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Hit 50 perfect sourdough loaves yesterday and now I'm questioning my method
So I hit 50 loaves exactly since I started tracking back in January. That's a lot of flour and a lot of failed starters. But here's the thing - my last 10 loaves have been way better than the first 40, and I think it's because I stopped using a scale and just go by feel now. Some people swear by precision baking, others say feel is the way. Which side are you on for bread baking?
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piper_flores692mo ago
My buddy Marco fought with his starter for like six months straight. Weighed everything down to the gram, used a fancy thermometer, the whole deal. Then he goes on vacation for two weeks and his girlfriend just dumps in flour and water however she felt like it. She didn't even look at a recipe. He came back and that bread was the best he's ever made. Now he just eyeballs everything and his loaves are consistently great. He says the scale was making him too scared to get his hands in the dough. There's something to just feeling when the dough is right instead of following numbers.
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derek992mo ago
That story about Marco's girlfriend really says it all, doesn't it? The scale can trick you into thinking you're in control when really you're just following a script instead of listening to the dough. There's something about relaxing and trusting your hands that lets the bread teach you what it needs. Once you accept that the numbers are just guidelines and not rules, the process opens up in a way that feels almost like a conversation instead of a science experiment.
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