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Tips, techniques and stories from the sourdough world. Practical guides on hydration, fermentation, scoring, troubleshooting, and the small details that turn a good loaf into a great one. Articles are written by bakers, for bakers — short enough to read with one hand on the dough.
If you read this blog regularly, you know my sourdough starter spends a fair amount of time napping in the fridge. And let's be honest: sometimes you just decide on Tuesday evening that there should be fresh bread on Wednesday. No starter to feed, no two days of planning ahead — just flour, water, yeast and a plan.
CrumbLab now has a third simulator: pizza dough with dough balls, cold rise up to 72 hours and oven profiles. Plus: the bake timer is now on the yeast bread page too — including a poolish notification.
My sourdough spends more time dozing in the fridge than actively sitting on the countertop. After a few weeks in the cold, today it was time to wake it up again. And that’s one of the nice things about sourdough: you can keep it chilled for quite a long time, but sooner or later you’ll want to bake bread again instead of keeping a jar in permanent hibernation.
It was a sleeves-rolled-up day on CrumbLab. No shiny new features, but a bunch of things that just make baking with the simulator more pleasant. An honest little story.
It's been a busy week behind the scenes at CrumbLab. No big new features this time — just a bunch of small improvements that together make the platform a lot tidier.
If there's one technique that separates good sourdough from great sourdough, it's the cold proof. Also called cold retarding, this simple step — putting your shaped dough in the fridge overnight — transforms your bread in ways that warm proofing alone can't match.
If you've spent any time in sourdough communities, you've seen people proudly announcing their hydration percentages like badges of honor. "85% hydration open crumb! " But what does hydration actually mean, and why should you care?
So you want to bake sourdough bread. Welcome to one of the most rewarding (and occasionally frustrating) kitchen adventures you'll ever embark on. This guide will walk you through everything you need for your first successful loaf.