I want to take a second to recognize Sandy Chong. Sandy just crossed 20,000 all-time points in this community. That's a first. No one in this group has hit that number before. Points are a measure of showing up, and Sandy shows up. She answers questions, encourages beginners, shares her bakes, and adds something real to every thread she's in. That's what the points represent. @Sandy Chong, this community is better because you're in it. Thank you.

I baked one early. This is the yeasted track of the pretzel loaf we’re working on this week. Cold retard for 90 minutes after shaping, then 15 in the freezer while the bath water came up. Bath at 30 seconds per side. Into the Dutch oven on the bread sling at 475, dropped to 450 after the lid came off. I went heavy on the everything seasoning. Sesame, poppy, garlic, onion, Maldon. If it’s good enough for a bagel, it’s good enough for this loaf. I’ll tell you straight up. This is one of the most delicious crusts I have ever bitten into. The bath did exactly what it’s supposed to do. Deep mahogany. That pretzel snap. The mineral finish that sits on your lips after every bite. Then you cut into it and the inside is real bread, open and tender, not the dense chew of a soft pretzel. This is what we’re going for on Saturday. For the bakers on the yeasted track, this is your finish line. For the sourdough crowd, you’re getting the same crust, the same bath, the same bake. Just a longer, slower path to get there. I like to bake a day or two ahead of the group so I can spot the rough patches before you hit them. So far, the bath went smooth, the score held clean, and the everything topping stuck where it was supposed to without burning. Questions before you start? Drop them in the thread. We’ve got a few days, and I want everyone hitting Saturday morning ready to go. Henry ⭐🔥

Ever baked something that looked like a pretzel… but didn’t taste like one? That’s the crust. That deep color and flavor don’t come from the oven alone. They’re built before the bake. Once you see that, the whole process makes more sense. This is one of those details that changes the result completely.

I fell asleep at my desk Friday night. Woke up at 6:55 with keyboard creases on my face and the working thread already moving without me. That’s the story of Week 17. Not the bread. The bakers who decided to show up scared and bake anyway. 🥖 1,869 comments in the working thread 🥖 ~10,300 interactions across the week 🥖 63 new bakers 🥖 954 members and counting First-timers got cheered into next week. Robert Caldas baked the loaf he didn’t think he was ready for. Stacey said it best: “Never let the ‘F’ word ‘Fear’ stop you.” The full recap, every name, every story, lives here: 👉 https://lemon-diner-3mj4.here.now/ To everyone who climbed a step this week — next Saturday we climb the next one. ~ Henry ⭐🔥

For those who are wondering about the stiffer starter and still sitting on the fence. I wanted to share how great it is to transfer your levian or liquid starter to a stiffer starter. The rewards and baking are so much better as well. I transferred this approximately 2 months ago. I feed my starter yesterday afternoon and discarded late evening and refeeded it again to bake today. I just wanted to share how beautifully it grew overnight and surprised to wake-up to see it more than tripled in size. This is the first time, he rose so high and absolutely gorgeous and strong. I mixed my dough this morning. It was so spongy, soft, creamy and marshmallowy like. He is living up to his name as I named him 4 months ago as Marshmallow Bubbles. 🫧 Just as exactly as he performed as a great starter. I have a tough time whipping up the starter with this spatula. Please can you recommend a good size spatula for stirring as my spatula is difficult and smears all the starter all over my jar. Please excuse my jar even when I use a clean one it is difficult to keep clean. I want to thank all the Stiff Starter Squad for all their help and advice. They are all available to help answer your questions as I am a beginner learner and experimenting and still finding my way round. Please scroll to the right to see all the bubbles in the jar and how high it rose overnight. 🫧