Pakpao Nano Bakery Part 3— Baker’s Table
In Part 1 of this series, I described how I came to build out a nano bakery, and in Part 2, the acquistion and installation of the oven. In this part, I want to talk about work spaces and surfaces.
Most of the time during the baking process, you’re stationed in front of a table of some sort — referred to as “the bench”. Rolling, slap and folding, pre-shaping, weighing, crying.
When making sourdough, learning to handle the dough is a bit of a learning curve especially as the hydration percentage increases. My first baguettes stuck to my hands, the table, my hair. It was awful.
Your “bench” can help you a lot or also hinder you depending on the surface type. You want a balance of friction so that you can create a taught skin as you’re shaping but also not any sharp/ragged edges as to rip your dough. Temperature control is of vital importance as well (try making viennoiserie on a hot table — butter everywhere). Finally, if you’re spending your days at this bench, you want it to be ergonomic. I had spent the first 3 years baking at my kitchen countertops, which I’ve mentioned were at a ridiculous 38" tall, forcing me onto a step stool. The cold granite also cooled my dough significantly during pre-shape and shaping.
Again — being in a condo, we had some limited space options, and I wanted a large enough surface to be able to handle up to 10 loaves at a time. I was able to hide the oven in the pantry/laundry room area, so it didn’t impact the livability of the condo too much. But a baker’s table was going to completely change the layout of how we lived in our home. Andrew and I decided to take over the dining “room” with the baker’s table (the Peloton had already moved into the space during the pandemic anyway).
So, I wanted a baker’s table and we found space for it. My bench would be one where I could have the legs cut to a final height of 32", and I wanted a butcher block top. I bought this Boos table off Amazon (30"x60"), and my friend Calder (from my Blokable startup days) helped me with some metal work in his shop:
And final assembly:
The bullet feet were going to be a problem (I didn’t think my downstairs neighbors or my floors would be too happy with “slap and fold”), so I also purchased some Anti-Vibration, Anti-Walking pads that normally go under washing machines for the table. Worked like a charm.
I put a layer of oil on it and thought it was ready to go. Unfortunately, the dough caught all over it, and pre-shaping and shaping were a mess for a bit, not to mention the cleanup. It would take over 20 minutes of bench scraping with a metal scraper to get all the dough off of it. I was pretty frustrated, so I asked for help. I went onto The Perfect Loaf’s discord server (amazing group of humans, led by Maurizio Leo), who told me to sand it down, patch any splinters, and oil the CRAP out of it.
So I did. I went down to 120 grit and worked my way up to 320 grit (I filled a couple of gouges along the way with Titebond Ultimate Wood Glue), and then oiled the heck out of it. I used 1/2 bottle of Boos Mystery Oil and then topped off with a layer of Boos Cream. I haven’t done any form of woodworking since college (my senior design project team created a solar powered boat, and I spent the majority of Spring ’01 sanding and applying fiberglass to a hull).
Happily, the table is in much better shape. There’s still one plank that is problematic (it doesn’t absorb oil well and has the splinters), so hopefully it doesn’t fall apart any more. Calder seems excited to router it out and replace it with a new plank, but I am less keen to do invasive surgery on it.
I’ve been oiling the table between bakes, and I also learned that a better way to clean off the dried on dough is to spray it down with a bottle of water and rub it lightly with your fingers (vs bench scraping it dry with a metal scraper). This helps the longevity of the oil-based waterproofing layer, which is the important component of preventing sticking.
So what’s next? Manually “slapping and folding” 4000g of dough is about all I can handle (although I am pleased that my Apple Watch gives me Workout ring credit for dough handling), so scaling up requires a mixer! More next time…
