From nothing to your first loaf

What you'll be doing

1. 1 Building your starter Week 1–2 · Starter 50 grams of flour and 50 grams of lukewarm water every day, at a set time. We'll give you a nudge and keep track of how it responds.
2. 2 What a starter actually is Week 1 · Learning A two-minute read, no jargon: which little creatures live in that jar, what they eat, and why that makes your bread rise.
3. 3 Why it goes quiet around day four Week 1 · Learning Almost every new starter bubbles away for two days and then falls silent. That's a changing of the guard, not a failure. Here's what to do next.
4. 4 Your first loaf Week 3 · Baking A simple white loaf at 70% hydration, with a timeline built on your temperature and clock times at every step.
5. 5 Learning to read your bulk ferment Week 3 · Learning A domed top, big bubbles at the edge, dough that jiggles back. This is the skill everything else leans on, and the dough check helps you see it.
6. 6 Shaping and building tension Week 4–5 · Baking Two bakes where shaping is the only thing you watch. For most beginners, this is where the biggest gains are.
7. 7 Scoring Week 5 · Learning One movement, a shallow angle of about 30 degrees, and a blade that's sharp enough. That's all there is to it.
8. 8 Your own rhythm Week 6 · Baking The bake where you set the times and we simply look on. From here you're baking without the manual.