My First Pastry Job

[jgarner53]

I realized on Sunday that I'd been at my pastry job - my first pastry job - for a month now. It's exciting, exhausting, fascinating, and eye-opening. It ain't no picnic, and it ain't no glamorous Food Network show, to be sure. But I do like it quite a bit, am learning a lot, love the people I work with, where I work (except for the rather stingy vacation policy, but that's another thread), and the kind of work I do. Here's a peek into my day.

3:45 am and the alarm goes off. If I'm lucky, I'm already awake, usually because the bathroom is calling or a cat wants breakfast. I slip out of bed, dress in the bathroom so as not to wake my husband, grab a quick breakfast, and head out by 4:30. While normally I shower in the morning, I'd rather sleep those extra minutes and just wash my face instead. Besides, I always need a shower at the end of my shift anyway.

My shift starts at 5am, Wednesday through Sunday, though because of various vacations and whatnot, I've only actually worked that shift I think two weeks. Last week, for example, I worked Tuesday-Saturday and got a three-day weekend. I work here, where we bake close to 3000 loaves a day, pastries for our own shop, plus pastries (and bread) for all the restaurants and satellite stores in the company, as well as several other wholesale accounts.

At the ground level is the store and behind that, the main bakery -- all the big equipment: massive deck oven, roll-in oven (I'm not sure of it's technical name, but two rolling racks go in and rotate around), walk in fridge and freezer, dough dividers, proof box, 20-qt, 60-qt, and two spiral mixers, sheeter, and a 3-door reach in. Behind that is a garage, where products are packed for delivery, more food is stored, and we have more reach-in freezers and refrigerators. On any given day, there are 4-5 bread bakers, most of whom work the graveyard shift, 3-4 pastry bakers, and a prep cook or two who also usually assemble all the sandwiches.

My kitchen, the pastry kitchen, is upstairs, off the store. The whole upstairs was once a flat, so the front rooms are now offices, one of the back bedrooms is a storage area for us, and the kitchen is our workspace. It's been modified with a double convection oven, and we have a two-door reach-in and several rolling racks, work tables, flour and sugar bins, and the like, but as you might imagine, we have to make a lot of trips up and down the stairs.

In my kitchen, there are four of us. Keri, the exec PC, has been with the company almost since the beginning, when it was just her and one other baker. The assistant PC has been there years as well, and the other pastry cook over four years. This does not seem to be a high-turnover location, so I feel lucky to have gotten in. It's also one of the top French bakeries in San Francisco; many of our customers are French. I think we are probably the only bakery in the city to make cannelés, and one of only two (that I can think of) to make macarons.

Our days off are staggered, so that at the beginning and end of the week, when it's slower, there are fewer of us, and the busy days (Thursday-Saturday), we are all four there. But it's also vacation season, so we're making do with just three for a while. Four of us in the kitchen gets crowded at times.

For now, I'm learning to do new things slowly, as the opportunity arises. I should say, "learn the company way" because it's not like I haven't made rugelach dough before, or piped filling into an éclair. Most of the first tasks I've been given have been the simpler ones, even if they might be more labor/time intensive. They need to get done regardless, and they're tough to screw up.

At the beginning of each day, we have to finish pastries for the morning, and my first task is always finishing the fruit tarts. The size of the order depends on the day and how many special orders there are. It can take me anywhere from two to four hours, depending. There are strawberry and mixed fruit tartlets, 9-inch, and just 11-inch mixed fruit. And where's the fruit? Well some of it might be in our back room's reach-in, leftover from yesterday, but likely as not, I'll make a trip downstairs (25 of them) to restock and get a fresh flat of strawberries. For every trip, one way or the other, we try not to make them empty handed. I'm getting stronger every day, and every day my muscles are sore and achy. Advil is my new best friend. At first, I could only carry one sheet pan at a time, but now I can do two (and believe me - carrying two down precipitous stairs is hairy, no matter how many times you do it). Cases of milk and cream, 20-lb bags of the liquid eggs we use, empty sheet pans for the next day, it all has to come up the stairs. Finished product, dirty sheet or flexipans, empty dairy crates, etc. all have to go down the stairs (and through the store, I might add, particularly fun when it's busy, crowded with the stroller set and people bent over studying the cases). Fortunately, our dishwasher is kind enough to tote up bags of flour and sugar.

