our guiding principles:

Our bread is local. We source our grain from New York state and the surrounding region, increasing freshness, flavor, and nutrition in the process. We source additional ingredients (polenta, currants, honey, and more) organically and locally whenever possible. This allows us to keep business spending as local as we can, so that our customers are not only supporting Signal Fire, they’re supporting farms and mills in the region, too.

Our flour is stone ground. Stone-ground flours retain a higher percentage of bran and germ, as compared to conventionally milled flours. This results in a tastier, more nutrient-dense loaf, due to the higher vitamin, mineral, fat and fiber content the bran and germ provide.

Our bread is naturally leavened, aka sourdough. We use flour and water to cultivate local wild yeast strains, adding flavor that's unique to our corner of the world, and creating bread that's nutritious and delicious through the wonders of natural fermentation.

Our bread is small-batch. Hand-shaped, baked in a wood fired oven, and sometimes even hand-mixed, our bread has a necessary production limit, keeping quality high.

Our bread is about community. We value a human-focused work environment, fair wages, environmental consciousness in our work and practices, kindness, and access to food for all people. We currently donate bread weekly bread to Fred’s Pantry in Peekskill and the Philipstown Food Pantry in Cold Spring, and plan to increase our donation work in our community.

our STORY:

Signal Fire Bread began in Erin’s Cold Spring home in 2018, bolstered by community connections made through Liz, who previously created the much-loved Garrison Bread. We began sharing space with our friends at Sparrowbush Bakery in July 2018, increasing our production and increasing our knowledge of wood fired baking. Liz joined the bakery in 2019, and officially became co-owner at the start of 2020. After making bread in partnership with Sparrowbush through December 2020, we are now thrilled to be building our own bakery space in Peekskill.

we are:

Erin detrick

Before starting Signal Fire, Erin was the sous chef at She Wolf Bakery in NYC, baked for Daniel Boulud's restaurant group, and apprenticed with Peter Endriss at Runner and Stone. Prior to that, she worked in the theater industry for over a decade, primarily in new play development with the non-profit New Dramatists, and in new play publishing at Playscripts.

liz rauch

Liz began her bread career as founder of Garrison Bread, a small-scale organic sourdough bread business she operated out of her home from 2014 to 2016. Prior to and following that, Liz worked in the renewable energy sector, as a data quality engineer for solar and demand response software firms.