"Man, that's a lot of bread..."

This was Chef Aaron Brown's comment during last night's evaluation on the second day of the CIA's The Art and Science of Artisan Bread Baking course, in session this week in St. Helena, California.

Although there are no visuals this time around (no cellphones in the test kitchen, please...), there was a seven-shelf, steel rolling Metro shelving unit (6 feet tall, 10 feet long) that had every shelf filled with ciabatta, pugliese, boule, and baguette. The 100+ loaf baking frenzy started at about 4pm and ended three and a half hours later, each loaf crackling as it hit the 72° kitchen air.

It was a day of experimentation with what is known as "baker's percentage" and varying hydrations for starters. If you haven't already caught on, this is the "science" part of bread baking.

The "art" is how and what you use for flour (of the myriad of varieties), what your dough looks and feels like when you "fold" it and when it is "proofing", how you shape it, and how you bake it off. It all adds up to one heck of a lot of bread.