Searching for Artisanal Bread in the US

[@lwilton]

When I was a kid in the 1950s there were corner bakeries everywhere. That was where you went to get good bread or a custom-made birthday cale, not the supermarket with its row of dreadful Wonder Bread bags. The local bakery baked it fresh that morning, you picked a loaf out of the display case, and if you asked, they would run it thru the bread slicing machine before putting it in the ubiquitous white paper bread bag. You took it home, had wonderful bread that day, acceptable bread the next day, and truly awful bread the third day if you didn't go back for a new loaf by then. Which of course most people did. There's a reason the term "day old bread" exists. It wasn't nearly as good as fresh bread. By the early 60s the corner bakeries (which were never on the corner, that land cost too much; they were in the middle of the block) had started to disappear. By the end of the decade, they were pretty much gone.

[@wayneyeo186]

There is nothing like Artisanal bread. I cut my rounds into quarters, and freeze 3 of them. Then it is bakery fresh every time I pull one. The little piece on the end, that is my pre-bedtime snack ! Absolutely delightful !

[@coreyholt8522]

Also, try making your own! It’s a fun and tasty skill to learn.

[@bhagmeister]

Artisanal? Damn I’d be happy for something just had a crust here in California and didn’t cost $25.

[@etherdog]

Terrific video, Cassidy! Since we don't have artisanal bakeries in our town, I've had to learn to make our own. We even found a local stone ground mill to get heirloom grains.

[@cassidyschnell9836]

@@etherdog wow that’s amazing, I’m impressed!!! Thanks for sharing! 😁

[@atyem9995]

Haha how do u have a local stone ground mill but not a bakery? 😂

[@jennadabomb]

This is such a fun idea for a video and done so well! Love how you tied in sustainability!!

[@donross7820]

Makiing your own sourdough bread is SO much fun and you would not believe how delicious my Country Sourdough Seed Bread is! I learned how from the Chris Robertson book Tartine Bread Book.

[@Chris-ut6eq]

Artisanal bread purchase assumes you have the excess cash left over from housing, auto, insurance (looking at you health care) to donate to the local bakery. If you don't have excess money, you bake at home, 10.00 bread costs much less at home but you have to spend time. This is a video for the upper 20%, especially the upper 5% to 1%. Flour, water, yeast salt cost much less per loaf, but you need knowledge and experience to bake yourself. You can make and freeze bread for the whole week+ if you spend time on your day off, assuming you have one of those.

[@festerofest4374]

This is so true. Everyone has been suffering under 'Bidenomics.' Well, maybe not the windmill scammers, but nearly everyone else.

[@awibs57]

Instead of aiming your rage at the video producer, aim it where it belongs: at the US government. That is what has caused your financial situation AND your food situation to be the way it is. The French government both protects worker rights and wages AND stabilizes the price of bread + mandates the definition of it to be real, not the nasty HFCS cake-loaf stuff the US does with corn subsidies. That proves that government policy makes it perfectly possible for 100% of people to eat real food. (96% of french eat a whole baguette per day, for the other 4% it's preference, allergies, or less than a whole loaf, not poverty preventing them access to real food.) This video is quite specifically for people like you, so you can realize how much you're being effed over by the government, know that it's not normal or okay for you to be forced to accept Wonderbread as 'normal', and rise up against the people effing you over. The top 20%, 5%, 1% already have access to real food. The bottom 80% needs to know they're deliberately being sickened by agro-lobbies and congressional greed and rebel against the bs being foisted upon them. You DESERVE fair wages and you DESERVE real food.

[@Chris-ut6eq]

@@awibs57 There was no rage, but my original point still stands. Artisanal bread is sold as a super-premium product at high prices(in the USA) and is marketed to people with enough excess cash they can spend 2x-5x the cost of commercial bread. Many people, including myself, were never taught how simple it can be to bake bread. A good loaf of homemade bread can be made for 0.50-1.00 per loaf, but will have a short shelf-life outside the freezer. As for the US government, well HFCS (corn), beef and many farm subsidies contribute to health problems in the population plus the nutrition RDA is as much a political statement as anything based on actual data. PS. As Reunion bread is specifically mentioned a number of times, this piece felt a bit like an infomercial cloaked as educational cheer-leading. Totally agree that fresh baked bread with the simplest of ingredients is better than anything at a grocery store.

[@LemSportsinterviews]

i face the dread and disgust of limp, sugary, milquetoast bread every day. thank you for validating my feelings. i feel heard.

[@TheBradyrulez]

If there was one export I think should be seen more abroad, it's true southern homestyle cornbread. I know the historical reasons that the old world typically isn't big fans of corn over wheat or rice, but that smell of fresh cornbread flooding the kitchen after you open the oven is what I like to imagine heaven smells like.

