Journal
Sourdough, written carefully.
Articles on technique, science, recipes, and troubleshooting — with the kind of detail you wish was easier to find.
Advanced Techniques
17 posts
- Advanced Techniques
Sourdough at High Altitude: What Changes Above 4000 Feet
Lower air pressure, drier air, faster fermentation — the precise adjustments for mountain bakers.
Margaret Cole · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Tartine-Style vs. Classic Sourdough
Two schools of sourdough — high hydration with open crumb vs. balanced traditional. Which is right for you?
Sofia Marchetti · 3 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Stiff Starter vs. Liquid Starter
The Italian approach vs. the American approach — and which is right for your kitchen.
Pierre Lambert · 3 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Seasonal Sourdough: Adapting Your Technique Year-Round
Temperature, humidity, and seasonal change quietly rewrite your recipe. Here's how to keep up.
Lisa Hartwell · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Understanding Hydration: The Key to Texture
From 65% to 85% — what each hydration level does to crumb, crust, and handling.
Master Baker John Park · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Autolyse: Why Your Dough Needs a Rest
A passive technique that improves extensibility, gluten, flavor, and final texture — for the cost of waiting.
Dr. Sarah Chen · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Shaping: From Boule to Batard
Surface tension, pre-shape, bench rest, final shape — the techniques that decide how your loaf rises.
Sophie Vermeer · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Scoring: Function Meets Artistry
Proper scoring controls expansion, prevents random tearing, and turns each loaf into a small canvas.
Lisa Hartwell · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
What Changed When I Stopped Using Recipes
After two hundred bakes, I switched to baker's percentages. Here's what improved — and what I should've done sooner.
Sofia Marchetti · 3 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Bulk Fermentation Mastery: Reading Your Dough
The visual and tactile cues that tell you when bulk is done — and the temperature math behind them.
Tom Whitaker · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Ancient Grains: Einkorn, Emmer, and Spelt
Heritage wheats with deeper flavor and different gluten — and how to bake with them.
Emma Cole · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Creating the Perfect Sourdough Crust
Steam, surface starch, scoring, and heat — the four levers that build a thin, blistered, deeply browned crust.
Jake Mendoza · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Lamination vs. Coil Folds: Dough Strengthening Methods
Two strengthening techniques, two outcomes. When to use each — and how each changes the crumb.
Rosa Marquez · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Seasonal Flour Adjustments
Flour changes with the seasons. Why your reliable recipe stopped working — and how to find it again.
Ben Holloway · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Creating Sourdough Flavor Profiles
Why your bread tastes the way it does — and how to push it sweeter, more sour, more complex, or more mild.
Luna Park · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Developing Your Signature Sourdough
Move past recipes. The style is the choices you make consistently — flour, hydration, scoring, crust, crumb.
Sofia Marchetti · 2 min read
- Advanced Techniques
Competition Sourdough: Baking for Contests
What judges look for — and how to bake bread that scores high.
Bella Constantin · 3 min read