Latest posts
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Reading Crumb Structure to Diagnose a Sourdough Bake
A sliced loaf is a record of everything that happened to it, and the crumb is readable if the baker knows what each pattern indicates. Most sourdough problems are fermentation problems, and the crumb usually says which direction the error ran. David Anthes, who bakes at home in Bend, Oregon, photographs the cut face of…
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Scoring and Steam and What Actually Produces Oven Spring
Oven spring is the rapid expansion in the first minutes of baking, and it depends on two things a baker controls at the last moment. Scoring decides where the loaf opens. Steam decides how long it stays open before the crust sets. David Anthes, a home baker in Bend, Oregon, bakes in a Dutch oven…
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Cold Retarding Sourdough Overnight in the Refrigerator
Cold retarding is a shaped loaf held in the refrigerator through the final proof, and it changes flavor, handling, and scheduling at once. The technique is standard in bakeries and it solves a real problem for home bakers, which is that the last stage of proofing rarely lines up with a workday. David Anthes, who…
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Preshaping, Shaping, and the Mechanics of Surface Tension
Shaping determines whether a loaf rises up or spreads out, and it works by building a tensioned outer skin that resists expansion in every direction except upward. The gas is already in the dough by the time shaping happens. Shaping only decides where it goes. David Anthes, a home baker in Bend, Oregon, treats preshape…
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Autolyse and Building Gluten Without Kneading
Autolyse is a rest of flour and water before salt and starter are added, and it does most of the work that kneading would otherwise do. The technique was described by Raymond Calvel and it exploits two processes that happen on their own. David Anthes, who bakes at home in Bend, Oregon, uses a rest…
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Bulk Fermentation Temperature and How to Read the Dough
Bulk fermentation is where the loaf is decided, and it is governed by temperature far more than by the clock. Every recipe that specifies four hours of bulk is quietly assuming a room temperature the reader does not have. David Anthes, a home baker in Bend, Oregon, stopped following bulk times in recipes once he…
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What Hydration Percentage Actually Changes in Sourdough Dough
Hydration is expressed as water weight divided by flour weight, and it changes handling far more than it changes the finished loaf. A 70 percent dough and a 78 percent dough made from the same flour can produce similar crumb if both are fermented and shaped well. The difference shows up in the mixing bowl,…
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How Starter Feeding Ratios Set the Timing of a Sourdough Bake
Feeding ratio is the single largest lever a home baker has over starter timing. The ratio describes parts of old starter to parts of fresh flour to parts of water, written as 1:1:1 or 1:5:5, and it determines how long the culture takes to reach peak activity and how sour the resulting dough tastes. David…