Sam Whitaker · March 6, 2026
Most sourdough you’ll find at farmers markets or fancy bakeries is built for show, not for sandwiches. Thick crust. Huge irregular crumb. Beautiful for Instagram. Terrible for actually eating lunch. A proper sandwich loaf changes that equation entirely. After 11 years of baking and three years running a home microbakery, I’ve learned that the best … Read more
Sam Whitaker · March 5, 2026
Open, lacey crumb has a reputation for needing a professional deck oven to pull off at home. It doesn’t — it needs correct hydration, real steam, and a dough you haven’t over-handled. Why High Hydration Dough Is So Frustrating Dough above 80% hydration is genuinely sticky and hard to shape without experience. It spreads instead … Read more
Sam Whitaker · March 3, 2026
Ever wonder why a loaf can look flawless on the outside and still hide a wet, gummy center the moment you slice into it? I found out the hard way, on the day I proudly handed my neighbor what I was sure was my finest sourdough yet, only to watch her knife sink into a … Read more
Sam Whitaker · March 2, 2026
Three winters back, I nearly wrecked a batch of dough late one evening while trying to cover up a kitchen blunder before my husband got home and asked what that smell was. The whole mess started with an unmarked jar, a flash of panic, and a frantic search through baking forums well past midnight. Somewhere … Read more
Sam Whitaker · March 1, 2026
Two loaves of sourdough, baked from the same dough on the same day, don’t lie — even when the internet insists they should. Half of what you’ll read about sourdough water treats plain tap water like a silent starter-killer, and the other half insists filtration is a gimmick nobody actually needs. The first camp gets … Read more
