- How do you make your bread rise without yeast?
We start by grinding the grain fresh every day (except for the
white breads). We mix this flour with water to make a starter.
This starter stands for 8 to 10 hours, depending on the weather,
during which time it begins to culture. It is then mixed with more flour,
water, and salt, and made into a bread dough.
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- Is your bread like a sourdough?
Our bread is like sourdough in that it has a starter, but that’s where the
similarity ends. Virtually every sourdough has something added to it to
make it rise, like yeast, dairy, sugar or vinegar. We add nothing—just the flour and water to make our starter.
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- Some people say that it is really "wild yeast" in the air that causes
the bread to rise. Is this true? [Or, How can you be sure it's yeast free?]
No one has ever done a definitive study, but there are two schools of
thought on how the bread rises. One is that "wild yeast" in the air
causes the bread to rise.
The other school of thought says that a bacterial process, similar to
lacto-bacillus, is multiplying in the culture. A study at the University of
California at Davis was done to determine exactly how San Francisco sourdough
breads rose. They found that the
addition of yogurt to the bread dough, with its lacto-bacillus cultures, gave
the best result. We only use the flour and water as explained above, and it works very well.
If you compare our products to the "yeast-free" breads of a bakery that uses yeast in
the building, their supposedly yeast-free
item will rise more consistently than ours. Yeast is airborne throughout a
bakery, and sticks to work surfaces, aprons and bakery equipment. If a
bakery uses yeast in anything, it is in everything they make. That's why
we have never used yeast, and never will. You get the Yeast-Free
Guaranteetm only from Pacific
Bakery: Yeast-Free.
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- Is the bread unleavened?
Our bread rises as a result of the starter method we use.
All Pacific Bakery products are made under supervision of Kosher Overseers
of America (KOA). They are not suitable for Passover because they are leavened.
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- Why do you make yeast-free bread?
Many people believe that yeast can aggravate allergies.
It is also thought that yeast-free, naturally leavened bread like ours is good
for those with candida, which is an overgrowth of yeast in the digestive tract.
Additionally, this is the way bread used to be made. The farmer grew
organic grain, sold it to the baker, who ground it into flour and made it into
bread using only water and salt. Brewer’s yeast was later added to make
it rise faster, and commercial yeast was created only about 100 years ago.
We make bread the traditional way, yielding a flavorful, substantial loaf.
For a lighter bread, we use the same process explained above and replace
the whole grain flour with unbleached flour, which has the bran removed and
is not enriched or otherwise processed.
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- What is kamut®? What is spelt?
Kamut and spelt are two ancestors of modern wheat.
Wheat is a relatively recent hybridized grain, whereas kamut and spelt have been unchanged for thousands of years. Kamut is originally from Egypt, and spelt from Mesopotamia. These grains are in the same biological family as wheat, but they are distinct. These ancient grains have not been hybridized like today's wheat has. Modern wheat has been changed to suit the needs of progress, to increase crop yield, and to resist pests and disease. Please consult your health care practitioner regarding your own dietary needs.
For more information, see our section on About Kamut or About
Spelt.
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- What about "gluten"?
Gluten occurs naturally in most grains. A segment of the population has problems with gluten digestion, and we offer no products for them. The gluten in kamut and spelt is about the same as regular wheat and rye. You may notice "wheat gluten" as an additive in many bakery products, especially bagels. Many bakeries use a cheaper flour and add gluten to make their bread rise better. We do not need to add any gluten to our products because there is enough naturally present in our high protein grains. We pay extra for the highest quality grains, and do not need to add gluten or any other substance to our breads or bagels.
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- What is organic?
Organic food production is based on a system of farming that maintains and replenishes soil fertility without the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers. Organic foods are minimally processed without artificial ingredients, preservatives, or irradiation to maintain the integrity of the food.
Conventional agricultural methods can cause water contamination. Beginning in May 1995, a network of environmental organizations, including the Environmental Working Group, began testing tap water for herbicides in cities across the United States’. The results revealed widespread contamination of tap water with many different pesticides at levels that present serious health risks. In some cities, herbicides in tap water exceed federal lifetime health standards for weeks or months at a time. The organic farmer’s elimination of polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching, in combination with soil building, works to prevent contamination, and protects and conserves water resources.
