Good morning, bakers. Today's the day. Two tracks, same destination: Yeasted with Poolish — if you started your poolish last night, you're on the dinner-ready timeline. Sourdough — longer build, deeper flavor. Worth the wait. Both recipes finish with the alkaline bath, that mahogany crust, and the snap that makes a pretzel loaf a pretzel loaf. Drop in the thread: - Where you are in the process - Photos as you go (poolish, dough, shaped, boiled, baked, sliced) - Questions, anytime. No question is too small. - Wins. Fails. Everything in between. Quick reminders: - Bread sling or parchment makes the boil-to-oven transfer way easier - Everything topping goes on right after the boil while the surface is wet, not after the bake - 4.7L water, 120g baking soda, rolling boil before you dunk - Watch the crust color, you want deep mahogany, not just brown Adjust to fit your kitchen: If the alkaline bath feels like a lot, or your pot's not big enough, or you're juggling one Dutch oven and trying to make it all work, split the dough into two smaller loaves. Smaller loaves are easier to handle in the bath, easier to bake, and just as tasty. Bake time will come down a bit, so watch the color and the internal temp. Adjust to the situation you're in. The recipe works for you, not the other way around. Both recipes are in the Recipe Pantry. Full video walk-through is on YouTube if you need a refresher. Let's bake. Perfection is not required. Progress is. ~ Henry ⭐🔥

Matt asked a great question on the Poolish Pretzel Loaf recipe, and I know he’s not the only one wondering. So let’s break this down. First, the brand name question. No, you don’t have to use King Arthur. Or Bob’s Red Mill. Or any specific brand. When you see “KA bread flour” in one of my recipes, that’s just because I happened to be testing with what was on my counter that day. What actually matters is the protein percentage on the bag. Bread flour generally runs 12 to 14 percent protein. All-purpose runs 9 to 11 percent. That number is what’s doing the work, not the logo. Kirkland AP, Gold Medal AP, store brand AP. They all behave the same way if the protein is in the same range. Flip the bag over, look at the nutrition panel, divide grams of protein by serving size in grams, and you’ve got your number. Now the science part. Why mix two flours at all? Protein builds gluten. Gluten is what traps the gas your starter or yeast produces. More gluten means a stronger, chewier structure. Less gluten means a softer, more tender crumb. When a recipe calls for a mix of bread flour and all-purpose, I’m dialing in a specific protein target somewhere between the two. Not as chewy as a pure bread flour loaf, not as tender as a pure AP loaf. Right in the middle. For something like a pretzel loaf, you want enough chew to feel like a pretzel, but not so much that it fights you when you bite into it. The mix gets you there. So what about Matt’s specific question? If he uses only Kirkland AP, will it affect the crust? Yes, but probably not in the way you’d expect. The crust color and crispness come from the bake — the steam, the temperature, the time. AP flour will still give you a beautiful crust. What changes is the interior. You’ll get a softer, slightly less chewy crumb. Some people prefer that. If you want to push the protein up, vital wheat gluten works. The general rule is about 1 teaspoon of vital wheat gluten per cup of AP flour adds roughly 1 percent protein. So if your AP is 10 percent and you want it closer to bread flour territory, a tablespoon or so per pound of flour gets you there.

Some of you are pretzel-loaf prepping, sure. But I know there's a sourdough boule in someone's banneton right now. Somebody's testing a new focaccia. Somebody's grandkids requested chocolate chip cookies for the third time this week and you said yes. Tell me what else is in your kitchen this week. Drop your vote. Then tell me in the comments what you're actually baking. Recipes, photos, plans for the weekend, all welcome. Henry ⭐🔥

That’s sweet and salty crust goes so well together.

Just dropped a video on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. Doing my best to bring more bakers like you into what we're building here. Two paths to choose from: Yeasted with a poolish: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/yeasted-pretzel-loaf-poolish?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share Sourdough version: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/sourdough-pretzel-loaf?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share So tell me. Which path are you taking? Yeasted or sourdough? If you're going yeasted, get your poolish mixed and into the refrigerator the night before. If you're going sourdough, make sure your starter is fed and active when Saturday rolls around. Any questions, drop them below. Plenty of time to work through them before we bake. Henry ⭐🔥