On Building a Nano Bakery — Proof Positive of Life in the Neutral Zone
Like many others during the pandemic, I discovered sourdough baking as a way to pass the time as well as to connect with others in a time of social bubbles and isolation. I live in a condo building, and I would deliver loaves of bread to neighbors in the depths of the Seattle winter, when it wasn’t easy or comfortable to meet people outside and when we thought it may not be safe to even be outside with others. Plenty of writers have covered this in depth, and I don’t need to wax poetic about how long-fermented grains are good for gut health, etc etc. My “origin story” is not so different from the other bakers.
Where my story perhaps differs is that after decades of investing in my career, I recently found myself “job-free” and with time and quiet to focus on whatever I wanted. While I coined it “funemployment” as I put on a good face for friends and family, internally, I was in turmoil.
I am fortunate enough to have had an executive coach since 2012 — she is now someone I call a friend as well as a coach, and as she saw my spiraling, she gave me Transitions by William Bridges and introduced me to the concept of the Neutral Zone — “a gap in the continuity of existence.” I wanted out; I wanted my new beginning. But I also recognized how that urgency and impatience had led to some choices in my life — ignoring key red flags — that weren’t ideal.
So the last 6 months, I’ve been in my Neutral Zone (also trying my best to write my Daily Pages from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron given to me by my lovely sister-in-law Chelsey) to figure out who I want to be once my time on the sidelines is over. I’ve been listening to my gut and not pursuing roles that aren’t a good “next step” for me. And I’m being patient as I look for what’s next — patiently uncomfortable in the Neutral Zone. And while I am here, I want to focus my creative energies on bringing more joy to my friends and neighbors through sourdough bread.
Building something for joy, watching a community of people pitch in to help, learning and being hands-on creating something has brought some comfort while I spend some time investing in myself and exploring who I am and what I want in life.
Baking School
I found myself with time in early September, and luck would have it that King Arthur Baking School (in Burlington, WA — just 1 hour north of where I am in Seattle) had a 3 day sourdough baking intensive class. My husband Andrew was so supportive of my going up there and staying two nights in La Conner and immersing myself in my baking hobby while my head was still spinning from career changes. Meeting other bakers — accomplished leaders, engineers, accountants, lawyers — as we learned the intricacies of working with alternative grains like spelt and rye, meeting with WSU BreadLab leaders, baking with grains bred by the WSU grad students, it was a balm for my soul. A reminder that it’s a big wide world out there.
Giving away the 16+ loaves I created in class was such a joy, and seeing how it’s only incremental more work to bake at scale got me excited about scaling up. So in between travel and violin playing, I got serious about putting together a set up that would let me create 8–10 loaves at a time.
At the time, I had a pretty decent set up to create 2 loaves at a time. I would hand-mix ~1800–2000 g of dough, ferment in my Brod & Taylor proofing box, shape, and then bake in my Challenger Pans. I have a 36" wide Wolf oven, so could easily fit 2 Challenger Pans side by side. I’d have one loaf for my family and one to give away. But if I wanted to do 4 loaves, it would take over 2 hours to bake, not to mention some of the ergonomic challenges of hoisting 20 lbs of cast iron at a blazing 550F.
Additionally, my kitchen countertops were built to a ridiculous 38" height, which meant that I would have to stand on a stool for key parts of the bread making process. Not ideal.
So I wanted to scale up and improve the ergonomics of my hobby. Thus the idea of Pakpao Nano Bakery was born. I’ll be diving into each step of creating the nano bakery, and what I’ve learned in each stage in this series of Medium posts including some failures and setbacks.
While I started this project as a way to pass the time in the Neutral Zone, what I’ve gained through the process is a reminder of how fortunate I am to have a community of humans around me who are generous, talented, and caring. So many people have listened to the trials and tribulations of my baking learnings, have been taste testers, and have stepped in to help with their specialties and trades as well. I am filled with gratitude and love for the people around me and the continuous reminder that it’s a big wide world out there. Till next time!
