c/bakers

TIL my sourdough starter from 3 years ago is still going strong in my fridge in Boise.

I pulled it out last week after forgetting about it for a month, fed it, and it doubled in 4 hours. My neighbor, Carla, said I should have tossed it ages ago, but that old starter makes the best crust I've ever had. What's the longest you've kept a starter alive?

My sourdough starter went crazy after I moved it to a warmer spot

I keep my starter on the kitchen counter, but last week I put it on top of the fridge to make space. It was a solid 10 degrees warmer up there. By the next morning, it had doubled in size and was bubbling over the jar. I had to scrape a huge mess off the fridge door. It made my usual weekend loaf rise way too fast and the crumb was all uneven. Has anyone else had a starter go wild from a simple change like that?

I had a sourdough starter rebellion in my kitchen last Tuesday

I was feeding my 3-year-old starter, 'Frank', before bed. I misjudged the flour and added 200 grams of rye instead of my usual 100. By morning, it had climbed out of its jar, oozed over the counter, and dripped onto the floor. I spent 45 minutes cleaning sticky goop. I saved about half of it, fed it plain white flour, and it's back to normal now. Has anyone else had a starter try to escape, and what's the weirdest place you've found it?

My sourdough starter is 7 years old today, which I never thought would happen after I almost threw it out in 2019.

Seeing that date made me realize how much a part of my routine it's become, so what's the oldest starter you guys are still baking with?

My sourdough went from sad pancake to perfect loaf in 48 hours after I stopped using tap water

For months, my starter was sluggish and my loaves were flat, no matter what flour I tried. I was using regular tap water from my kitchen sink (which I guess has a lot of chlorine in it). On a whim, I switched to bottled spring water from the store, and within two days, the starter doubled in size and got super bubbly. The next bake was a completely different story, with a great rise and an open crumb. Has anyone else had a simple switch like that totally fix their baking?

Just realized my sourdough starter loves my cold kitchen counter more than the warm oven light trick.

Left it out overnight at 65 degrees instead of putting it in the oven with the light on, and it doubled in size faster than it has in weeks, so has anyone else found their starter prefers a cooler spot?

I was at the library in Portland and saw a baking book from 1972.

I was looking for a new bread recipe and pulled this old book off the shelf. The whole section on sourdough was just two pages, and it said to feed the starter with potato water. My grandma used to say that too, but I never knew it was a common old method. It made me wonder how many other old baking tricks we've forgotten. Do any of you still use tips from really old cookbooks?

I used to think sourdough was just a fad until my sister's starter

My sister in Denver gave me some of her rye starter six months ago and told me to just feed it. I baked my first loaf last week and the flavor was so much deeper than my usual yeast bread. The crust was crisp and the inside had those perfect holes. Now I get why people are so into it. Has anyone else had a starter that really changed their mind?

Stopped by that new bakery on 5th Street and saw they proof their loaves in old wooden crates.

Warning: my stand mixer's dough hook just snapped on a third batch of sourdough

I switched to hand kneading for 10 minutes and the gluten development was visibly better, plus I didn't overheat the dough. Does anyone have a mixer brand they actually trust for heavy doughs?

My sourdough starter straight up died on me last Tuesday

I've had the same starter, named 'Bubbles', for about three years now. I feed it every day, same routine, same flour mix. Last Tuesday morning I went to feed it and it was just... gray. No bubbles, a weird sweet smell, and a layer of liquid on top. I panicked. I tried to revive a small piece with fresh flour and warm water, but after 24 hours it was clear it was gone. I think the problem was my kitchen got too cold overnight when the heat kicked off, maybe down to 60 degrees. It must have just stalled and then something bad took over. I'm starting from scratch with some rye flour today, but man, losing a starter you've had that long feels like losing a pet. Has anyone else had a starter just give up like that from a temperature drop?

My new digital scale was a total game changer

Spent about $25 on a basic one after my last few loaves were dense. Weighed everything for a sourdough this morning and the crumb is perfect. Anyone else find that a scale made a huge difference for them?

I just hit 500 sourdough loaves with my starter and the number really got me thinking...

I started keeping a baking log when I opened my business, just a simple notebook. I flipped back today and saw I've made exactly 500 loaves using my original starter, 'Bubbles'. That's a lot of flour and water... It's wild because I remember almost throwing it out after a failed batch around loaf 20. The consistency now versus those first few months is night and day. Has anyone else tracked something like this and been surprised by how much practice it actually took to feel solid?

