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A typical shift
You start when most of the country is asleep, often 2am or 3am. Doughs made the day before come out of the cooler. Mix, bulk ferment, divide, shape, proof, bake, in a sequence you cannot rearrange, because the dough sets the timing and not you. By 6am the first racks have to be out front. Wholesale bakers run bigger machines to tighter schedules; retail bakers also handle customers and custom orders. You clean the entire time, and you are usually finished by lunch.