We recently visited some friends who live in the Adirondacks in NY
state. On our way to kayak Lake Champlain, we stopped off at the
following small, incredibly good (mostly bread) bakery:
Merricks Bread & Coffee
2574 County Route 10
Westport, NY zip code
(518) 962-2280
It's located in a very small town, not far from Rt 87 (the
Northway). I tried their Dill & Walnut bread which was
incredible. The baker, Phil, was extremely friendly and sold me
(actually he practically gave me) some cracked rye that I hadn't been
able to find anywhere else.
When I mentioned to him that my own wet sourdough breads are
difficult to remove from my bannetons, he suggested I try flouring my
bannetons with rice flour instead of the all-purpose and semolina
flours I had been using. What a difference that made! Instead of
struggling to remove the loaves, they practically fell out. How come
the 80 million bread baking books I own failed to mention this??
Anyway, if any of you are even remotely near Westport I suggest a
visit to this bakery is in order.