Bread baking courses in Toronto

[Danybear]

I'd like to take a course in artisanal bread baking, checked out George Brown Collleg and all the courses are either canceled or closed. Any other options?

[julesrules]

Not a course but there are volunteer opportunities at St John's organic bakery

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St John's Bakery
155 Broadview Ave, Toronto, ON M4M, CA

[JennaBean]

These are during the business day so you have to have a very flexiable job or not a fulltime thing to make it fit within a typical schedule.

[julesrules]

My friend was doing it Friday nights - helping with the baking for Saturday morning.

[pescatarian]

I do it on Monday nights. They are pretty flexible. Send them an email.

[trombasteve]

pescatarian - I'd really like to do this, so a few weeks ago, I tried emailing their customer service address (the only one I could find on the site), but didn't get any response - what address should I email them at?

Thanks a bunch!

[JennaBean]

That is soooo weird. When I emailed with the woman there she said they only had day time hours.... Maybe in retrospect she only had day time spots when I was emailing with her. Now the I know I will have to look into it for the fall!

[pescatarian]

I stopped doing it actually, just from a time perspective, it was too much and I wasn't feeling like I was really that welcome and I wasn't learning the types of things I'd like to learn. It was mostly assisting on an assembly line of shaping the dough for different types of bread. The main person there when I was working was really nice, as were most of the staff, but there was one person there that was a bit tough to cozy up to. Not that I need to be that chummy, but she made it uncomfortable. Anyways, it was my choice from a time perspective not to continue, and perhaps, if I continued working there I'd learn more of what I wanted to learn. There were some great volunteers there.
To answer your specific question, I just used the email on the site and was told to come and meet Jeff (can't remember his last name). I met him and he said they were always looking for volunteers and that they had evening shifts most nights from 6 to 10. I said I could only do one night for now, but he said they'd be happy if I wanted to do as more. In fact, it seemed as though he would have been happier if I could have done it a couple nights a week at minimum.

[trombasteve]

Great - thanks so much, both for the info, and your candour!

[pescatarian]

You're welcome! By the way, the bread, especially the Celtic, is delicious!

[moreana]

It is closed after the course has run past its cut off point (which is after the 1st class). Usually to take the Bread Class, you'll need to do Bakery Arts I as a pre-requisite.

In September, the courses are back offered in full swing again. So if you take Bakery Arts I, you should be able to take the Bread class after.