[@alinabauer4207]

As a baker in training in germany, issue with more chainbakeries and bread in stores is present here as well. But the artisinal way is the best, no matter how stressful it is, good bread is always worth it. I hope oneday america will realise the beauty of rye and spekt bread as well ❤

[@megamcee]

I've followed Proof Bread for several years on YT now. They've grown from a tiny startup from a garage into a million+ multi-location business.

[@isaacbravo3436]

Great watch, as a Pastry Chef its incredible to see such an important topic being covered!

[@nicholaskudlapur1912]

really wish European style bakery shops were the norm in the US :’(

[@DanielWSonntag]

I remember growing up thinking bread was gross. Even when we made it ourselves. Years later i learned how to make better bread. Tonight i even threw together a focaccia

[@awibs57]

How do you have so few subscribers?? This is top production quality compared to so many other small channels that get recommended to me. Excellent narration, good pacing, good script, good choice of background music, everything. Really well constructed.

[@gregbolls7815]

I make my bread fresh weekly. And bake in cast iron duch oven

[@MadMFox]

Great info video!! I learned to make sandwich bread a couple of years ago to get away from industrial bread. It's so much better. And Just 6 months ago I learned to make sourdough bread. It's delish!!

[@gloriahavland9844]

Sometimes fresh bread isn't even available in bakeries. I found out this bakery near me actually buys their bread from a wholesale supplier, unfortunately the next closest bakery is 30 minutes away and it's just not doable to drive 1 hour each day for bread

[@Cherb123456]

Thank you!

[@dafttassia1960]

This video is worth a sub

[@thebigmon]

When I first visited France years ago I was shocked at how much bread they eat.

[@mariamanson4998]

you could go to 5 or 6 stores, or just 1.

[@hhansanfranz]

I don’t need friends, they disappoint me

[@kbrdft]

Fun fact: younger French are favoring softer loaves these days, and the older bakers are warning of the death of the baguette.

[@cassidyschnell9836]

Interesting!! Though, I hope I'm dead before the baguette dies lol.

[@Sacto1654]

They'll probably figure out a softer baguette sooner or later.

[@simbadlemarin1815]

Pain de mie is nothing new, I wouldn't be too worried.

[@etownrule]

A traditional baguette in France still costs 1,2 eur today. 10usd is steep for a daily commodity.

[@cassidyschnell9836]

@@etownrule so true, I hope that eventually if demand keeps increasing that the price may eventually drop but I think a lot more people will need to switch to the bakery grind

[@pde442]

Awesome video and I couldn’t agree more! Would love to have Japanese style bakeries popping up across US.😊

[@pesk7028]

Look up 85° bakery

[@cortappel6951]

​@pesk7028 85° bakery is the absolute best. Their stuff is like crack.

[@matthewjamesduffy]

Great video, thanks for shaing 🍞❤

[@nagatoroenjoyer]

cool video. one question though: isn't crop rotation practiced by everybody? i see even larger farmers switch from wheat to corn to something else year after year

[@cassidyschnell9836]

@@nagatoroenjoyer hey! Good point!! You’re correct in that many farms do practice crop rotation. With regenerative agriculture, it’s more of an emphasis with growing a polyculture system instead of monoculture. So in the video when I said crop rotation, I was thinking along the lines of rotating a biodiversity of crops planted at the same time in the same fields, instead of only switching out the crop every other season/year (like only corn in 2023, only soybeans in 2024, etc). Thanks for pointing this out though, I can see where my original explanation could be improved upon! :)

[@kumatmebro315]

wow you truly searched all over the denver metro area

[@Matando]

Ah yes, the two near impossible things to get in the US. Good bread and Kei trucks, hehe

[@johnmcglynn4102]

Come visit San Francisco for the bread - for the trucks, you are on your own.....

[@icanthackit11]

Great video Cass :) Found it while looking for good bread recipes! :D

[@prabhdeepdhahan1147]

I like Dave's Killer Bread. I don't care if its mass produced.

[@leechowning2712]

"Why is X filled with additives, sugars and preservatives?"... When you find this question in the US, the answer almost always starts with the wars. Unlike Europe, where "wartime" additions were dropped shortly after the wars, the food culture of the US absorbed these additions and over time normalized them. Everything from the laws requiring milk to be pasturized, to the washing of eggs, and the massive addition of fats, salts and sugars to almost every product Americans eat... it all dates back to making food "safer and shelf stable". Read the 1918 "Foods that will win the war", and every suggestion, from corn syrup rather than sugar, using vegetable oils rather than butter, and even the fact that most lower income families live on ground beef and canned corn, peas and beans, rather than fresh veggies and low cost meats like fish. The cost of fresh breads includes one other thing I did not see here, and I can understand why... it is a business cost, not a social cost. Fresh bread, even with preservatives, will just not last as well. It cannot, in fact. Without taking an extended tour, following the "sandwich bread" as the rest of the world knows it, you simply cannot compare. A homestyle loaf cannot be made on an industrial scale. It will not work the same. It cannot be transported the same... its shelf life is days, not weeks, it is fragile and hard to pack... so it must be made in your town in small batches by a person you can get to know, rather than the massive machines with less than a dozen workers, that could be as much as a week old before your store put it on the shelf.

