Came home from work yesterday and found a small jar sitting on my doormat with a sticky note taped to it.

The note said: "Hi neighbor! I've seen you through your kitchen window struggling with your bread for months now lol. This is my 10-year-old starter. Her name is Bertha. She's very forgiving — treat her well and she'll treat you well. Happy baking!"

I literally teared up. I've been baking sourdough for about 4 months and my starter has died on me twice. I was honestly about to give up.

Anyway, I fed Bertha last night and this morning she had already doubled. I'm baking with her this weekend and I'm genuinely excited in a way I haven't felt since my very first loaf.

It's crazy how something as simple as a jar of flour and water can connect people. I've lived in this neighborhood for 3 years and never even said more than "hi" to this neighbor. Now we're going to bake together next week.

Just wanted to share because this community has been so helpful and I finally feel like I'm not alone in this hobby.

Shoutout to all the kind neighbors and fellow bakers out there. You make this world a better place. ❤️

Now I just need to figure out what to bake first with Bertha. Suggestions welcome!

Check out my bread!

When I first started baking sourdough, I used to throw away so much starter discard every time I fed it. Felt guilty every single time.

Now I save it all in a separate jar in the fridge and use it for other things throughout the week. Here are three ways I've been using mine that are super simple and actually delicious:

1. Discard pancakes — literally just mix discard with an egg, some milk, a little oil, and baking soda. They come out fluffy and have that nice tangy flavor. My kids ask for these every weekend now.
2. Discard crackers — spread it thin on a baking sheet with some olive oil and flaky salt. Bake until crispy. Takes maybe 15 minutes and they're way better than store-bought.
3. Discard pizza dough — I use it as a base with some fresh flour and let it rise for a couple hours. The crust gets this amazing chewiness that regular pizza dough just doesn't have.

I'm not saying I never throw any away anymore, but I've cut down my waste by at least 80%.

Does anyone else have good discard recipes? Always looking to try something new. Drop your favorites below!

Also quick question — can discard be frozen for later use? Haven't tried that yet but would save me even more.

Thanks for reading and let's keep our starters happy! 🥖

Real life in a pizzeria. Sometimes "Guests" get in the way of prep. More guests show up than expected and screw your finely tuned proofing schedule.

If there is interest, I will post the impact when we start using the dough on Wednseday.

I have been on a fried dough kick and thought I would give chalupas a try! They are not fried pitas! Lmao

Thinking my starter needs to mature a bit more / need to allow a bit longer for bulk fermentation. Overall a very tasty loaf with a beautiful exterior and a slightly dense crumb.

Okay so I need some help from you experienced bakers because I'm genuinely confused.

Here's what I did:

• 500g bread flour
• 375g water (75% hydration)
• 100g active starter
• 10g salt

Mixed everything, did 4 sets of stretch and folds over 2.5 hours, then left it on the counter to bulk ferment. My kitchen was around 23°C.

After about 4 hours, it had risen maybe 30% and looked okay. But when I dumped it onto the counter for pre-shaping, it just... collapsed. Like, spread out into a puddle immediately. No tension at all. Super sticky. I couldn't even get it to hold a rough round shape.

I ended up scraping it into a bowl and throwing it in the fridge because I didn't know what else to do with it. Is it salvageable or should I just call it a loss?

I've been baking sourdough for a few months and this is the first time this has happened to me. I'm wondering if I over-fermented? Under-fermented? Used the wrong flour? My starter was definitely active and passed the float test before I used it.

Anyone know what went wrong here? Please save my dough

I used to bake bread. A LOT - Like 2-3 times a week. But that was 20 years and 2 kids ago. I have since lost my recipe, which I received from someone I no longer wish to be in contact with. This recipe was amazing - I think they call it a master recipe. You could easily swap out the liquid or sweetener and add anything you wanted (spices, garlic, raisins, etc) and it always came out great. I cannot find this recipe online for the life of me. I've found similar, but all have you start with all the water combined with the yeast and sugar at the beginning. I know I was not bringing up tomato juice, apple juice, or beer to 110ish degrees and adding it all in to my yeast and sugar. 90% sure I started with a little water and then added the rest of the liquid right before the flour. Does this seem familiar to anyone? Any idea what would happen if I started out with say...a half cup of warm water to get the yeast activated and then switched to other liquid of choice for the rest? I feel like I've lived a whole life since the last time I baked and could use a little help getting back to it. TYI

Until my husband lovingly bullied me into trying it again. I used to love bread making but then got hit with the gluten free stick. Put my bread making on the very back burner of my brain after a lot of expensive gf flour was wasted. I opened a micro bakery for my gf cookies and I kept having people ask if I do bread and after lots of hesitation I tried it again. And gosh darn it this time it worked! Happy bread making yall :)

Had to try this out so I made a small boule. It was also spur of the moment so I made it in the morning and baked at night. I was amazed it turned out so great with such minimal work and forethought. After two pieces for breakfast.

The only one I love and have tried hahaha now I wanna to discover more about crusty loaf and to try to feed a levain. Any tips?

Tried making these tonight and I’m still figuring out how to get them just right. They taste good, but I feel like I could improve the texture and shape.

What would you change or do differently next time? Any tips are appreciated

Hey guys! Rate my bao. Anyone here makes bao and can give me tips ? I could never get that really white colour. Please help

First time getting it right, happy days ehehe