Walked into a bakery in Portland that had a "dense loaf" section on purpose

I went to this place called Tandem Baking in Portland last weekend, and they literally have a shelf labeled "Dense Loaves - For Toasting Only." I thought it was a joke at first, but the guy behind the counter said they sell out every Saturday because people use them for extra crispy toast or bread pudding. He told me they started it after accidentally overproofing a batch of sourdough last year and a customer asked to buy it anyway. Now they actually plan for it on purpose. I kinda love the honesty but also part of me wonders if they're just covering up regular mistakes and calling it a feature. Is this a common thing in bakeries now or is Portland just weird about bread?

2 comments

2 Comments

sullivan.elliot1mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait, @barbaragarcia, isn't day-old bread just denser bread with extra steps?

barbaragarcia1mo ago

That shelf is basically permabaking their mistakes into a product line, which is smart but also feels like gaslighting your own customers into thinking dry bread is a premium option. I've seen bakeries sell day-old stuff at a discount but never hype up density like it's an artisanal choice.