about
Two bakers, one starter.
A garage window on Maltings Yard, twelve loaves a morning, and a bakehouse with a deck oven that is still a little bit temperamental.
the story
Twelve loaves, then a garage and a deck oven.
Ines Vale and Joe Okafor started Crumb in 2017, selling twelve loaves a morning from a garage window on Maltings Yard. The garage is now a bakehouse with a deck oven named after Joe's nan.
Ines runs the bench and the recipes. Joe runs the ovens, the rota and the wholesale accounts, and he answers the phone after eleven, once he has had a coffee.
- Loaves a week
- 1,850
- Hours from mix to bake
- 72
- Bakers, all paid properly
- 9
Out of the oven
- 07:00
Loaves, baguettes and the first tray of cardamom buns. The queue is friendly.
- 11:30
Focaccia slabs, savoury scrolls and whatever soup went into the tarts.
- 15:00
Tuesday–Friday. The final weekday bake is reserved for wholesale collection; the counter closes at 15:00.
- Ovens
- One deck oven, two decks, lit at 04:30 and held at a steady heat until the last tray comes out.
- Proving
- Sourdough is mixed the day before and cold-proved overnight, so the first loaves are ready at seven.
- Waste
- Anything left at 15:00 goes to the Millbrook Community Fridge on Station Street, free.
who's in charge
“Brenda is ten years old and has never once been on time.”
Ines Vale, co-founder and head baker
The rye starter behind every loaf is fed at nine every night, Christmas included, by whoever drew the short straw.
Brenda is kept in a glass jar on the shelf above the bench. If she smells of pears, she is happy. If she smells of nail varnish, we have a problem.