After the fruit tarts, I might make our goat cheese tarts (a mixture of goat cheese and cream cheese, topped with fruit) or head straight into the French toast, depending on the day. Our production list and tasks isn't really assigned, though there are certain tasks that always tend to fall to the same people. Daniel does caramel, Stephanie is the master of choux paste, Keri does the grand-mère cake, and so on.

We are equipped upstairs with a basic 6-quart Kitchen Aid, and we have the only stove, so the downstairs people come up, and we make enough pastry cream for both upstairs and down. We go downstairs when we need to mix the few large batches that we do: rugelach dough, cornmeal upside down cake batter, use the sheeter, etc. Being upstairs, we also do most of our own dishes - prep items, mostly. Things like sheet pans and flexipans go downstairs to the dish station.

The French toast is easy, but labor and time intensive. I cut rounds of brioche slices, place them in flexis, and then pour a cup of custard mix (milk, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla) over each. Pour too fast, and the custard splashes all over. Pour too slow, and the process takes too long. I've learned to pour as fast as I can without the custard making a mess. It's usually either 5 pans or 10 (or 11), and once they're baked and cooled, they're depanned and set up 24 to a sheet (and they are heavy), cater-wrapped, and brought downstairs to the walk-in for the next day's delivery.

The other big thing I do most days is the cannelé batter, 12 liters of it, in two big plastic dough proofing bowls. It's a whisking workout to try to incorporate the eggs, yolks, and rum into the flour and sugar and have as few lumps as possible. The batter fills four 8-quart containers when it's done, and we bake anywhere from 3-5 pans a day. And each of those molds must be brushed with a mixture of melted beeswax and butter, a dirty, messy task that luckily I don't have to do every day.

Yesterday, for the first time, I got to finish the éclairs, learning how we pipe in the pastry cream (differently for store pastries than ones that will be packed), as well as pouring and baking off some of the brulées for one of our restaurants, and making the devil's food cake that we use. It was a big day of new things, mainly because the other pastry cook wasn't there, and I was glad to have so many tasks, rather than just fruit tarts, French toast, and cannelé, which can happen on a Friday or Saturday.

On any given day, our kitchen produces: napoleons, lemon and lime meringue tartlets and tarts, black and white mousse cakes (assembled downstairs, glazed upstairs), fruit tarts and tartlets, chocolate ganache tarts, grand-mère cake (biscuit filled with whipped cream & strawberries, and topped with buttercream), babas au rum, éclairs, St. Honoré (small and large), chocolate kirsch mousse cakes, baked raspberry custards, mini tart tatins, upside down cakes, goat cheese tarts, tiny lemon sesame shortbread and rosemary biscuits, rugelach, cannelés of course, and for the satellites, crème brulées, chocolate pots de crème, and tuiles. Downstairs, they do the bread, croissants, Danish and other breakfast pastry, rustic fruit tarts, and all the savory items: quiches, pissaladière, etc, as well as the macarons and giant baked meringues, financiers, madeleines, and cookies.

My biggest hurdle still is getting used to the hours (mostly going to bed so early), and the ache in my back. I try to concentrate on my posture, but being tall doesn't help, especially when I spend half my shift on the fruit tarts. I find myself bending way over to arrange a stubborn or slippery piece of fruit, only to have to straighten out again. Then there's the bending for the (lower) oven, sugar and flour, and the general stress of carrying heavy loads up and down the stairs. Will I eventually get used to it? I hope so. I really like the people I work with; they're smart, talented, and very kind.

One of the best parts of my day is hearing the exec PC say "thank you so much" at the end of the day. On Friday, I got some bad news about my cat (he has cancer) and was a bit blubbery. She came over and quietly asked if I wanted to take a few minutes. Since there wasn't really anything I could do about the situation, I thanked her, grateful for her compassion, bucked up, splashed some water on my face, and kept on working.

