Sam Whitaker · June 26, 2026
“Why do you have six different jars for the same starter?” My sister asked me that over Thanksgiving a couple years back, watching me dig through my cabinet like I was searching for a specific wrench in a toolbox. The honest answer traces back to a Tuesday morning when my sourdough starter container ended up … Read more
Sam Whitaker · June 20, 2026
Ever pulled a gorgeous, fully-risen sourdough round out of bulk fermentation only to find it flat-out refuses to fit inside your banneton? That exact nightmare hit me at 11 PM on a Friday night, standing in my kitchen wondering how I’d let this happen. And “refuses” is putting it mildly. This was a physical impossibility. … Read more
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 30, 2026
Half the sourdough advice floating around says a quick rinse and air-dry is all a Dutch oven ever needs; the other half insists you must re-oil it like a cast iron skillet after every single bake. The air-dry camp is dead wrong, and I found that out the hard way the morning I pulled my … Read more
Sam Whitaker · May 28, 2026
No recipe card warns you about the specific 6 AM moment when you’re staring down 30 balls of cold dough with zero clue which vessel is going to pull its weight. My kitchen looked like a flour-dusted crime scene that morning. A Dutch oven claimed one counter. A brand-new Challenger Bread Pan claimed the other. … Read more
