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Monday 8am - 5pm Friday 8am - 11am

Mountain Oven Organic Bakery

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United States
Paonia, CO
Mountain Oven Organic Bakery

Mountain Oven Organic Bakery creates all-organic breads and other tasty things at 6,000' up in Paoni All of our ingredients are organic.

We live, love, and work in Paonia, Colorado - a small agrarian town with a big heart and vision. Our valley is watched over by the West Elks of the Rocky Mountains. Immense wild beauty surrounds our community of farmers, makers, artists, and folks who enjoy living in harmony with one another and the land. Our community celebrates a revitalization of ways of life and work that return us to the land

and to each other: folk traditions, baking, wine making, seed saving, art, and community service. These acts nourish the soul and support our ability to thrive together in the eclectic Paonian rendition of Rural America. Our bakery adjoins the Paonia Community Kitchen - a great gathering and community space. You’ll often find us tending our work there, at farmer’s market, or in the garden. We stone-grind our own whole-grain flours and use natural leaveners (sourdough culture) for optimal nutrition and flavor. Our bread is hand-shaped, canvas proofed, baked on stones, and made with creativity & love. Whenever possible, we source from local producers including a wide variety of local grains. Wholesome food is nourishing to both body and spirit – feed your soul!

05/27/2026

It's that time of year again! We're loading up tents and tables into the van for the season already.

This week the pace picks up around here. We’re no slouches during the winter months either, but summer has a different feel here - the bakery is buzzing at a higher frequency, there are new staff around each week right now, and the production numbers are increasing. The mill is running more hours every day, lots of flour bins and busy bakers moving through the kitchen. As is with most things in life, if we plan appropriately the whole operation goes smoothly. There is a lot of orchestration to make that happen and of course we drop the ball as we go. But generally, we’ve got great systems in place and have a smooth sailing ship here.

This weekend we’ll head over Kebler Pass to Crested Butte for the first farmers market of the season! If you can, we'd love for you to come visit us at the CBFM on a Sunday this year. The hours are 9am to 2pm. A word to the wise - we will sell out, so come early!

The farmers market is a fun place. When I started baking in Crested Butte way back in 2010, the whole idea was to create something that would involve me in the farmers market community. Bread was just the avenue to participate in the community I wanted to join. I never knew I would fall so deep into this rabbit hole! I still love the market. The CB market especially has a very strong and supportive vendor community - there is very minimal drama, and a lot of helping hands for anyone who needs it. We love the chance to get to see our farmer friends after the winter months, to share stories and photos of our families and plan for how to use the incoming harvest on our summer menus. At the market we get to see old friends from the Gunnison Valley too - a place I called home for almost 10 years.

The farmers market is a gathering place, a place to connect with community, AND a place to get groceries. It is much more than a place of commerce, and we are so grateful for all the support we have received there over the years.

05/20/2026

Mill, bake, taste, adjust, repeat.

We're excited to be milling more for some other great regional bakers. Here's a half pallet of fresh milled flour, en route to . We're quietly building our milling business here, focusing on quality, consistency, and transparency.

Thanks to and for getting it down the road!

05/01/2026

Growing up, I regularly walked through the Amherst Farmers Market with my mom to gather up some special local veggies and of course pay a visit to the bakery booth. The bakery that we bought our bread from was none other than , an iconic and historic bakery located in Western Massachusetts and founded by Richard Bourdon. Richard has inspired and trained countless exceptional bakers across the country - his bakery and the style of rustic artisan sourdough he made was way ahead of it’s time.

I had no idea of any of this, of course. I was a child, and I liked the bread, and that’s as much as I ever thought about it. Had I known I would dedicate decades of my life as an adult to learning this craft, I would have tried to get a job scrubbing the floor of Berkshire Mountain Bread when I still lived in MA. But alas, I did not.

The bread though? I still recall the aroma of the loaf, which we would regularly unveil from it’s paper bag on the ride home and rip open to enjoy. The loaf was his Potato Onion Rosemary bread. Incredibly, it is still listed on his website some 25+ years later. I didn’t know if it was naturally leavened or yeast risen. I didn’t think of any details of how it was made. I just knew it was soft (extra soft from the potatoes), herby, and just perfect to eat on it’s own or with some butter atop. I think we’d dip it into soup for dinner. I don’t remember much of what happened to the bread once it got home. The bread stood on it’s own, and the memory is one that I cherish. I’m so grateful for my mom who brought me to the market, who helped me subconsciously understand the value of eating local, who fed us nourishing meals amidst the chaos of raising ambitious children.

This week, we’ll aim to honor this memory. We’re roasting up CO organic Yukon golds and yellow onions in a generous amount of olive oil, and combining this with fresh rosemary from Engaged Learning to make a rough mash that we will fold into our french white sourdough base. Come grab a loaf on Friday. You’ll see what I mean.

And thanks Richard. We’ve never met, but I’m so grateful for the energetic seeds you planted. If you ever come to CO, come say hi!

04/24/2026

We've got German Rye on the table this morning. Come and get it.

04/23/2026

Mountain Oven is looking for an experienced baker to join our team. We are a craft wholesale bakery and milling operation dedicated to local grains, stone milling, and natural leavening.