I mean, I finally figured out why my buttercream kept splitting and it was a super simple fix.

My sourdough starter is finally strong enough to double in 4 hours

I've been feeding this thing for almost 3 months now, and it was always so sluggish... taking 8 or 9 hours to really rise. This morning I did my usual 1:1:1 feed with King Arthur bread flour, and when I checked after my lunch break, it had already hit the rubber band on the jar. It just felt like a real corner turned, you know? Like all that daily care actually paid off. Has anyone else had a starter that took forever to get reliable, and what finally did it for you?

Finally nailed my baguette crust after switching from a regular baking sheet to a cast iron skillet

Honestly, I've been baking baguettes for about a year now and the crust was always just okay, never that real crackle. Last week, I tried preheating a cast iron skillet on the bottom rack of my oven while it warmed up, then poured a cup of hot water onto it right when I loaded the loaves. The steam was way more intense and immediate than my old method of just spraying the oven walls. The crust on my last batch from Tuesday was perfect, with that real snap. Has anyone else found a better way to get steam in a home oven?

A new bakery in my town is selling sourdough for $12 a loaf, and I'm not sure how to feel about it.

I stopped by 'The Daily Rise' in Springfield yesterday and saw their price tag. The bread looks great, but that's a lot for a single loaf. Part of me gets it, with ingredient costs and skilled work, but another part thinks it prices out a lot of regular folks. Where do you all stand on high-end pricing for basic artisan goods?

My sourdough starter turned into a science experiment gone wrong

I was trying a new feeding schedule I read about online, leaving it at room temp for 48 hours instead of my usual 12. By day two, it smelled like old gym socks and had a weird pink film on top. I had to throw the whole jar out, which was about two cups of starter I'd had for over a year. Has anyone else had a starter go bad that fast from changing the routine?

My grandma insisted I use a wooden spoon for cookie dough, but my stand mixer gives me better results every time.

She swore by hand mixing for 20 minutes to avoid tough cookies, but after switching to my KitchenAid on low for just 3, my chocolate chip batches in Denver have been consistently chewier and more even.

My aunt insisted I weigh my flour for pie crust, not scoop it

She told me, 'Nancy, a cup of flour can be 4 ounces or 6 ounces depending on how you pack it.' I finally bought a $25 kitchen scale last fall. My crusts went from tough and crumbly to perfectly flaky every single time. I can't believe I resisted for so long. Has anyone else had a simple tip like this completely change a basic recipe for them?

Hit 500 perfect croissants in a row and now I'm scared to start the next batch

After a year of working on my lamination, I finally got a streak going. I counted every single one, and the last 500 came out with full honeycomb and no butter leaks. It felt amazing, but now I'm staring at the next block of butter and dough. Part of me thinks I've finally got it down and should just keep going. The other part is sure I'm about to mess up and break the streak, which feels like a weird pressure I put on myself. Has anyone else hit a personal record that suddenly made the next step feel harder?

I put a whole orange in my sourdough starter and my kitchen smelled like a brewery

I saw a video from a baker in Seattle who swore that adding a whole, unpeeled organic orange to your starter gave it a complex flavor. So I shoved one into my week old starter, fed it like normal, and left it overnight. Woke up to a bubbling mess that smelled like strong beer and the orange skin had turned a weird gray color. I baked a loaf anyway and it tasted like someone mixed cheap wine with my good bread. Learned that some tips are just plain weird, not clever. Has anyone else tried a fruit addition that actually worked without ruining everything?

Just realized I've baked exactly 1,000 loaves of my sourdough starter, 'Frank', since I caught him from the air in my Seattle apartment.

It hit me when my flour delivery guy asked if I was running a secret bakery, and I had to explain that no, it's just me and Frank, who is technically a jar of microbes, eating all this bread lol.

I was totally wrong about letting my sourdough starter sit out overnight

I always thought a 24-hour room temp feed was too long and would over-ferment it, but after my starter got sluggish last week, I tried it on a whim. The next morning it was the most active I've ever seen it, practically climbing out of the jar (I use a 1:1:1 ratio). Anyone have a different trick for reviving a lazy starter?

TIL a trick for keeping pie crusts from getting soggy from a baker in Asheville

I was at a small bakery there and saw them brush the bottom crust with a thin layer of egg white before adding the filling. Has anyone tried this with a custard pie like pumpkin?