"Certified Organic" means the item has been grown according to strict uniform standards that are verified by independent state or private organizations. Certification includes inspections of farm fields and processing facilities, detailed record keeping, and periodic testing of soil and water to ensure that growers and handlers are meeting the standards that have been set.
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- I've seen two different organic statements on your bags, is there a difference between them?
The new labels are in compliance with the USDA National Organic Practices law. The old CA Organic Foods Act of 1990 is obsolete, and our new bags reflect this. There has been absolutely no change in our products. We have been in compliance with the USDA law since starting Pacific Bakery in 1986.
- Why do you use sea salt when the ocean is polluted? Why use contaminated salt in a good bread product?
Much of the salt everyone eats (in packaged, prepared food) is sea salt...it's just not labeled "sea salt." The Federal government only requires the word "salt" on a product label, even though there are many chemicals legally added to "salt." Look at a package of Morton's salt and read what's actually in it, then try to figure out what impact those chemical additives have on your health. We use a sea salt that is additive-free and ground to a consistent texture. It is the cleanest salt available for commercial use.
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- Why is the 100% rye bread unsliced?
The traditional rye bread is the only bread that we make that is sold unsliced. We have tried to slice it in the past however it sticks back together and dries out quite quickly. Typically it is sliced very thin with a serrated knife when being served.
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- Why does your package list just "oil" versus "organic oil"? Don't you use "organic oil"?
Yes, we use organic oil when it's available. We only make two breads that contain a very small amount of oil and our other 19 products do not. For the last three years we have been able to obtain organic oil. However prior to that, we did have some trouble obtaining it from time to time. In order to maintain the integrity of our product and packaging we decided to list just oil versus organic oil in the event that we are unable to obtain the organic oil and as previously mentioned, the amount of oil used is quite small. We still consume and feel very good about our product even when organic oil is not available.
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- Why Pacific Bakery:Yeast-Free breads smaller than other breads?
Since most of our breads are "whole grain" and made without added yeast, they are going to be more dense than other breads. Most "whole grain" breads are sifted to remove some of the bran but our whole grain breads are just that: "whole grain". We grind the organic grain into the flour we use to make our bread so that you get all the nutrients and fiber naturally present in the whole grain. This makes our breads far more nutritious than typical bread and it makes them heavier. If we made our breads in the same size bread pans as other breads, the loaf would be so heavy that it would be much more costly than it is now. In an effort to make our delicious bread in a size and shape that is fairly priced and easy to eat, we have chosen bread pans that are suitable for this purpose. If you really want MORE bread, we suggest you buy extra loaves.
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- What is the best way to store Pacific Bakery:Yeast-Free breads?
Throughout European history bread was made with pure ingredients...flour, water and salt... using the exact method we do. A baker would come to a village and bake enough bread for each family to last them through the winter. Can you imagine how the bread was stored before refrigeration was available? The baker would make 25-pound loaves and the family would store it in the rafters of their barn or outbuilding where it would freeze during the cold winter. When the family wanted some bread, they would actually have to bring it down and chop off chunks using an axe. Since it was very dry and frozen, they would soften the whole piece in a huge pot of soup and serve smaller sections with everyone's meal. Yum!
Times have changed: now the bakers at Pacific Bakery slice your bread and put it in a freezer-ready bag for you. We recommend storing your bread in the freezer section of your refrigerator for up to 10 weeks...double bagging the bread inside another plastic bag will help prevent "freezer burn." When you're ready, just put the whole loaf into the refrigerator and toast as needed.
If you plan to use the bread within 5 days of store purchase, you can just put it in your refrigerator and eat it from there. If you want to ship or travel with Pacific Bakery bread, we've had success with removing the plastic bag and placing the entire sliced loaf in a paper bag. IT GETS VERY DRY but it doesn't usually spoil since no moisture is trapped in the bread. When you're ready to eat the dry bread, do what those Europeans did: drop a slice in your soup or you can steam it in a steamer basket like broccoli for about 5 to 8 minutes. YUM!!
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- What company certifies that your are organic?
We are certified organic by NutriClean.
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