Open crumb

8 weeks · advanced

Eight weeks in which we turn up hydration, bulk ferment and shaping tension step by step, with your own scores setting the pace. An open crumb isn't a trick; it's what happens when three things go right at the same time.

What you'll be doing

1 Baseline bake Week 1 · Baking Bake the recipe you know and have it analysed. Without a starting point, you won't know in eight weeks what actually changed.
2 Timing your bulk ferment exactly Week 1–2 · Learning A dough check on every bake for two weeks. With an open crumb, stopping too early is what holds you back, not going too long.
3 Hydration up Week 3–5 · Baking Five percent per bake, and you only carry on while your shaping and tension scores hold. Adding water without adding tension gives you a pancake.
4 Folding instead of kneading Week 4–5 · Learning Four rounds of coil folds in the first hour, and nothing after that. Wet dough asks you to build structure into it, not to work your way through it.
5 Shaping tension in wet dough Week 6–8 · Baking Three bakes where shaping is the only thing you watch. For bakers who have the rest down, this is almost always the last piece of an open crumb.

Start this journey