Fred and Roy are dead, Long live Roy! Long story short - First everything is good. My wife and I had an emergency trip this week and were gone for a few days. Fred and Roy were left sitting on the counter like always. I checked on them after we got back home. Both had mold... I will be starting a new Roy with rye flour today. I have decided not to start a new Fred, because the white flour did not develop the same flavor as the rye flour. Thanks to everybody here, I and my family are addicted to real Sourdough Bread.

I have been using this recipe for years because of one tool in my kitchen. This recipe can be made in the time it takes to brew a pot of coffee or in less time that it takes for you over to come up to temperature. I do not remember where I found the original recipe, I am sure mine has drifted a bit. Recipe: 2 Cups all purpose flour (Blue Bird is the house flour for everything) 2 teaspoons Baking Powder 1 teaspoon Salt 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda 1/4 pound (1 stick) salted butter (cold out of the fridge) 3/4 cup buttermilk The hack - a food processor. No grating of butter needed. The process: 1. preheat your oven to 425 degrees 2. add all of the dry ingredients to the food processor and run it on low for 20 seconds or so to mix the dry ingredients 3. Add the stick of butter. you do not need to slice it (trust me). 4. run the food processor at high for 10 - 20 seconds, check the mix you want little balls of butter no more than 1/8" in diameter. Just repeat the process until you get the right consistency. You can go further if you want, just don't over do it, the consistency of Bisquick is ok. 5. Option A for the adventuresome add the butter milk directly to the mix and pulse the food processor until you get shaggy dough. Option B take the dry mix and in a bowl mix it with the butter milk until you get a shaggy dough. 6. Time to work the dough, you are not going to knead the dough but press it and fold it to build layers. I press and fold 3 to 4 times. 7. The final press should be about 1/2" thick and will make 10 - 12 2" biscuits or you can be like me and use the dough scraper and cut it. Power hint - you need a sharp edge to cut biscuits using something like a class to cut the biscuits will seal the edges and you will not get a good rise. 8. Bake 15 - 18 minutes - every oven is different 17 minutes is the sweet spot for me. One issue on my bake in the picture - my baking powder has ran out if mojo (lid was loose) and the rise was not the greatest. They still worked perfectly with Biscuits and Bacon Gravy yesterday.

This is home base for the day. Whatever stage you're at, this is where we post, where we ask, and where we cheer each other on. Drop your photos right here in the comments. Ask your questions right here. I'll be in and out all day, coaching as we go. First things first, tell me where you are. Did you mix last night and your dough's resting cold in the fridge? Are you starting from scratch this morning? Or are you here to watch and learn this round? All of it counts. Pull up a chair. Here's how the day flows. If you're mixing this morning: Build your dough and get the gluten strong first. Knead to the windowpane before any butter goes in. Then add the butter cool, one piece at a time, and wait for each to work in before the next. Somewhere in there the dough's gonna look slick and broken and just plain wrong. That's the broken phase. Don't panic, don't quit, keep mixing. It comes back together smooth and shiny every time. After that, first rise, then into the fridge for the cold rest. You'll shape and bake this evening. If you mixed last night: Pull that cold dough out and shape it. Pick your shape, a bubble-top loaf, a single loaf, rolls, or buns, whatever your table wants today. Get it in the pan, then proof until puffy and nearly doubled. Read the dough, not the clock. When you poke it and the dent springs back slow but doesn't fill all the way, it's ready. Then we bake. Egg wash on, oven at 350, and watch your color. If the top's racing ahead, tent it loose with foil. Pull it when the center hits 190. Five minutes in the pan, then onto the rack. Couple reminders from this week. Keep that butter cool, because heat is the enemy. Judy's cold pack under the mixer bowl is fair game if you've got one. And the recipe's right here if you need it: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/classic-brioche-bread That's it. Post as you go. Show me the messy middle, not just the pretty ending. The questions you ask today are the ones that help the next baker too.

Last week was croissant bread, where we kept the butter cold and separate so it could make layers. This week we flip it completely. We’re melting the butter all the way in for the softest, richest crumb you’ve ever pulled out of a loaf pan. The bread is brioche. Buttery, golden, tender enough to pull apart with your fingers. But we’re not making it the ordinary way. Here’s the twist. We’re starting with a tangzhong, that little cooked flour and milk paste that lets bread stay soft for days. And instead of beating the butter in later, we’re melting it right into the tangzhong while it’s still warm and cooling. Why does that matter? The tangzhong pre-cooks the starch so the dough can hold more moisture. Folding the butter in at that stage carries the richness deep into the crumb from the very first step. You end up with a softer, more evenly buttery loaf that stays fresh longer. Same ingredient as last week. Completely different job. Cold butter builds layers. Melted butter builds softness. That’s the whole lesson. I’m baking mine today and I’ll bring you the results. Recipe details are coming this week, and we bake together Saturday. So tell me: who’s ready to go from flaky to pillowy soft this week? Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry ⭐🔥

If you're three weeks into a starter and ready to throw it out, read this first. A starter that doubles, floats, and smells tangy is not broken. It's almost there. The dome that collapses and the bubbles that hide under the surface are normal. Most people quit the week before it finally clicks. Feed it on a schedule, watch how long it takes to peak and fall, and bake with it when that float gets predictable. I walked through exactly how to read it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax0eF00are8. Who's still building a starter right now? Tell me what week you're on. Perfection is not required. Progress is. Henry⭐🔥