Friday Bread Basket 7/25/25

Down good

25 Jul 2025 — 4 min read

100% whole-wheat sourdough bread, from Breaducation

Hello from the Wordloaf Friday Bread Basket, a weekly roundup of links and items relating to bread, baking, and grain. Before I get into this week's items, I wanted to addend my Rethinking Autolyse post from the other day.

In it, I mentioned that I still use autolyse in one instance: when the dough contains all or a high-percentage of whole-wheat flour, since the slow-to-hydrate bran benefits from a rest period before mixing. I almost immediately edited the post to say that I am ditching the autolyse for those doughs too, since I made a few whole-wheat formulas that very morning without an autolyse that came out beautifully.

The truth is, though, that I actually do not make any straightforward whole-wheat breads, so the point is sort of moot. There are a couple of 100% whole-wheat formulas in the book, but both of them use a "sift-and-scald" approach (see photo above for an example), where I sift off the bran, combine it with boiling water, and let it sit awhile. I then mix the bran-less dough to full development, and add the scald at the end. This solves the same problem that an autolyse would with whole-wheat breads, but is (IMO) more effective; I've rarely made a 100% whole-wheat loaf I've loved without a bran scald, which is why it's my go-to approach instead. So, while it is true that I don't use autolyse ever anymore, you might still want to use it if you are making whole-wheat breads the "traditional" way.

Banh mi 101

My friend Andrea Nguyen recently shared two posts all about banh mi, one on selecting the proper bread, and another master class on how to build one. Both are well worth your time, and they reminded me I need to finalize my own banh mi roll formula and send it to her for her stamp of approval!

Bread on earth, and goodwill to all

Lexie Smith, friend of Wordloaf and one of the smartest and most interesting people working with bread these days recently gave a talk for It's Nice That about her Bread on Earth project, a hyperlinked, crowd-sourced field guide to all the world's breads. The site is still in development, but it is launching soon. After watching this short video, I know you'll want to sign up for updates. I'm hoping to chat with Lexie for the newsletter someday soon about BOE, so stay tuned for that.

It's corn!

I always enjoy the Gastropod podcast, but the most recent episode is a special one, all about the botany and history of corn in Mexico and the Americas. I learned a lot from it, including the idea that the vampire myth may have its origins in the adoption of corn in Europe, and that milling came to masa (nixtamalized corn) much later than other grains because it's far too soft to grind in a standard mill and requires a specialized approach. Much of the episode focuses on the incredible diversity of corn and the efforts underway to preserve it in the face of industrialization and climate change.

No downtime for Downtime

Finally, I just wanted to say how freaking happy I am for my friends Dayna and Sam, who opened Downtime Bakery in Philadelphia like three weeks ago and have already made Philadelphia Magazine's best-of list:

What began in 2022 as a pop-up operation out of Dayna Evans’s home is now a full-fledged bakery in Mount Airy. Evans and her partner, Sam Carmichael, serve a cornucopia of sourdough bagels, breads, and sweet and savory treats, made with local grains. While the bakery is known for its excellent bread, you can’t go wrong elsewhere on the menu — and thanks to Downtime’s staggered baking schedule, there’ll be something fresh, guaranteed.

Downtime Bakery

What began in 2022 as a pop-up operation out of Dayna Evans’s home is now a full-fledged bakery in Mount Airy. Evans and her partner, […]