We don't really take breaks - most of you in the business can understand that - though I do get essentially a fruit salad every morning from the fruit nubbins leftover from my tarts, and we can eat just about anything in the bakery for free. On Sundays I'll grab a croissant hot from the oven (oh wow is that amazing), and other days, I'll usually grab a sandwich, or occasionally a quiche. If I get hungry mid-shift, I'll grab a walnut or olive roll as I go through the bakery. I can bring home loaves of bread or small pastries for free, and if I want a large tart, I order it ahead of time so it can be added to the production, and pay half price for it. If nothing else, I'm well-fed, even if I am working it all off going up and down stairs all day.

And that's my life in my new career. It's 100% more exhausting than I thought it would be, and sometimes I question why I'm doing this when I could be sitting in a nice air-conditioned office, but overall I think I made the right choice. I would be happier if they'd make chef's pants with elastic waistbands that didn't make me sweat so much. Ick.

Wow. i just realized that this post is very, very long. Hope I didn't bore you all!

[ronnie_suburban]

First, I'm sorry to hear about your cat. That is sad news.

But, thank you so much for sharing this. I learned so much from reading this and it's all completely fascinating. I hope there will be more of these installments from you in the future as the weeks and months roll by.

Your intense passion for what you're doing totally comes through and that's just a great thing!

=R=

[chefpeon]

Not boring!

I love to read this stuff......especially when I think MY job is hard, then I read that you have to traipse up and down stairs (with heavy loads) every day. Gosh, maybe I don't have it so bad after all......!

I hear you about the back thing. I'm tall too......it still aches some days....especially when I decorate cookies!

The stairs will give you shapely legs! Just remember that as you're climbing them every day. You'll have LOVELY calves.

Brioche in flexis with custard poured over them! That's cool! Do you sell those to the restaurants in your company? So all the line cooks have to do is re-heat them?

I've read the giganto cannele thread here, but what do you think? Are canneles, like, really great?

I really want to try one.

I'll bet when you fall into bed at night, you have no trouble falling asleep? One thing that has NEVER changed for me is the utter exhaustion I have at the end of the day. Ever since pastry school it's been that way. David Letterman used to have this little phrase he'd say...."I'm tired, but it's a good kind of tired." I always think that. That's how it is. I fall into bed, and I feel like I've accomplished something, and I've worked my body to the max, and I just melt into this blissful wonderful sleep. Of course, I've never quite gotten used to getting up at 3:30....it ALWAYS seems too early! Even when I go to bed at 7.....which I rarely do.....usually it's 8:30 or 9.....just 'cause I wanna spend a LITTLE time with the husband.....

I'm so sorry about your kitty! I have four kitties myself, and I love 'em to death. They are my freaking children (people just don't get it, but hey, I don't have any kids), and I pamper them

ridiculously. I lost my very favorite friend and companion to a coyote last September....I'm still grieving over that. I miss him. Will your kitty be able to be treated?

I hope so.

You are lucky to have landed where you did after school.......sounds like a great place to start!

[K8memphis]

Jennifer, wow that is a great look at your new work place. I love the way I'm sure it smells reading your words and shadowing you as you go about your day. That everlasting smell of heady, flour-y sweet, hot, rich and full that equally assaults and numbs your senses. What a wonderful place to work! Cool post!!!

[simdelish]

No, not boring. As Annie says, it's always interesting to hear how other pastry people's day are... what they do, the volume, the preciseness, how many people it takes to do what task... all fascinating stuff!

I remember my first restaurant job, as full pc. I remember perspiring so much -- wondering HOW MUCH HOTTER CAN I GET? The fact is, I now realize, I was out of shape to begin with, the walkin was one flight down in the basement, and I was hustling like no tomorrow! I wanted to be the fastest, smartest, best pc they ever had. I worked circles around everyone else. I finally got used to it, still worked my butt off though, that never changed. I prided myself on running up the steps, sometimes two at a time (I have long legs).

