Yankee Hill, CA - Home of Miller's Bake House

A Visitor's Story

Little did I know when I wrote this note to my family on a warm June morning that from that day on, my definition of bread would take on a whole new meaning.
Yankee Hill is tucked into the rolling, oak spattered hills of Northern California, a beautiful 20-mile drive southeast of Chico. Coming down the long driveway, I see piles of wood and solar panels surrounding a cozy home, garden and attached bakery.

I arrived at the Miller Bake House around 9 and was greeted with a warm smile. Dave Miller is a miller, a baker and an expert on stone ground flours & wood fire-baked whole grain breads. Although he was mixing, separating and kneading loaves of bread when I came in, the process for this batch (325 loaves) had started many hours earlier. The day before, he loaded the large brick oven with local oak and almond wood, heating it up and then cooling it back to 600º F, a process that can take up to 20 hours. Real early in the morning he began pouring whole wheat and rye grains into the hopper of his Austrian-made mill.
The organic grains come from small farms in Northern California and are grown & harvested with the same TLC that Dave demonstrates to me. The freshly ground flours are immediately blended with other fresh, locally grown ingredients – nuts, seeds, dried fruits, etc., into a rotund mixer with vertical paddles twisting and turning in a whimsical dance until its ready for Dave’s gentle handiwork.
After a lengthly rising period, which he tells me helps to produce an unusually moist and supple bread, the loaves are formed, floured and the tops scored with his signature designs, they are placed in the 6 x 8' oven chamber using a long-handled paddle he called a "peel".

Just handling a 10-foot long paddle is tricky but placing clumps of dough, sometimes as many as 60 loaves in one bake, into the chamber, in the right spot, and then removing them at the right time, is quite an art - an art perfected over many years of baking experience as well as apprenticeships with master bakers all over the world. Yes, Dave knows bread. He knows why each step in his process is important to maintain the integrity of the grain. First, he only uses organically grown grains and grinds it just before he’s ready to bake, as the quality of the grain is at its height just after the kernel is opened. Second, he allows the dough to ferment for 5 to 8 hours, using a natural leavening process. Third, the hot wood fire creates a hearty crust that naturally preserves the flavor, moisture and nutrition in the bread for many days.

I had no idea how much time and work went into handmade bread. I learned a lot that day, but mostly I learned that Miller's Bread is a work of art, a labor of love and Dave Miller is living his passion. The quality and character of every loaf reflects that passion. And when I tore off a piece of that warm walnut bread on the way home, and tasted the difference, I knew I was hooked. Bread for me hasn't been the same since… because now I know that good bread, really good bread, is a gift.