Sam Whitaker · June 22, 2026
Your starter is bubbly. Your kitchen smells incredible. You’ve shaped your first boule at 2 a.m. and you’re genuinely convinced you’ve nailed it. Then you open your Dutch oven at 450°F and find… a pancake. Eleven years later, I’ve learned that flat loaves aren’t a failure—they’re feedback. Over three years running my home microbakery, I … Read more
Sam Whitaker · February 14, 2026
Ninety seconds. That’s the entire time investment standing between a loaf that holds its shape and one that spreads into a sad, sagging puddle on the parchment. Late one Tuesday, clock ticking toward 11pm, I found myself staring at a loaf so flat it looked more like something off an IHOP menu than something pulled … Read more
Sam Whitaker · January 19, 2026
The lid barely cracked open before that sharp, boozy tang hit me — sitting right on top of my starter was a thin layer of grayish liquid I hadn’t seen before, pooled like something had gone wrong overnight. This was a starter I’d been babying for three months, and my brain immediately jumped to worst-case … Read more