My newest job (the last 2 weeks) is in a brand spanking new kitchen. The bad part is, the whole place is VERTICAL. I must go down (and back up again) THREE flights of stairs/floors to get to the walk-in. Yes, the idiot who designed it is a Moron (capital M), and I hope he goes to Hell's Kitchen in his next life, where he only runs up and down stairs all day. That first job is looking better and better every day! LOL

I am interested too in your brioche/custard/flexi thing. Can you explain more in detail what it is? Is the flexipan a full sheet, indiv molds, what exactly? And you bake off, depan, then what? How stored, and where does it go, and what do they do with it when they get? Maybe this is a standard catering recipe... just not familiar with it/the process. thanks,

and good luck!

[Wendy DeBord]

I love to see/learn about other peoples jobs in the industry.

I'm tall too. I find items to prop my pans up so I can change up how much I have to bend to reach the table. I'll use anything, a bus box, a stack of sheet pans, pan covers...........whatever and place the tray I need to work on, on that. Other cooks look at what I'm doing strangely, but hey it works so who cares.

Any chance you could post some photos of your work..........tarts, breads, work area, whatever?

[Almass]

Nice write up and sorry about the cat.

Maybe you already did that but clothes and shoes in your type of work are crucial.

1- Chef trousers are available in different design, different fabrics and elasticated waist.

2- Shoes are the MOST important item for all people I talk to. Apparently proper comfy shoes can make the difference for back pain or plain sailing.

If my memory serves me right, the prefered shoe is not a shoe but an open heel Clogs of some oerthopedic signature like Dansko or other.

Get the CLOGS and tell me more about the Baba au Rhum. Which Rum do you use and what recipe?

[CaliPoutine]

I have four kitties myself, and I love 'em to death. They are my freaking children (people just don't get it, but hey, I don't have any kids), and I pamper them

ridiculously. I lost my very favorite friend and companion to a coyote last September....I'm still grieving over that. I miss him. Will your kitty be able to be treated?

I hope so.

←

*raising hand*, I totally get it. I have 2 dachshunds( check my blog for pics) and they are my fury children. I couldnt love them any more if I birthed them myself!!

Btw, fascinating account of your first month. I love SF, I've had great meals there, dont remember if I ever had anything from your place though. I'll make sure thats on my must go to places next time we go to SF.

[Rhea_S]

Wow. i just realized that this post is very, very long. Hope I didn't bore you all!

←

Not at all. One of my favourite cookbooks is The American Boulangerie. The recipes work for me and I like the non-recipe parts of the book as well. The acknowledgement section at the back of the book is one of the most thorough I have ever seen. I remember thinking that I'd love to work in a place like that when I first read that part of the book. I was so happy to read from your post that I wasn't wrong. Congratulations on your new career!

P.S. I'm very sorry to hear about your cat. That was a lovely thing for your supervisor to do. It certainly doesn't happen often enough in other work places.

[Abra]

It's fascinating to watch your progess from afar, so please keep posting as you settle in. The amount of work, and the stairs, sound truly daunting! Pictures would be wonderful, too.

[ludja]

My favorite pastry shop in SF! In addition to the sweets, I really like the savory tarts and sandwiches.

Thanks for sharing some of your adventures; it is fascinating to get a peek behind the scenes.

And sorry for your kitty's illness; it is a very tough thing to go through.

Edited June 28, 2005 by ludja (log)

[RuthWells]

I'm sorry to hear about your kitty, Jennifer. It's nice that you got some support at work (especially after reading Wendy's horror story on another other thread).

I loved reading about your new job and all that you're experiencing! I think I'll be a real pastry chef in my next life, but 'til then, can I live vicariously through you?

[Jack Benchakul]

Sorry to hear about your cat.

Thank you for sharing your day with us. It's a nice look into a world that I am interested in being a part of. I currently work full-time at a Biotech company in So. S.F. (Fri-Sun, 13 hr days), I am taking a Commercial Baking class at Laney College (Mon-Thur), and I own a gift boutique, Kissmet, that is a few doors down from one of your satellites, Boulange de Polk.

