A fabulous article on my friend Bryn Rawlyk and the Night Oven Bakery in The StarPhoenix

Bryn Rawlyk starts his day while the rest of the world is sleeping.

He arrives at the bakery by 3 a.m. to build a fire in the brick oven he painstakingly built over the course of seven months. While the fire is heating the oven to a toasty 900 degrees, he forms loaves and pastries for the day.

There’s a problem at the Night Oven Bakery this morning though, which he owns with his wife Beth Cote. After days of non-stop rain, the birch, delivered yesterday, is wet.

Loud indie rock plays in the background. It helps Rawlyk relax as he works to get the fire hot enough to bake the day’s four types of bread.

“Today might be a gong show,” he smiles wryly.

That’s just the way it can go with artisan bread. Everything from the weather to the way the loaves are shaped can affect the final product.

It’s a physically demanding job. Watching Rawlyk stoke the fire is enough to break out in a sweat.

“I like work. It’s engaging,” he says. “We’re not a wholesale bakery. We’re looking to connect customers with the process of bread. Part of that is the baker being engaged.”

A gauge beside the oven’s door tells Rawlyk each section’s temperature. He then moves the fire around to get a uniform heat. When the oven is ready, the top of the nine-foot dome turns white.

“You can’t just throw bread in and take it out. You have to do it in a spiral pattern when you’re loading the bread,” explains Rawlyk.

The process begins with the grain delivered by farmers to the Night Oven’s back door. Ancient heritage Red Fife wheat comes from Marc Loiselle, an organic farmer near Vonda.

Rawlyk is almost finished building a large stone mill for the wheat. For now, a smaller mill is used for the wheat and other grains (rye, barley, spelt, kamut).

The dough is fermented at least 12 hours, before Rawlyk hand shapes each loaf. He sticks to the most basic ingredients in his artisan bread.

“That’s my interpretation — if you’re not using things to condition the dough and you’re not using things to speed up the process — the bread comes out as the flour, water, salt and the environment will determine,” he explains.

In a society where goods are expected around the clock, artisan bread’s unpredictability puts some off. It’s a one-man show at the Night Oven. Rawlyk will hire help in the future so the bread will be ready when the doors open at 7:30 a.m. For now though, it’s just him.

“People get really angry when I don’t have bread on time,” he says with a chuckle.

But then there are the majority, who appreciate what he’s doing and are willing to wait until 9 a.m. for the first loaf.

Best bakery in Saskatoon.  If you haven’t visited, you are missing out.