Hambleton Bakery
The Bakery
Hambleton bakery was formed as a partnership between Julian and Tim to make top quality bread for the existing restaurants. The success of the product led to the opening of six shops and more than 150 wholesale accounts. The product range was gradually expanded to include cakes and savouries which share our bread philosophy. The best ingredients, no additives and traditional recipes.
Traditional Breadmaking
Hambleton Bakery use stoneground flour wherever possible to retain the vitamins and minerals contained in the germ. Many of our loaves use sourdough culture (developed from wild yeast) for a longer and slower fermentation and where we do use Bakers’ yeast, long fermentations are still employed. The sourdough system starts by allowing a flour and water mix to ferment naturally. The beer barm method, popular in England, captures some yeasts from the brewing process to make a ‘starter’. In both systems the yeast is relatively weak and used in small doses in conjunction with long fermentation periods up to 24 hours. Long fermentations, and stoneground flour underpin the flavour and nutritious quality of our breads
Keeping Bread Traditional
Hambleton Bakery’s bread is completely free of additives of any kind – no preservatives, no enzymes, no enhancers so how well does it keep without them?
Luckily, slow fermentation encourages the development of lactobacilli in the dough which create lactic acid, responsible for the slightly sour taste of sourdough bread. Lactic acid naturally inhibits the growth of mould therefore we expect our breads to last up to a week before signs of mould growth occur.
Bread should not be kept in a refrigerator which has a drying effect so is best kept in a bread bin at ambient temperatures. Staling is the process by which starch in the bread gradually hardens and it can be reversed by warming bread in the oven or toasting. Refreshing bread this way means you can enjoy your loaf over a number of days if you haven’t already eaten it!
“I STILL WANTED TO BE A BRITISH BAKER AND MAKE BRITISH PRODUCTS, BUT I WANTED TO MODERNISE THE WAY WE DO IT.”
“EMPLOYING ARTISAN BAKERS, SKILLED CHEFS AND CONFECTIONERS WE PRODUCE TRADITIONAL BREADS, SAVOURIES AND CAKES; USING THE BEST LOCAL INGREDIENTS, WHEREVER POSSIBLE; PRODUCING THEM WITHOUT ANY ADDITIVES, USING LONG ESTABLISHED RECIPES”
— JULIAN CARTER – CO-OWNER & HEAD BAKER