Sam Whitaker · June 19, 2026
Nine years back, on a flat gray Tuesday morning, I hauled a sourdough boule out of the oven and watched it sink into something closer to a hockey puck than a proper loaf. The dough itself wasn’t to blame. Fermentation had gone exactly as planned, and the shaping held up fine. The real culprit was … Read more
Sam Whitaker · May 29, 2026
A stretch of ninety-degree afternoons had turned my kitchen into a furnace last summer, and it was during that swelter that I finally understood what my equipment had been quietly telling me for years. A loaf came out of that oven looking flawless — deep golden crust, a proud ear, all the visual cues of … Read more
Sam Whitaker · May 19, 2026
For the first two years of my sourdough journey, I was baking directly on a pizza stone and covering my loaves with a roasting pan lid. The results were fine — edible, even enjoyable — but the crust never had…
Sam Whitaker · April 29, 2026
For months, I baked sourdough in a hand-me-down enameled Dutch oven. The results were fine — decent ear, decent crust — but I kept seeing stunning open crumb shots online. People credited their baking vessel. That sent me deep into…
