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Breads
Bread might be the most important food humans ever made — older than farming, older than cities, and I've eaten some version of it everywhere I've traveled. I bake a lot of it: crusty sourdough and artisan loaves, soft sandwich bread and rich brioche, chewy bagels, and everything in between. This is my whole approach — the history, the science, and the craft — from the wild yeast in the jar to the oven that bakes it.
The History of Bread Older than farming, older than cities — how ground grain and water became the staff of life, from the first flatbread to the sourdough revival. Explore →
Ingredients & the Science Flour, water, yeast, salt, sugar and fat — what each one really does. Plus the great scalding-milk mystery: why old recipes scald milk and new ones use powder. Explore →
Sourdough The original bread. Building and keeping a wild-yeast starter, the whole rhythm of a bake, and how to steer the sour — my deepest bread obsession. Explore →
Artisan Breads Crackly crust, open crumb, and time. High-hydration dough, stretch-and-folds, steam and oven spring — and how to score with the lame to get a proper ear. Explore →
Loaves & Enriched Breads The cozy everyday side — soft sandwich loaves, rich brioche and rolls, quick breads, cornbread and tender Southern biscuits. Explore →
Bagels Dense, chewy, glossy — and the one step no other bread has. Stiff high-gluten dough, an overnight cold proof, and the boil that makes a bagel a bagel. Explore →
Ovens & Equipment Gas vs. electric vs. commercial convection vs. a real pizza oven — how each one bakes, how to fake a bakery at home with steam and a Dutch oven, and the tools that matter. Explore →
The Rofco B40 Oven My pick to start a bakery: a squat Belgian brick oven that bakes true deck-oven crust and spring, at a quarter the price of a commercial deck oven — and the one you keep forever for small batches. Explore →
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