didn't have a timer, he just paid very close attention to whatever he was baking. There was no temperature gauge, he could feel that the oven was ready just by holding his arm in front of the opening. The baking time varied with temperature and humidity.


This is the room where the breads, cakes and cookies were prepared. Then they were passed through the window and the baker would place them in the oven.