Before I started taking class (pre-Pastry Chef aspirations), every morning I would walk down to Boulange de Polk and grab a croissant, or a salmon quiche, and a few chocolate (French) macaroons for breakfast Yumsters!! S.F. has quite a few places that sell French breads/pastries, but I am yet to find one that does it as well as Boulange de Polk. I think that you guys make the best (French) macaroons!

Thank you, again, for your insightful post...and for all of your lovely creations.

Take care,

Jack

P.S. - Umm...if you ever need a referral for a professional Rolfer (sp?) and/or certified Herablist/Accupuncturist for your back, let me know. Two of my friends are quite skilled in the aforementioned areas.

[ohmyganache]

Wow, I had no idea that Bay Bread did so much stuff. I might have to go down there today and check it out... take some pix.

Great post, thanks a lot. It really is cool to hear about other pastry shops... Welcome to the biz, you'll love it!

[jgarner53]

Thanks, everybody, for the words about my cat. Spanky's been with me his whole 16 plus years, longer than my husband, and I simply can't imagine what it will be like when he's not here anymore. Right now I'm grateful for every day he's here and cherish the snuggles he gives me, purring on my chest early in the morning or sitting on my lap.

I'll try to take pictures of work soon. I still feel kind of weird about it, and will ask my boss what she thinks.

Simdelish, I can't believe you have to go up/down three flights of stairs! What a nightmare.

I do wear standard chef's baggy pants, a t-shirt, and (if it's clean), a short-sleeved chef's jacket. I have good Dansko clogs, so my feet aren't really a problem (except when they are because I do have foot problems that predate this job)

As for the French toast, this is what we do. The South San Francisco bakery (where even more bread is done) sends us loaves and loaves of brioche. We let it sit for several days to begin staling before using. I take however many loaves I need (8 loaves for 5 pans, 17 loaves for the Friday/Saturday numbers) down to our slicer and slice them up, then back upstairs. The flexis are 12 cups to a full sheet pan, each one about 3.5-4 inches in diameter, straight sided wells. I lay out stacks of 3 slices of bread and cut them into rounds to fit into the flexi. Each serving is 3 slices of bread and one cup (give or take) of custard.

The custard is equal parts milk and cream, sugar, eggs, and a bit of vanilla. It's poured over the bread, then the tops are dusted with more sugar. We try to let them sit for half an hour or so before baking, to allow the bread to soak up more custard, but that isn't always possible. They bake for half an hour in our convection ovens, then come out to cool as long as possible. To depan, I place a sheet of parchment and another sheetpan on top and flip the whole thing over, and then set the French toasts right side up. This is my least favorite part of the whole process because the custard is slimy. We get 24 to a sheet pan when they're depanned, and then it's cater wrapped and taken downstairs to the walk in. The next morning they're delivered to the colonies, who just have to reheat and serve, with syrup or jam or whatever. They're served at Galette and Café du Soleil, I think, and I'm not sure where else.

As for the cannelés, I personally find them very very sweet and not very appealing, but other people dig them. It's just a matter of personal preference. I'd rather have a macaroon, or something custardy. I posted a picture of them in the cannelé thread.

Almass, I can't tell you much about the babas. They're baked downstairs, and we just soak them in the syrup (which has vanilla and orange peel in it), add the rum (a dark Bacardi), glaze, and top with cooked apples. There are even little old ladies who come in and complain that there isn't enough rum in them!

Annie, I actually have trouble falling asleep, even when I'm exhausted, because my brain just doesn't want to shut off. I could be yawning and ready to sleep, but get me into bed, and the brain just doesn't shut down (part of it may be the time of year, when it's still light out). I try to get to bed by 8:30, but usually don't fall asleep before 9.

[jgarner53]

Um, Jack, what's a Rolfer?

