Sam Whitaker · August 1, 2026
Right now I’ve got a bowl of gluey, unfed discard sitting on the counter and absolutely no interest in babysitting a full sourdough timeline today. No overnight bulk rise, no careful shaping — just a fast discard dough, a quick dunk in boiling water, and bite-sized bagels ready in roughly half an hour. My kids … Read more
Sam Whitaker · July 31, 2026
Here’s a claim that surprises people: sourdough dinner rolls don’t have to turn out dense or tight just because they skip commercial yeast — that’s the myth keeping folks loyal to the plastic-bagged rolls from the grocery aisle. Done right, these come out soft, faintly sweet, pillowy enough to pull apart, with a golden crown … Read more
Sam Whitaker · July 30, 2026
Twenty seconds a side in a rolling boil of water and baking soda — that’s the entire technical trick separating a plain twisted breadstick from something that actually tastes like it came from a real bakery counter, and it takes far less effort than you’d guess. For years I made pretzels the standard way, letting … Read more
Sam Whitaker · July 29, 2026
Wondering if you actually need a marble slab, a dough sheeter, or some kind of professional bakery setup before you can attempt sourdough croissants at home? You don’t. What lamination — that repeated folding and rolling that builds the flaky layers — actually demands is a cold kitchen, a decent rolling pin, and the willingness … Read more
Sam Whitaker · July 28, 2026
Back when I first started making these, I’d set an alarm for 5am on Christmas morning just to babysit a proof, because I hadn’t yet cracked the trick of letting the fridge do the heavy lifting overnight. These days the dough gets mixed after supper, the rolls get shaped before I turn in, and the … Read more
Sam Whitaker · July 24, 2026
I can still picture the crumb shot from my very first tray of sourdough English muffins — golden and even on the outside, but when I tore one open, it was tight, pale, and almost bready inside, with nothing resembling a hole for butter to soak into. What that flat, close crumb told me was … Read more
Sam Whitaker · July 15, 2026
Most home bakers assume a sourdough bagel is basically your everyday loaf dough, pinched into a ring and dunked in hot water for good measure — and that assumption is exactly what sank my earliest attempts. My first pot of boiled dough came out looking the part, then baked up into dense little rolls with … Read more
Sam Whitaker · June 6, 2026
My hands are dusted with flour and flecks of rosemary as I slide this latest sheet of crackers out of the oven, the edges just turning that deep gold at 350°F. Rosemary and sea salt is the flavor I always reach for first — it’s the recipe I hand guests before anything else, because it … Read more
Sam Whitaker · June 5, 2026
Cheese doesn’t just add flavor to a cracker dough — that’s the myth that trips up nearly every home baker’s first attempt, mine included. When I first tried building sourdough cheese crackers to mimic the boxed ones I grew up snacking on, I blew past the target entirely: what came out of my oven was … Read more
Sam Whitaker · June 3, 2026
325°F. That’s the temperature I bake almost every seeded batch at, a full 25 degrees below what works fine for a plain sourdough cracker — and that one number is the difference between seeds that toast beautifully and seeds that turn bitter and black before the dough even finishes crisping. Seeded crackers have always vanished … Read more
