Category
Advanced Techniques
For bakers past their first dozen loaves who want to push craft further. Each piece is opinionated and specific.
All articles in Advanced Techniques
25 posts
How to Develop Your Own Sourdough Recipe From Scratch
Once you understand baker's percentages, you can develop your own recipes. Here's the systematic method.
Pierre Lambert · 5 min read
Soakers in Sourdough: Why Pre-Hydrating Grains Makes Better Bread
A soaker pre-hydrates grains so they don't steal water from your dough. Here's the technique and the recipes.
Diana Khoury · 5 min read
Adding a Poolish or Biga to Sourdough: Why and How
Combining a yeast preferment with a sourdough starter unlocks a wider flavor palette and more reliable timing.
Hans Müller · 3 min read
Levain vs. Starter: What's the Difference and When to Use a Levain
Your starter is your culture. A levain is a custom-built leaven for one bake. Here's how to use both.
Pierre Lambert · 3 min read
How to Get a Tall, Crackling Ear on Your Sourdough
An ear is created by three forces working together: tension, score angle, and steam. Here's the recipe.
Sofia Marchetti · 3 min read
Double Hydration Sourdough Method, Demystified
Adding the water in two stages produces stronger, more open dough. Here's the technique and the science.
Tony Caruso · 3 min read
Cold Bulk Fermentation: A Slower, Smarter Sourdough Workflow
Move bulk to the fridge and you trade time for flexibility, deeper flavor, and stronger gluten.
Pete Kowalski · 3 min read
How to Get an Open Crumb Sourdough Without Drowning the Dough
An open, holey crumb is the result of three things working together — and over-hydration isn't the most important.
Maya Patel · 3 min read
Sourdough at High Altitude: What Changes Above 4000 Feet
Lower air pressure, drier air, faster fermentation — the precise adjustments for mountain bakers.
Margaret Cole · 2 min read
Tartine-Style vs. Classic Sourdough
Two schools of sourdough — high hydration with open crumb vs. balanced traditional. Which is right for you?
Sofia Marchetti · 3 min read
Stiff Starter vs. Liquid Starter
The Italian approach vs. the American approach — and which is right for your kitchen.
Pierre Lambert · 3 min read
Seasonal Sourdough: Adapting Your Technique Year-Round
Temperature, humidity, and seasonal change quietly rewrite your recipe. Here's how to keep up.
Lisa Hartwell · 2 min read
Understanding Hydration: The Key to Texture
From 65% to 85% — what each hydration level does to crumb, crust, and handling.
Master Baker John Park · 2 min read
Autolyse: Why Your Dough Needs a Rest
A passive technique that improves extensibility, gluten, flavor, and final texture — for the cost of waiting.
Dr. Sarah Chen · 2 min read
Shaping: From Boule to Batard
Surface tension, pre-shape, bench rest, final shape — the techniques that decide how your loaf rises.
Sophie Vermeer · 2 min read
Scoring: Function Meets Artistry
Proper scoring controls expansion, prevents random tearing, and turns each loaf into a small canvas.
Lisa Hartwell · 2 min read
What Changed When I Stopped Using Recipes
After two hundred bakes, I switched to baker's percentages. Here's what improved — and what I should've done sooner.
Sofia Marchetti · 3 min read
Bulk Fermentation Mastery: Reading Your Dough
The visual and tactile cues that tell you when bulk is done — and the temperature math behind them.
Tom Whitaker · 2 min read
Ancient Grains: Einkorn, Emmer, and Spelt
Heritage wheats with deeper flavor and different gluten — and how to bake with them.
Emma Cole · 2 min read
Creating the Perfect Sourdough Crust
Steam, surface starch, scoring, and heat — the four levers that build a thin, blistered, deeply browned crust.
Jake Mendoza · 2 min read
Lamination vs. Coil Folds: Dough Strengthening Methods
Two strengthening techniques, two outcomes. When to use each — and how each changes the crumb.
Rosa Marquez · 2 min read
Seasonal Flour Adjustments
Flour changes with the seasons. Why your reliable recipe stopped working — and how to find it again.
Ben Holloway · 2 min read
Creating Sourdough Flavor Profiles
Why your bread tastes the way it does — and how to push it sweeter, more sour, more complex, or more mild.
Luna Park · 2 min read
Developing Your Signature Sourdough
Move past recipes. The style is the choices you make consistently — flour, hydration, scoring, crust, crumb.
Sofia Marchetti · 2 min read
Competition Sourdough: Baking for Contests
What judges look for — and how to bake bread that scores high.
Bella Constantin · 3 min read