Field Trip to Wholefoods Bakehouse

A fun field trip to ...

This is the facility where the breads for Whole Foods are made.  We started out in a small room for instructions before the tour.  Yes, everyone was required to wear a hairnet.

I wasn't sure if the gluten would be a problem for Eliana, so she and I stayed outside and waited for the others.  A sweet friend took pictures for me (thanks Jen!).  And the narrative below is courtesy of Joshua!

Our group was big enough to be split into 2 groups for the tour.  No age divisions this time, but rather by family.

The tour started with hearing about the various ingredients.

This is where all the flour is kept.

All the ingredients in large quantities.

This is the dough room.  The flour is brought down in a giant chute.

All the doughs are mixed in this room.

They kneaded and cut it in the next room.

There were large trash cans filled with doughs that were rising to get ready for baking.

Do you think everyone is getting hungry at this point?

This is the bread after it has been baked and still in the baking room.

This man is using a knife to slice the doughs.  Each type of bread had a different "slice".  He was very fast and impressed everyone with his skill and precision.

Yet another room where all the breads are cooling.  Look at the variety!

Sometimes even the experts have flops.  (Bet it still tastes good though!)

There was a room for desserts - sweet breads, cookies and more!

Making croissants.  A machine that flattened the dough.  Another cut it into triangles.  A conveyor belt brought these down where the workers rolled them up.

The tour lasted about 30 minutes and is an interesting look at bread making on a large scale.  The tour and process was very different from when we were here 6 years ago even.  There is also a separate facility where they make gluten free breads.  I'm hoping that maybe we can tour that one day as I would  love to see how they do this!

At the conclusion of the tour, they were so gracious to give us some breads to sample!  Everyone was excited to try the breads after seeing them being made!  

It was a gorgeous day so we found a nearby park to picnic and play.

Always a fun way to spend out days with friends!

So thankful for this sweet way of learning with my children.

Blessings
Leslie