Local supermarket chains take pride in store bakeries

Maz Jacobson

Wednesday, March 21, 2001 | 9:04 a.m.

Whenever you stop in to buy a loaf of bread, package of muffins or gaudily decorated cake at your local supermarket, have you ever stopped to wonder how it was produced? It turns out that each chain has a specific way of doing things, and that items vary quite a bit from chain to chain.

Vons, Raley's and Smith's were kind enough to provide a tour of their store bakeries. A fourth chain, Albertson's, didn't feel it was given enough time to prepare a spokesperson, and did not make any of its local store bakeries available by press time. It should be noted that though individual stores were visited, any one you visit within a chain claims to have an identical bakery program.

The most ambitious in-store bakery program among the major chains is at Vons. An entire line of products is produced here, said David Doty, store manager at the Vons on Windmill Parkway and Pecos Road. Doty showed off his Artisan breads, muffins and doughnuts, all made either from scratch or from mixes in his store. Then he explained the process, along with Bakery Manager Tom Stone.

The store's 24-inch Artisan sourdough is a good enough deal at $1.39, but with a Vons Club card you can usually get the sourdough, or any of the other Artisan breads on sale that week, for only 99 cents. The dough is first mixed, then cooled overnight at precisely 42 degrees so the sourdough can ferment properly.

There are also such breads as French country loaf, multigrain, Kalamata olive and Asiago cheese, the last three being slightly more expensive at $2.49.

Doughnuts are made from scratch as well, and the chain's powered-sugar cake doughnut, 49 cents with a moderate dusting of confectioner's sugar, has a great, homemade taste. All the Vons doughnuts have a bake-sale taste and are vastly more enjoyable than doughnuts at most supermarket chains.

The muffins are store-baked, but made from a mix. If you're up early, they come out hot from the oven at 6 a.m. These puffy, egg-rich muffins come in such flavors as blueberry, chocolate chip and banana. They are oversized and delicious.

Bagels come in frozen from Cottage Bakery in Lodi, Calif., but they are finished in the store and sell for 55 cents each, or $4.99 for a baker's dozen. The Danish sold here for 99 cents come in frozen, but are proofed and glazed in the store. Cakes also come in frozen, but the fancy icings are applied by a cake decorator. Also made from scratch here are the chocolate-chip cookies. They are are sold in boxes, and 36 chewy cookies are $3.99.

Leo Hise manages the bakery at the Smith's on Green Valley Parkway and starts his day at 3 a.m. Nothing is baked from scratch at Smith's, but Hise is a busy man anyway, since most of his bakery goods come in frozen or "parbaked," the bakery term for partially baked.

Most of Hise's items need first to be proofed, meaning they are put into a proof box, or steaming box, where they are gently thawed and where bread dough, for instance, rises before being finished off in an oven.

Parbaked items, such as the chain's line of La Brea breads, are basically placed in an oven and browned according to instructions that come from the supplier. The result is an excellent bread.

Doughnuts at Smith's come in pre-fried from a warehouse and are made from a mix. Hise uses a doughnut glazer and these dougnuts are a good deal at three for a $1, or for fancier ones such as French crullers, two for $1. Smith's pies are assembled from a pre-made crust, but the store bakery mixes the fillings, such as banana cream, and makes its own nondairy whipped topping.

Bagels come in frozen from a warehouse in Layton, Utah, in almost a dozen varieties. Hise says many customers prefer it this way because it allows the chain to sell its bagels at a lower price. Both the bagels and doughnuts are finished off in huge ovens that are big enough to walk into. The reason the doughnuts need finishing is to make that sugar glaze, which is applied by Hise and his staff, to acquire an appealing shine. The shine takes about one minute in the oven to finish.

Raley's bakes several items from scratch, such as Bundt cakes and chocolate-chip cookies, and also makes real fudge in its bakery area. The 28-ounce Bundt cakes come in flavors such as chocolate chip, lemon and orange, which sell for $4.95.

The cookies are soft, and may remind you of Mrs. Fields. They sell for 50 cents each, and are terrific with an afternoon coffee. Raley's sells sweet and Dutch-crust breads, which come out of the oven hot at all hours of the day. The breads are proofed and baked in the store, even though the dough comes in frozen. The prices for these 1-pound loaves range from $1.19 to $1.49.

Raley's makes its own angel-food cakes from a mix, $2.99 for a 13-ounce cake, flavored either with orange or lemon. The creamy, rich chocolate fudge is $3.49 for a 1-pound box. Doughnuts come from a warehouse, and cost 50 cents.

The most impressive thing about Raley's bakery program, though, may be these beautifully decorated line of fancy cakes. Layers come in frozen, but the icings, fruit and decorations are applied here, and some of them are just gorgeous.

An Oreo cake is $9.99. A fresh fruit tart, each of the fruits a like gleaming a jewel, is $10.99.

Why bother to bake at home?

archive