Position: Manage production (200-350kg/day) and stone milling operations. You’ll lead the team through mixing, shaping, and baking, refine formulas for fresh-milled grain, and help develop seasonal specials.

Culture: We employ a continuous improvement mindset in a team-oriented environment. We work hard, always aiming to enjoy our time working, those we work with, and the fruits of our labor!

Compensation: $20+/hr (DOE) + tips, 4-day work week (no overnights), and healthcare assistance.

Relocation: Independent housing is available to help you settle into Paonia, CO and can be a part of a compensation agreement.

Requirements: 2+ years professional sourdough experience and a passion for fresh-milled flour.

Full details at: https://www.mountainoven.com/join-our-team

Email resumes to: [email protected]

🌾🌾🌾

04/22/2026

Break is over and we are back in the kitchen today. Come see us this Friday 4/24 to restock and say hi. Our drivers will be out delivering the goods to all the usual stops as well!

We had a nice break - now it's back to bread and croissants! Thanks for hanging tight this past week as we rested up.

04/08/2026

We'll be closed next week! Stock up this Friday.

If you’ve been chewing on Mountain Oven breads for awhile, you know we regularly take a brief pause from production in the spring and the fall. This spring, we’ll be closed next week.

These breaks are important. They give time for us to get into projects that are not feasible to do when the kitchen is running strong. Even more crucially, they give us space to walk away from the bakery for a bit, let the emails stack up, and have more time for the rest of life. As an owner operator of a hands-on bakery and mill, I find it is nearly impossible to let my mind fully wander away from the bakery if we’re in production, even if I am traveling out of town. These closures allow for time to reset, prepare mentally for the next season, and just let my shoulders relax a bit.

We will re-open on Friday 4/24. In the meantime, put a couple loaves in your freezer, or better yet grab a bag of flour this Friday and bake something fresh at home next week!

Photo 1: Croissant sandos for Easter
Photo 2: Carrot Cake Danish - carrot cake frangipane, cream cheese frost, candied walnuts, carrot dust
Photo 3: Strawberry Orange Curd Pain Suisse

04/01/2026

Carrot Cake Is Seasonally Appropriate

One could make the argument that carrot cake is always appropriate. It is, for many of us around here, our favorite cake. Soft, warmly spiced, and topped with tangy cream cheese frosting - carrot cake is hard to beat.

But back to the point - carrot cake, in this moment as spring rains fall on green pastures, is truly seasonally appropriate. This time of year brings warmth, increased humidity, more sunlight, and a need to clear out the larder. Root vegetables harvested last fall, no matter how well you’ve stored them, start to soften and spoil. Birds greet the morning light. Egg layers go into overdrive. Eager gardeners plant seeds all to early.

I digress. Back to the root vegetables. A few years ago we made a solid effort to utilize the old root cellar that is dug into the North side of the hill in our orchard. We held a variety of roots in there, along with some cheese from our dear friend Greg. It worked decently through the cold months, but once the ground thawed, the humidity shot up to 90%+ and everything quickly molded. The old structure is too compromised, too many cracks leading into the damp earth. We use the fridge now.

Last night, Dana and I sorted through some fall harvested carrots. They have been in storage at the bakery for months and weren’t looking their finest. We sorted into 3 categories: compost, dog-food grade, and human-food grade. Fortunately most ended up in the last category. Rosie loves steamed carrots with butter, so we’re likely to have that featured in upcoming dinners!

I never understood the relationship between Easter and eggs, or ever thought about why carrot cake might be associated with this time of year, until I lived in Paonia. We didn’t have laying hens growing up. I never knew there was such abundance of eggs in the springtime. I never thought about the need to clear out the larder. Now it makes sense. I’ve got egg producers texting me looking for an outlet this time of year. We’ve got carrots whose days are limited, ready to shine brightly in a spice cake. I really enjoy putting these dots together, and tracing modern traditions back to the land. It always comes back to the land.

03/26/2026

Friday Community Bakery Day is coming up again! Join us for bread, pastry, breakfast burritos, quiche, and coffee this Friday 8-11am at 395 Clark Ave, Paonia🌾🌾

Specials:

Hot Cross Buns

Feta Arugula Croissant Knot

And all of our usual items!

03/22/2026

🌱Sprouted Rye - this one sold out fast!

We make a whole grain rye loaf once a month. 100% rye flour (40% prefermented) 95% whey hydration, a middlings scald, and whatever we feel like adding in that month.

We love it - rye is such a delicious grain that is way under appreciated. No, it's not going to make an open crumb French style pain au levain...that's not the point. It is dense, moist, hearty, nutritious, and honestly one of my favorite bread types. Even one year old kids love it! (sample size n = 1).

This month we folded in 60% sprouted rye berries. 72 hours of germination before they went into the dough. The sprouted rye add a bit of texture to the loaf, and a whole lot of malty depth of flavor.

It's exciting when the rye loaves sell out. We'd love to have this on weekly rotation if the demand was there for it.

Address

395 Clark Avenue
Paonia, CO
81428

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 11am

Website

http://www.mountainoven.com/

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