Overnight bake shift

Definition

The baking shift that runs before opening, which is the hardest role in the trade to staff.

Why It Matters

Bread and pastry have to be finished before the doors open, so somebody is working from two in the morning and that person is the hardest hire in the trade. A bakery where the owner bakes is a bakery whose head baker is leaving at closing. Ask who works the overnight shift, how long they have been there, what they are paid, and what the plan is if they follow the seller out the door.