[@VinegarAndSaltedFries]

Wonderful Video. I make my own sourdough which I feed twice daily to maintain consistency. It’s actually absurd but I think it’s worth it. Even bought a Miele Combi-Steam oven. I like ancient grains.

[@cassidyschnell9836]

@@VinegarAndSaltedFries that’s awesome! I would love to get my own starter and try too :) thanks for sharing!

[@o_-_o]

I am looking at these artisanal bread, but not getting what is artisanal about them, I see only plain bread from convenience store.

[@cindyglass5827]

Great Video ! I have subbed & I love Bread ! (esp. Olde World Breads) Began making my Own about 5 years ago ''but'' when Hubby & I see an Artisanal Bakery when were out & about - we will also get a Loaf of theirs, to Support them : ) TFS !!

[@jaredspencer3304]

I think your explanation of the cost of artisanal bread is exactly the reason why it’s not more popular: because it’s not just bread, it’s a social statement, and a commitment to the environment, and advocating for social justice, etc. Most people just want bread. The reason 95% of French people eat a baguette every day is because they’re cheap and ubiquitous. French communists and French royalists all eat baguettes; they don’t have to commit to a social cause to eat their food.

[@mabamabam]

This video made me dislike bread. And I work in a bakery. Youll make a little money selling expensive political statements. You make more just selling good bread.

[@rainermist2357]

Wtf, it's literally just a proper loaf of bread. US Americans must be really used to their styrofoam bread if you interpret a social statement into this.

[@endergrief2814]

As a German I feel happy America gets to experience the beauty of different bread dishes and new innovations coming along. We have a huge variation of bread and what is commonly sold in America is usually just toast isn't it

[@cassidyschnell9836]

@@endergrief2814 fresh cafe Brötchen are my favorite! My German host mom used to walk down the street to get fresh rolls and croissants every morning at 5AM for breakfast, and it was amazing 😋

[@Chris-ut6eq]

Super dense German breads are some of my favorites. I've not yet learned how to make them.

[@kumatmebro315]

we have always had bread like this

[@w8te309]

This is underrated 😄👍

[@raystella3020]

This video missed I think the biggest difference between artisanal and supermarket 'sourdough'. Supermarket sourdough is not really sourdough at all, it is yeasted bread often with acid added (amongst other additives) to give a sour flavour. Artisanal/real sourdough is naturally leavened with a starter culture of wild yeasts and bacteria. This generally requires a much longer fermentation which brings a lot of benefits to flavour, digestibility and nutrition. 🙂

[@raystella3020]

If in doubt, read the ingredients, and be suspicious of anything other than water, flour, salt, and sourdough culture written on the back of your sourdough loaf (including 'yeast')

[@carinaelliott9020]

How do you only have 36 subscribers? The quality on this is insane!

[@cassidyschnell9836]

@@carinaelliott9020 aw thank you!! Your comment made my day! 😊

[@hhansanfranz]

Great video! Although the added sound effects are a bit too loud and it’s distracting. I want to hear your voice without having to fully focus

[@cassidyschnell9836]

@@hhansanfranz thank you for the thoughtful feedback :)

[@TheKhopesh]

At the end of the day, anyone making less than $85k/yr in the US is literally surviving off sl@ve wages. No, really, someone did the math factoring in housing costs, family needs, food, clothing, etc. An Egyptian sl@ve from 3500BC made the equivalent of 83-87k USD as of 2022. I don't make but a quarter of that, and a single loaf of cheap crap at Walmart costs almost $6 after tax. Artisanal breads here START at $15 a loaf (averaging about $22.60 in my town), and go bad in a day or two TOPS. At the end of the day, there's ZERO point to buying them for most of us, because we can't afford to be literally throwing out what meager supplies we're afforded so billionaires and mega corps can line their pockets with even more money than they can hope to spend in a lifetime and one-up each other with the 0's in their bank accounts while they dodge 99-100% of paying their fair share in taxes. The money just goes back to them anyway when you buy bread from a hipster running a multi-million dollar a year business who acts like they're not part of the problem too, meanwhile buying a zillion overpriced Apple products like a $999 plastic stand or an expensive smart watch that costs more than my car.

[@Ic30s]

Great job keep doing it

[@189643478]

$10 for a bread is ridiculous even by Monegasque standards.

