The Good Crust

09/03/2026

08/27/2026

Please meet our new friends at Family Dinner! They may it easy for families in the Greater Boston Area to source healthy, local foods in convenient home subscription boxes.

We spy The Good Crust on the “Back to School” menu!!

Healthy stone milled grains from Maine, sourdough, no pesticides, and chemical free 🙌🍕

08/27/2026

Are you a bagel baker committed to local grains? Consider this Maine Bagel Bake Off amidst your peers and showcase your skills!!

Sponsored by the Maine Grain Alliance

🥯 Applications are OPEN for the Maine Bagel-Off! 🥯Calling all professional Maine bagel bakers! Do you run a licensed bakery, commercial kitchen, food truck, or catering operation with a bagel worth bragging about? We want you in the competition.

We're especially excited to hear from bakers using local Maine ingredients and Maine-grown grains — show us what makes your bagel uniquely Maine.
✅ Free to apply
✅ Open to all professional bagel businesses in Maine
✅ Tell us about your bakery + your best bagel

Link in bio to apply!

08/11/2026

When restaurants, institutions, caterers, and home cooks choose the ingredients of their region, good jobs are created in our communities.

We are grateful to do this work in rural Somerset County, using a “Wicked Inclusive” employment model, in a growing team of 20+ people!

08/06/2026

Reflections from those who visit the Kneading Conference each year are a compliment to the change happening in our regional grain community, our kitchens, and the people linking forces to drive that change.

Jane Black’s piece on her Substack, “Consumed” is worth a read!

We were delighted to welcome food writer Jane Black to this year's Kneading Conference.

Jane has spent her career chasing the story behind every food, the people, and the place behind it. But she told us flour was always her exception. Accessible, cheap, all-purpose flour was the one thing she never thought twice about.

That changed in Skowhegan.

Jane wrote about what fresh milled flour actually tastes like once you try it. Rye with a nutty depth. Spelt that changes a pizza crust. And rolled oats that really blew her away.

Jane returned home with a suitcase full of flour and cleared her pantry of what she now calls her old, dead grains.

And that's just a taste of her piece, which also touches on the local food movement, Skowhegan's economic revival, and the ripple effect one mill can have on a small town.

We're grateful she came, and even more grateful she wrote about it. Her full story can be accessed through this link. https://consumed.substack.com/p/flour-power

08/03/2026

Let's give a shout out to the School Nutrition Professionals that are dedicating time during their summer break to deepen their recipe development and use of local foods for healthy, creative scratch cooking 👏

Maine students are so lucky!

We are grateful for the commitment to local grains amongst our many partners, showcased here on Sandwich Day!

Chefs Cathy Powers & Samantha Gasbarro 🥦🥕

07/24/2026

Kneading Conference 2026!

What could be better than spending the day at the riverside playing with dough, flame, and wood fired ovens with our friends?

The Good Crust, Heather Kerner
Maine Oven Craft, Maine Grain Alliance
Z&Z Manouche Bakery
Cafe Miranda Rockland, Chef Kerry Altiero Stephanie Swane, Martin Phillip, King Arthur Baking Company

More to come today!

07/22/2026

For those of you attending the Kneading Conference 2026, welcome to Skowhegan!! Our team will be attending and presenting alongside you...

We are especially excited to join our long-time friends to offer a short master class on Thursday morning, 10:00-12:00 at The Biergarten riverside. See you at the oven 🔥✌

Mastering the Flame: Craft, Crust, and Cultivation

Join Heather Kerner of The Good Crust and Scott Barden of Maine Oven Craft for a riverside, hands-on workshop dedicated to the art and science of wood-fired cooking. This workshop bridges the gap between master masonry and local agriculture. It is designed for bakers, chefs, and wood-fired oven enthusiasts who want to elevate their craft and may be considering live fire cooking to elevate flavor and community in their business or backyard.

What You Will Learn:
* Thermal Dynamics: Master live-fire management, heat retention, and flame control from a premier oven builder.

* Local Grain Artistry: Work with 100% regional grains to create flavorful, crowd-pleasingfoods that handle high heat perfectly.

* Artisanal Toppings: Source, prep, and bake seasonal, local ingredients that harmonize with smoky, wood-fired flavors.

* Baking Efficiency: Learn how to read the oven's fire to continuously bake perfect, smoky dishes for large gatherings.

Experience Level: Open to all levels, from curious home cooks to professional pizzaiolos.

In support of: The Maine Grain Alliance

07/20/2026

"Baking Local: A Conversation on Place, Grains, and Maine's Baking Identity"

We're thrilled to welcome Kathy Gunst—James Beard Award-winning food journalist, acclaimed cookbook author, and Resident Chef for NPR's Here & Now—to The Kneading Conference for the very first time. Author of Rage Baking: The Transformative Power of Flour, Butter and Women's Voices and a beloved voice in food media, Kathy brings her gift for compelling conversation and deep curiosity to a panel exploring what it means to bake local in Maine.

Join Heather Kerner of The Good Crust and Christine Cascella of Chicky's, as they sit down with Kathy ——for an engaging discussion on place, grains, and identity. What does "local" really mean? How does baking with Maine Grains differ from baking in California or Ohio? And what does it take to build a baking practice rooted in local ingredients and community?

With her trademark warmth and insight, Kathy will guide Heather and Christine through their individual approaches to Maine baking, what sparks their curiosity, and what's next on their creative horizons. From extensible sourdough pizza dough made with 100% Maine grains to bold, creative pizza slabs and wholesome baked goods, discover how these bakers are defining a distinctly Maine approach to their craft.

Don't miss this rare opportunity to hear Kathy Gunst in conversation—register now
https://sched.co/2QE6f

06/17/2026

We hope to see you there!