[Jack Benchakul]

Jennifer,

A Rolfer is a practioner of Rolfing, which is a holistic system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education that organizes the whole body in gravity. In short, whereas chiropractic focuses on the nervous system via manipulation of the spine, Rolfing focuses on manipulation of your muscles as a system, improving your posture as a byproduct. At least this is what my friend told me.

By the way, the Caesar salad from Boulange de Polk is the best Caesar salad that I've ever had! I know...not baking related, but I still wanted to have a little food-iness in this reply.

[PastryMom]

Jennifer,

May I ask what you did before this job? Did you have any pastry/restaurant experince before this? Any schooling?

Monica

[KarenS]

I love that bakery! I used to go there all of the time when I worked in SF. The company sure has grown large. Check out Chefwear pants- they have elastic waists. I must say that I have eaten many caneles from there (and the croissants are great).

You work the hours that I normally work. I think that Bay Bread and Tartine are the two best bakeries in SF.

[Brioche57]

Jen,

I am so envious. You are working at one of my favorite bakeries. I loved hearing about it all as I've always wondered what it was like. I am very happy to hear you work with such nice people.

Best,

B

[jgarner53]

May I ask what you did before this job? Did you have any pastry/restaurant experince before this? Any schooling?

This is my first pastry job, though in high school I did work in a Haagen-Dazs scoop shop, briefly in the college cafeteria, and for a few months in a vegetarian restaurant/coffee house.

I graduated from Tante Marie's pastry program in March. It's a six-month program, part-time.

Really, it came down to being in the right place at the right time and gelling really quickly with my bosses (and being really willing to get in and help, I've been told).

[jgarner53]

Oh, and thanks all for the pants suggestions. I DO have elastic waist pants. They just make me sweat something fierce. I'm not exactly what you'd call "dainty." Just wanted to make that clear.

[chefpeon]

Annie, I actually have trouble falling asleep, even when I'm exhausted, because my brain just doesn't want to shut off. I could be yawning and ready to sleep, but get me into bed, and the brain just doesn't shut down (part of it may be the time of year, when it's still light out). I try to get to bed by 8:30, but usually don't fall asleep before 9.

Hee hee....yeah, I guess I do remember the days when I was a newbie and I couldn't fall asleep easily because I was nervous and worried about what I would do the next day, how much I could get done, or worry that I wasn't up to par. I remember being amazed that everybody seemed to work so fast except me. I thought for sure I'd get fired. And, if I happened to screw up that day, I'd be reviewing all the details of my screw up (beating myself up) and making mental notes so that I'D NEVER SCREW UP AGAIN. Yeah, right!

But now, since I've been at it so long, I've learned to keep my work worries at work. Mostly, I don't have much to worry about since I've learned the importance of staying on top of things, and being "one step ahead". My general rule is I don't leave work until I have nothing to worry about. Sometimes that means a long day, but mostly not. You know what? I'd say if you have good time management skills, you can really be a kickass PC (provided you have the other necessary skills too.)

I usually have such a full day, I'm pretty darn near my pull-date by 6pm. By 7pm I'm so tired, that any thoughts or worries I may have are overridden by physical exhaustion. At that point,

it's "Brain? What brain?"

[JeanneCake]

Not being "dainty" myself, I've had better luck with the Chefwear pants - have been unhappy with the jacket and pants I bought from Happy Chef for what it's worth (you get what you pay for).

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat; my son and I desperately wish we could have one but with my husband's allergies it would come down to him or a cat ....

Thanks for letting us sit on your shoulder during your work day! Sounds like you're enjoying it - and wishing you all the best....

[chefpeon]

As a member of the "not so dainty club", my choice in pants is......leggings. No, not spandex, or pure spandex.....but just stretchy cotton leggings. There's no binding, you can move freely, and there's no big waistband to worry about. I used to wear the Chefwear baggies (chili pepper print!), but I didn't like the waistband either....it's quite wide and I always "felt" it. Not only that, but even if I bought them one size up, they wouldn't seem to shrink in width, but in length. After just a few washings, my Chefwears started to look more like capris, and I looked like a dork. Ok, maybe it wasn't the pants......