[@SteveMaGuff]

Lets hope when she is talking about artisan the word means not using highly process bleached white flour with zero nutrients. It's very hard to find fresh loafs of quality bread in California that is not using highly processed flour. Let's see some soft wheat European flour being used.

[@fistsup5700]

This is why i began making my own bread. Some "breads" include the same ingredient used to make yoga mats springy. Yup. And no, Whole Foods bread is not any better...read the ingredients. Find a real bakery, buy bread baked that morning. Will change your life. When you travel, learn about that country's bread culture. You'd be amazed. Even Japan has a strong sourdough community. With some really great bread.

[@Kate-qq3ez]

Bread in Japan is quite recent, nothing as traditional but a most of the Japanese baker went to Europe for training and as they are very concerned they produce great real breads, and can also made these breads to the taste of Japanese people.

[@tiagopereira7499]

Pastel de Nata ❤

[@theboringchannel2027]

Europeans/Asians often shop daily. Americans often shop weekly. Why the different types of bread. Shelf life is more important that taste and quality. Applies to vegetables as well.

[@cassidyschnell9836]

Yes! Thanks for bringing up that great point! The fact that Americans tend to value convenience over quality (in many different aspects of life) is another huge contributing factor as to why the quality of bread is so different here. I hope this video shows people that it is worth driving a little out of the way for it if they give good quality bread a shot :)

[@tinyfishhobby3138]

I mean, if I had a local artisanal bakery within easy traveling distance of my home, I’d probably be much more likely to get some fresh bread every couple days.

[@Sacto1654]

I still wonder, though, why somebody hasn't figured out how to do an artisanal bread that can last up to a week in room temperature. All right, all you food scientists out there!

[@theboringchannel2027]

@@Sacto1654artisanal = traditional methods, not scientific methods,

[@etownrule]

In Belgium, I can still walk 500m to my local bakery for daily bread. I don't see how the USA can move away from its car centric design any time soon.

[@Burning_Dwarf]

Damn how are the views so low

[@scottmcshannon6821]

bread is bought for children and they will only eat very very soft white bread. i love good bread, BUT im not going to pay 10 bucks for a 4 dollar loaf. i love bread with a crust, BUT the french baguette is crust only.

[@johnmcglynn4102]

There are and were lots of places in the US where artisanal baking never died out - New York and San Francisco for only a couple of examples. And there have always been people who will take the trouble to shop there because - it's good. So please don't depict the US as a bread desert where artisanal bread died out - it didn't, and never has, and is now bigger and better than ever.

[@gloriahavland9844]

The US is more than New York and San Francisco

[@fireyams3460]

It's pretty intellectually dishonest to be talking about the bakery sections of supermarkets and the bread made there and then making the leap of showing articles about the bread from Subway, a place which notably is a fast food chain and NOT a grocery store bakery. I understand the desire to get across the difference and encourage people to have better choices in bread consumption but conflating two fundamentally different things to imply that bread from a Kroger bakery or whatever is "fake" is shady rhetoric. Really disappointed in that aspect of what otherwise is a nice piece shining a light on local artisanal bakeries.

[@landoragan4894]

Never understood the practicality of a baguette. Doesn’t toast worth a damn and makes a lousy sandwich. It seems only good for dipping into soup. What are the bloody French doing with these things anyway, just taking bites out of them, eating them plain as they are. Confused.....

[@bleachguy64]

Bro shut up. You're not going to convince me to spend $10 on a thing of sourdough.

[@fakiirification]

you dont even have to ask. its capitalism. if a machine can churn it out by the millions while allowing you to lay off most of your skilled workers, OF COURSE thats the american thing to do!

[@ingmarbeldman]

what a bullshit argument as to the ridiculous price of just....food. I buy my organic loaf for just less then half that price. social...? community....? just a rich-lefty bubble.

[@jhchooo]

Bread sucks in the United States. There is no artisan culture here. Skills like baking must be passed down through apprenticeship and be learnt through doing. Here some dude reads a book or watches a video and learns how to make bread. There may be a few that actually make good bread but there are few that actually do it well.

[@johnmcglynn4102]

Come visit San Francisco.

[@jhchooo]

@@johnmcglynn4102SF has good bakeries but any little town in France or Germany has bread that is just as good.

[@cdb5961]

Its common to make bread at home. If you dont you are just lazy.

[@dikxiking1626]

Subbing, im looking forward to your growth. Hope you make 1h long vids

[@The_Invisible_Hand_Of_CV]

It is easier to find radioacive elements in the soil than it is to find even 1/2 decent bread in all of Eastern Tennessee. This place is a epic shit-hole.

[@marinafella5075]

This is awesome! Shop local 🫶🏼