The other day I sent out a detailed new version of my Quarantiny Starter method, but I wanted to focus in on one aspect of the process, namely knowing when you are getting somewhere with it. I’m no fan of the “crumb shot” trope and the macho obsession with achieving an open crumb, as if a loaf riddled with giant holes is preferable to one with a finer crumb, or a primary indicator of a baker’s skill. (My go-to toast topping is peanut butter and
Thank you for addressing the obsession with a large, open crumb. I think it has done a lot of damage to the confidence of new sourdough bakers. And exactly! Big holes are terrible for practically eating your bread in any way but unadorned.
I used to be indoctrinated into thinking that open crumb is the ideal sourdough bread, with all the youtube videos about how to get the most open crumb and oven spring!
When I got back into bread making after spending some time across the country, I forgot everything and basically became a newbie. I got an open crumb but little oven spring until my 3rd boule.
The toxic crumb culture is good and bad in its own ways. Pros is that it looks good, and it can motivate someone to reevaluate some techniques in their recipe that’s unnecessary. Cons is that it’s harder to spread butter onto breads with more open crumbs and there’s more concentrated butter in the alveolies which can ruin a slice of bread with flaky salt (elaborating on what Rhianna said). Also it can probably be heat breaking to new sourdough bakers, like what Rhianna said.
We need to stop associating fine crumbs with yeast breads and start accepting that only the flavor of a sourdough loaf matters.
I recently started to get large holes in my loaf. I switched from using the ATK recipe to the one in this blog with the long, cold ferment. I refresh my starter once a week & cold store it. Wondering what I should do differently to avoid the large holes.
Thank you for addressing the obsession with a large, open crumb. I think it has done a lot of damage to the confidence of new sourdough bakers. And exactly! Big holes are terrible for practically eating your bread in any way but unadorned.
I used to be indoctrinated into thinking that open crumb is the ideal sourdough bread, with all the youtube videos about how to get the most open crumb and oven spring!
When I got back into bread making after spending some time across the country, I forgot everything and basically became a newbie. I got an open crumb but little oven spring until my 3rd boule.
The toxic crumb culture is good and bad in its own ways. Pros is that it looks good, and it can motivate someone to reevaluate some techniques in their recipe that’s unnecessary. Cons is that it’s harder to spread butter onto breads with more open crumbs and there’s more concentrated butter in the alveolies which can ruin a slice of bread with flaky salt (elaborating on what Rhianna said). Also it can probably be heat breaking to new sourdough bakers, like what Rhianna said.
We need to stop associating fine crumbs with yeast breads and start accepting that only the flavor of a sourdough loaf matters.
I recently started to get large holes in my loaf. I switched from using the ATK recipe to the one in this blog with the long, cold ferment. I refresh my starter once a week & cold store it. Wondering what I should do differently to avoid the large holes.