Jump to content

Brick House


fergusjackson

Recommended Posts

Jeremy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> In defence of fox, I think there's nothing

> unreasonable about his post. Making bread can be

> time consuming, especially sourdough. If more

> people tried at home, they'd realise why small

> producers cannot sell bread at supermarket prices.


oh I wasn't getting at fox for baking his own bread, I just had a sinking feeling the comment was akin to those other threads where a new business opens, lets say a pizza place and people pile in with the predictable "gourmet pizza guv? how much?!!! I could do better at home, its just cheese and bread etc etc". That's all.


So apologies foxy, I didn't realise your post was in response to someone else asking about baking their own bread. Absolutely agree that if people see how time-consuming it is to bake a decent sourdough then they may well appreciate the work that has gone into it.

Cedges Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'd kind of expect bread that's only made from 3

> basic, very cheap ingredients to be cheaper, not

> more expensive ney? Even taking into account it

> sitting around fermenting/proving for a couple of

> days..very little more actual manpower involved.


I am going to step in here in defence of The Brick House..


Making Bread, especially Crafted Sourdough Breads is very labour intensive..


Preparing Sourdough Starters (5 days ??), Preparing and Kneading Dough, monitoring Slow fermentation.. Baking.


Also using only the best quality flours will add to the cost.


I bake bread one loaf at a time so it becomes expensive for Electricity used just for the one loaf.


Do not know how many loaves The Brick House bakes but it will not be on the same scale as commercially bread.

Commercially made bread may use steam injectors in the process.


Plus all the other business costs..


DulwichFox

Tried to learn how to make bread last year, was staggered to find out how complex and time consuming it is. I genuinely can't understand how independent bakeries that don't use the supermarket style industrial processes make any sort of money charging even as much as they do. Given how much time it took me to make a rather sad focaccia, if I ever nailed it I'd want at least a tenner per loaf.


I wouldn't pay a tenner per loaf, mind, which is why I haven't gone into the bakery business, aside from being rubbish at the actual manufacturing. I just can't fathom the economics.

I think ?4 is fine for a whole loaf of this quality and I'm more than prepared to pay it. My issue was with ?6 for a sandwich which I (and clearly others) think is too much. If that's negativity, I'll cope but I'd like to think it was useful feedback from hopefully an otherwise valued customer.

I have made sourdough bread before btw...


5 days of making the starter - yes but thats 5 minutes a day for 5 days, not 5 whole day's work.


I fail to believe that Brick House hand-knead their bread from start to finish. Shaping before the final prove yes - but a good baker can shape what...2 loaves a minute at the minimum.


Even taking into account good quality flour, pring water and cornish sea salt - ?4 a loaf is heck of a profit margin.


Factoring in rent and business rates in East Dulwich however may very well eat into that profit margin and require higher prices to maintain a realistic profit, but the cost of making the bread itself - no way jose.

Cedges Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I have made sourdough bread before btw...

>

> 5 days of making the starter - yes but thats 5

> minutes a day for 5 days, not 5 whole day's work.

>

>

> I fail to believe that Brick House hand-knead

> their bread from start to finish. Shaping before

> the final prove yes - but a good baker can shape

> what...2 loaves a minute at the minimum.

>

> Even taking into account good quality flour, pring

> water and cornish sea salt - ?4 a loaf is heck of

> a profit margin.

>

> Factoring in rent and business rates in East

> Dulwich however may very well eat into that profit

> margin and require higher prices to maintain a

> realistic profit, but the cost of making the bread

> itself - no way jose.


The cost of ingredients - not the cost of making the bread Cedges.


These loaves are retarded over night in climate controlled conditions (costs money) they are shaped by hand (costs money) and baked in an electric deck oven (costs money). I presume they are also unloaded by hand (costs money). Some loaves also contain fruit, nuts and seeds - these increase ingredient cost significantly and I wouldn't be surprised if price of plain loaves has to be inflated to cover this.

jomou Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Do they have wifi there? Is it a good place to go

> alone with a laptop and get some work done over a

> sandwich and coffee?


Yes good for about 30 mins i'd say


I was there this morning and really liked it, all light and airy, with good service


But to do 'work' in might be a struggle as it's very parent/child friendly

worldwiser Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

My

> issue was with ?6 for a sandwich which I (and

> clearly others) think is too much.



My sister had a sandwich there yesterday.


She said it was absolutely fantastic - huge slices of delicious bread, proper ham sliced off the bone, proper mustard etc..


She said it was well worth ?6. It was so big she couldn't get it in her mouth :)

DulwichFox Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Had a look today.. Did not seem that bright to

> me... considering it is a beautiful sunny day..

>

> Its still just a warehouse with a few wooden

> tables.. Seating for 15 people ???

>

> Space for 30 - 40 buggies.. only 3-4 in when I

> look in.

> Another Mummy Baby Creche caf? ?

>

> DulwichFox



I think you're safe DF - it screams stay away kids. No highchairs, no changing facilities, no babychino, no kid friendly menu...space yes but nothing else for the little ones so at last a baby free zone in ED!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Latest Discussions

    • I've used just about all the locally available supermarkets for deliveries over the years, and I now  use Waitrose for deliveries, for various reasons. They have a good range of the things I eat, their food is good quality and their "essentials" range is generally good value (except the tissues, which suddenly became so thin as to disintegrate immediately. I was mainly buying them for the nice plain boxes, so now I just put other tissues into the old Waitrose boxes 🤣) It is very rare for something I've ordered to not be available on the day. Their delivery drivers  are genuinely friendly and helpful. Their customer service is very good. On the rare occasions I've had issues, they have refunded me without quibbling. They often have special deals on some of the things I buy often, so I stock up when they are cheaper. I do occasionally compare prices with other supermarkets, and overall I really don't think Waitrose is more expensive, but obviously they might be for things I don't personally buy. I absolutely hate Sainsbury's, would use Lidl for some things but they don't deliver, Iceland has a very small range of things I eat, and I can't remember why I don't use Tesco or Asda any more. I recently checked out Ocado because there was some offer which seemed good value, but they just didn't have enough things I wanted to buy to make it worth using the offer. M&S don't deliver ( to the best of my knowledge) but in any case they seem to be still badly suffering from the recent hack into their system. Apologies, I have just remembered this thread is about shopping at actual physical stores, but probably many of the issues are the same.
    • Since I am of a certain vintage now, not sure if what I am going to suggest is even still around but here goes… use to be able to buy “dummy/mock papers on line and also had mini synopsis of Shakespeare plays specifically covering students wanting to gain a better understanding of play before taking mocks/ exams. Only know this as many many moons ago, struggled with English Literature and Language and this was the avenue-my parents went down. Also was at this point in my life, educated abroad as part of my fathers job.  
    • Love your comment about “shoehorned” - put a smile on my face..! As for comment about “Little Waitrose” ummmm - never really thought about it. Personally, could not care less. But guess Sainsbury Local and Tesco Express are to you more acceptable.. Ultimately, when I think about it, I actually don’t care what they call themselves - been lured by partially branding and partially convenience and what they offer in groceries.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...