The remarkable thing about this conference was how happy everyone was. It was more like a music festival than a professional conference. Everyone there was equally obsessed with bread and grains and ready to talk with everyone else about it. Jesamyn Tuttle, foodonthebrain.net.
Think summer camp for bread and wheat geeks, with lectures, kitchen and lab sessions, plus lots of noshing on all kinds of yeasted things pulled from the wood-fired ovens set up on the grounds. Yes, it was that grueling. Grand Central Bakery blog.
I spent an extraordinary weekend at The Kneading Conference West, a three-day gathering of professionals and enthusiasts in the world of grain and bread baking….That’s a very boring and lackluster description of what the weekend really was: an inspiring gathering of people so passionate and excited about what they were doing; grain growers, millers, bakers (both professional and at home), and others who devote their days to the knowledge, preservation, and renaissance of artisanal baking. It was also a tremendous amount of fun. Tara Austen Weaver, teaandcookiesblog.com.
It was really good to see friendly faces from last year and meet new people – so many interesting, and interested people to chat with, and learn from! The Fresh Loaf.
I just wanted to thank you for bringing the whole thing together in such grand style. I thought everything couldn’t have been better and I’m truly amazed at the success of the whole thing. I met some really great people that I hope I’ll run into again, and it was great to spend more time with the folks that I do know and bake and chat together. Just brilliant, thanks again. George DePasquale, owner, The Essential Baking Company, essentialbaking.com
What a wonderful gathering of farmers, millers, researchers and bakers! I met a lot of very nice and interesting people! The whole experience was fantastic – meeting so many people and seeing a few people I’d met before, attending the seminars and lectures, the beautiful setting in amongst the gardens and orchards, and the food was delicious! Breadsong, www.thefreshloaf.com/
The Conference was an extraordinary opportunity to encounter world-known researchers and bakers and to meet with bread people of all kinds. Like the original Kneading Conference held every summer in Maine, the Kneading Conference West constituted one more step towards changing the conditions in which we live, work and dream. And that, my friends, was its whole purpose.
MC Farine, farine-mc.com.
I was lucky enough to attend the first annual Kneading Conference West. The conference lasted three wonderful days. There was so much to see and do that it was hard to pick which classes to attend. The food served was really good and the people were just my kind of people…obsessed with bread. northwestsourdough.com/
Cliff Leir’s presentation took me to the “third heaven” of understanding about grain and bread. He built his own mill, from scratch! I filled 5 pages with notes as he shared his costs, milling process, and tricks of the trade without reserve.
Networking. The conference was a wonderful networking opportunity. One valuable contact made was Janice Cooper, director of the California Wheat Commission. Through her I was able to source organic grains grown in the southwest region. She was a wealth of information and contacts. Even though she represents “big wheat”, she has a heart for the small producer and heritage grains.” Jeff Zimmerman, Haydenflourmills.com
I had a wonderful time. I learned so much about bread making, baking in general, local farmers and met some of the nicest people. My only disappointment was I could not go to everything I wanted to – so many wonderful choices.
Outstanding—great speakers, passionate and involved attendees and a very well organized event.
The sessions I attended were excellent and the networking was fabulous.
Truly enjoyed meeting so many like minded people that talked my language, often sent chills through my body.
Excellent. What a fascinating mix of people! The enthusiasm and generosity of attendees and presenters impressive.
I came away with a huge list of useful ideas and recipes to use in our small bakery.
Above expectations, superb opportunity to network with customers, learn baking essentials and enjoy great food and company.
Wonderful! Highlights: instruction/classes taught by world-class bakers; so many interesting people brought together; focus on local grain Disappointment: only one – so many great seminars & had to miss a couple of ones that overlapped with others…but it really was super to have so much to choose from!
The conference was great! It was informational, fun, varied and interactive.
Fantastic, making plans to attend next year -food was excellent -everything was excellent.