I am working towards opening my micro bakery in 6 months and I am using the Crust & Crumb Academy to help me bring my bread baking skills up to a level where I can consistently bake beautiful and delicious sourdough bread. I am fairly happy with this bake as it is delicious but overall not to a level I would feel comfortable putting my brand on. Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.💛🥖🥐🍞🌾🥯🥪💛

Every wet-dough bake has the same five moments where people want to quit. I saw every one of them this week. Let’s get ahead of it before Saturday’s ciabatta. 𝟭️⃣ “𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘆. 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿.” No. You need wet hands. That panic-flour reflex is the most common mistake with high hydration dough. Once you start working flour into it, you’ve changed the recipe. Now you get streaks, dense spots, and a crust that fights you. Keep a small bowl of water at the bench. Wet your hands. Wet your scraper. Even the bench if you need to. The stickiness passes. The flour damage doesn’t. 2️⃣ “𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴. 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴’𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴.” Walk away. Ten minutes. That’s it. That’s not quitting. That’s technique. Gluten relaxes. The dough tightens. Your head resets. Candi said it best this week, sometimes you step away, take a breath, and come back ready to actually work the dough. Rushing through panic almost always makes worse bread. 3️⃣ “𝗜𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻. 𝗜 𝗿𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁.” You didn’t. Xiomara saw this exact moment. Checked at 22 minutes, disappointed… came back to a boule. Oven spring comes late. Especially covered. The first 10–15 minutes can look like nothing is happening. Don’t open the oven. Don’t lose your nerve. Let the bread do its job. 4️⃣ “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗯 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁. 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱?” No. Under-fermented bread is still bread. It still tastes good. It still feeds people. The only ruined loaf is the one you throw away before you learn from it. Slice it. Study it. Adjust next time. Every loaf is a data point. Not a verdict. 5️⃣ “𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮.” Now here’s the nuance. Shaping flour for ciabatta sits on the surface. It’s not getting worked into the dough, so it doesn’t change hydration or crumb like it would with a boule. That’s why we tell you to use more than feels normal. Dust the bench. Dust the couche. Dust the top. Dust your hands. Just don’t work it in. Dusting protects. Incorporating changes the dough.

Just dropped. Come watch with me. I'll be in the chat answering questions in real time. This one takes the fear out of the number on the recipe card. If you've ever stared at an 80% hydration dough and wondered what you got yourself into, this is for you. See you in the chat. ~ Henry ⭐🔥

We all get more email than we know what to do with. Most of it is noise. Sales pitches. Pop-ups. Three paragraphs of fluff before you get to anything useful. You know the drill. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁. 🍞 It goes out once a week. Short. Clean. Useful. You get actionable recipes right up front. No digging. No scrolling. The idea is simple: 👉 Give you something worth baking this week 👉 Deliver it straight to your inbox No spam. No pop-ups. No catches. 🚫 And if I’m being honest… it looks good too. If you’re not on the list, or not sure if you are, take a look at the latest issue and jump in here: 🔗 https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/newsletter/4a09ef72-a3a6-401a-974d-fa1d86857cd8 We’ll make sure you get the next one. Henry ⭐🔥

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲'𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂. The Marbled Loaf Bake-Along is this Saturday, and before we get there, I want to make sure you understand why this works… not just how to do it. I just dropped a video overview that breaks down the science behind the swirl 👇 🍞 Enriched dough 🎨 Natural colorants 🧩 Lamination 🔥 What actually happens inside the oven that locks those layers in place 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗜𝘁’𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗸𝗲. 🎥 Link to the video In the classroom so you can get points: https://www.skool.com/crust-crumb-academy-7621/classroom/21c43210?md=fd9235cee38941d78ab9f1397354f02a 💬 Drop a question below if anything comes up while you’re watching. I’ll be in the comments. 🍞 Perfection is not required. Progress is. Come bake with us. Henry ⭐🔥 𝙋𝙎 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙚. 𝙄𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙨 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙤𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪.