It is common for a potential student to ask me what would I recommend as a good course to start with.  Or on another occasion someone will ask me is it alright to pitch onto Italian or Sourdough without having begun with a Basic; or someone inquires about tackling a two-day course in which they have real interest, like French with Sourdough, yet they are pretty much a beginner at bread making, and admit that they lack experience.

To all these enquiries I point out that there is nothing rigid about PANARY’s order of events. I have been teaching baking for over 20 years, and I am entirely accustomed to having a room full of people with very different levels of understanding concerning the whole process of fermenting bread, and of skills on the bench. Hence, students can feel welcome to join a course that attracts them even if they are aware that they are inexperienced in that particular area, or do not feel that they have prepared in any way.

However, I can offer help by creating the sign-posts that indicate the level or category that the courses fall into. The divisions are beginners, intermediate level, and advanced. Further I can map out a few step-by-step journeys in a cumulative way, suggesting how you can get the most out of the programmes.

Beginner Level

There are six different courses that are basic in their content and pitched for those who are actually beginners, or people who may feel rusty having made a start at baking in the past, but then neglected it. These are:

• · 1 Day “The Yeast Trio”
• · 1 Day Basic Bread Baking
• · 1 Day Basic British
• · 1 Day Flatbreads
• · 1 Day Pizza and Italian Baking
• · 1 Day Wood-fired Oven

Pizza & Italian – uses the wood-fired oven. Flatbreads uses both electric oven and the wood-fired oven.

Intermediate Level

• · 1 Day French Baking
• · 1 Day Italian
• · 1 Day Nordic-Germanic
• · 1 Day Sweet Doughs (Easter)
• · 1 Day Sweet Doughs Christmas Baking
• · 2 Day French – with Sourdough

Advanced Level

• · 1 Day Patisserie/Viennoiserie
• · 3 Day Baking Skills
• · 3 Day Going Professional

Here are some of my suggested cumulative journeys:

From Basic & Basic British you could go to any other one-day course, or straight to a 3-day course

From Yeast Trio → any other one-day course, including Sourdough → 2-day and 3-day

For the European enthusiast: French / Pizza & Italian / Sourdough /1 Day Italian / Wood-fired Oven → 2-day and 3-day courses

For the Sourdough enthusiast: Sourdough → 2-Day French → 3-day course

Wood-fired oven enthusiast: Wood-fired Oven / Pizza & Italian / Flatbreads → 2-day and 3-day courses

Professional person: Any one-day/2-day course → 3-day courses, particularly “Going Professional”

I hope that helps you to make a more informed choice. Of course, if you’d like further information, please contact PANARY via our contact page and I’ll be happy to offer further advice and guidance.