Melbourne "Bread Top"

Below are some pictures of an Asian Bakery Franchise. Asian yeasted is very white, soft and sweet, but everything looks really tasty. The system in the shop is that you tour around the products, choosing what you desire and placing the pastries with tongs on a tray. You then pay for your products at the check-out.Of particlar note at Bread Top was their Bamboo Charcoal bread, I have never seen a baked product so black before, (except the odd product left in the oven overnight!).

It was actually quite delicious....but then again I like burnt toast!

Bamboo Charcoal Bread

Shepparton, Victoria

I was hosted by Stephen Pinnuck, a fellow instructor who had been on a similar trip as mine and had been hosted by us at VIU. I was inducted in the ways of rural Northern Victoria and the Murray River. The TAFE, Golbourne Ovens has a wonderful teaching spacious bakery kitchen. A joy to work in.

Shepparton is a town of 60,000 nestled in fruit growing country. There is a big SPC Ardmona canning plant here. We have all bought their canned goods in Canada.

One of my biggest impressions of the bakeries that we visited, is that there is a quintessential Australian Bakery. They have a national identity and do not stray far from the parameters that the discerning Australian customer has demanded over the years...a good meat pie, a scroll,a vanilla slice, lammington, a filled sandwich. Comforting, and a proven system that any successful town baker subscribes to.

And thank you, Stephen, for showing me the storied Murry River.

Melbourne/William Angliss College

I wasn't going to post anything about William Angliss...they have far to many toys! I am just kidding, although I would be lying to say I wasn't jealous!

Fellow instructor Brendan Carter showed me around over 2 very interesting mornings.

William Angliss is a hospitality college, which was started by Sir William Angliss, a successful butcher, who endowed it to encourage training in the meat cutting trade.

Below are some images of the college.

Ken, the conch machine was locked up , sorry...no image...

Brendan's Pastry Class, Yeasted Bread section.

Day 1 Learning to sharpen knives, culinary section

Store Front Kitchen one of 10 or more at the college

Somalier Course

An Exstensergraph machine for measuring extensiblity properties of flour

A Farinograph for measuring strength of flour

One of the many culinary teaching kitchens.

$5.00 for the winner of the correct guess.......Ken?

Chocolate Tempering machine at head of enrober and tunnel.

Pastry class working on center pieces.

Culinary Kitchen

Culinary Kitchen

Reconstructed Facing of one of the old Wood fired teaching ovens. These were last used in the 50's

Inside the wood/gas-fire brick oven

Wood/Gas Fired Brick oven.

Moulding and rounding equipment.

Fully Automatic bun divider rounder.

Chorleywood dough mixer. mixes a dough under vacuum in about 2-3 minutes. One of the major contributors to undigestable bread ever invented...trust the Brits!

Gentle 2 arm mixer, too bad these have become archaic, they are so gentle on the dough.

Brendan's teaching bakery

Sigh....a tandoori oven!

Deck oven and instructors' area.

More ovens.

Pastry Class.

Melbourne/ Natural Tucker

This is the site of an original wood fired brick oven, which unfortunately has now fallen into disrepair.. It was originally renovated by the ubiquitous John Downes, hence the name it bears. Still producing wonderful sourdough breads from a starter as stiff as my Grandma's knee.