No Exit

Off-ramps

8 Oct 2025 — 3 min read

One of the many things I've been doing since I handed in my manuscript last week (besides attempting to catch up on sleep) is filing my 2024 taxes before the deadline next week. Fun stuff, let me tell you. Every year as a freelancer makes taxes more and more complicated, especially since so much of my income comes from disparate, self-directed projects rather than those for others.

I was so consumed by all this that I didn't give a whole lot of thought to this week's post, other than a middle-of-the-night genius idea to share something prefab from the book. I thought to myself, Ah yes, that will be an easy lift; I dreamed up the post, and even a clever headline to use on it. Then today I went to write it up, and realized I'd shared it already (with said clever headline):

My brain is not working at full capacity these days, obviously.

In any case, the content of that post—on using flour ash content as a stand-in for extraction rate, as a way to mimic high-extraction flours by blending white and whole-wheat ones in various ratios—is something I'm pretty proud of, because it solved a sticky problem for me in Breaducation, namely how to "get" high-extraction flour formulas in the book without needing to call for the stuff. If you missed it, check it out.

One of the things I worked hard to include in Breaducation are what I think of as "off-ramps" to all the things that a no-longer beginning baker will want to explore once they get the basics down. At first glance, the book is sure to intimidate beginners, if only because they'll have to wade through 200+ pages before the recipes begin. But all those pages before the recipes are exactly what makes it a book for beginners, since I use them to explain in detail exactly why and what is going on at every stage of the process, from tearing open a bag of flour to waiting impatiently for a loaf to cool before slicing it.

Given how many words I had to use to get all of that down, it limited what else I could cover. Early drafts contained long sections on things like milling your own flour at home, working with high-extraction flours and novel whole-wheat flours from regional millers, etc., but they had to be cut for space reasons. But they weren't eliminated entirely: I still wanted to be sure that the sorts of questions that might occur to a developing baker were addressed, even in passing, with guidance on where to go for more intel. In other words, serving as off-ramps leading beyond the book.

One off-ramp for more intel will be the Breaducation "supplementary information" website—breaducation.org, though it's not up yet, don't click that—where I can put all the stuff that I couldn't find room for in the book. Throughout the book are text links (not QR codes, which I fear could break over time) directing readers to additional information on a particular topic. I'll also use the site to house potentially ephemeral information, like links to millers, equipment manufacturers, and shops, along with equipment recommendations and reviews. (I do discuss brands in the book, but not extensively, fearing my opinions might change over time or places could go out of business.) And I'll use it to house videos, to better illustrate shaping and other techniques.

Much of the information that will go onto the website is written down already, in various drafts, but the actual building of it will happen only once the book is finished. Fortunately, I'll have at least nine months to put it all together while the book is being printed.

In the meantime, I have a question for you all:

I will be teaching an in-person, small-class, hands-on bread-baking workshop at Milk Street here in Boston this winter (February 13–14, most likely). I haven't nailed down the topic yet, and wondered if you had thoughts. It'll likely focus on one (broad) category of breads—sourdough, yeasted-enriched, or hand-breads—but I am open to ideas if you might like to join me and had thoughts on what sorts of topics (or recipes) to cover. Sound off in the comments below if you do!

—Andrew

breaducation high-extraction flour