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Open Crumb Mastery: For the Intermediate Sourdough Baker
"How do I get an open crumb?"
It's a question we've all asked.
This book will provide you the answer. It is an in-depth study of dough structure and the factors which affect it. Its main areas of focus are fermentation, structure building, dough handling, and working with wet dough. Included are case studies, a cheat sheet for achieving various styles of open crumb, and plenty of photographs depicting those crumb styles.
This is NOT for beginners.
It does not teach you how to make sourdough bread. It does not show you how to create a starter. It does not provide recipes.
This book is intended only for intermediate sourdough bakers -- those who already have a sourdough starter and know how to bake bread with it. As such, it assumes the reader is already familiar with sourdough and understands baking terminology.
But for intermediate sourdough bakers looking to take their crumb to the next level, this 296 page reference will help shed light on the mysteries surrounding open crumb.
It's a question we've all asked.
This book will provide you the answer. It is an in-depth study of dough structure and the factors which affect it. Its main areas of focus are fermentation, structure building, dough handling, and working with wet dough. Included are case studies, a cheat sheet for achieving various styles of open crumb, and plenty of photographs depicting those crumb styles.
This is NOT for beginners.
It does not teach you how to make sourdough bread. It does not show you how to create a starter. It does not provide recipes.
This book is intended only for intermediate sourdough bakers -- those who already have a sourdough starter and know how to bake bread with it. As such, it assumes the reader is already familiar with sourdough and understands baking terminology.
But for intermediate sourdough bakers looking to take their crumb to the next level, this 296 page reference will help shed light on the mysteries surrounding open crumb.
296 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2018
29 people are currently reading
554 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 18, 2021
No recipes but lots and lots of good information. Well worth the purchase price. And so...my sourdough expertise (such as it is) expands and improves.
April 10, 2021
Best book for understanding sourdough bread! I had so many questions with Tartin book but this book answered it all. I really like the style of writing. He put such a informative information in very casual way so it was really easy to read. I wish I can buy in a book form instead of me copying the books although reading in i pad and pressing the Instagram links to see the videos were great!
Highly recommend for people who want to master the sourdough bread!!!!!!
Highly recommend for people who want to master the sourdough bread!!!!!!
November 16, 2019
Wow. I don't think I've ever learned so much from one book. My head is spinning from all of the new information and insights, I will definitely be rereading this more than once. So dense with valuable information, and yet extremely readable -- I devoured this book in 2 days. Already itching to put some of these tips and concepts into practice!
September 3, 2022
Feels like i got a PhD in sourdough breadbaking after this book.
Systematically covers all the variables regarding baking bread (water content/hydration, type of flour, degree of proof, shaping styles), how certain factors affects the end product (openness and/or irregularity of crumb, height, volume of the sourdough).
Feels like a book you reread periodically, learning on the go, after baking some sourdoughs while trying to figure out why your bread is a flat disc.
Systematically covers all the variables regarding baking bread (water content/hydration, type of flour, degree of proof, shaping styles), how certain factors affects the end product (openness and/or irregularity of crumb, height, volume of the sourdough).
Feels like a book you reread periodically, learning on the go, after baking some sourdoughs while trying to figure out why your bread is a flat disc.
December 19, 2020
Good work here. He doesn't try to over-simplify a complex topic, but give you the variables that affect the outcome (and there are many). He approaches each in a logical manner, and spends a good amount of time in each section describing how the factors influence each other. Worth the read, and going back to often for reference.
October 25, 2018
A wealth of information. Will read again!
June 10, 2019
Great book for bakers with some experience and trying to improve.
January 14, 2021
100% wild passion + beautifully organized modular building blocks for learning = my kind of book!
September 19, 2022
It's the best food book I've ever read. There's not a single recipe here, and while it may not be as polished as books from major publishers, it has a treasure trove of knowledge passed with true love for the baking craft. And this book respects you. No bullshit "become a master baker in 3 days with these simple steps" — it constantly reiterates than true skill can only be achieved with years of practice, and that every move you do must come with intention and understanding of the underlying processes to become better at it. I really get why this book achieved kind of a cult status among online baking communities, and will be re-reading it and constantly consulting it during my own journey for sure.
Here's my latest loaf, only the 10th one after one month of baking — I would never achieve anything close without all the insight I got from this book:
Here's my latest loaf, only the 10th one after one month of baking — I would never achieve anything close without all the insight I got from this book:
April 12, 2021
I love geeking out on stuff. I love learning why. This book provides the why of crumb structure from an artisan's point of view (not particularly scientific).
Only read if you want to *understand and explore* dough structure, not if you want to learn the basics of bread making. Furthermore, only read if you're the kind of person that enjoys grandpa's stories. The ones that meander before getting to the point. The ones that repeat themselves with subtle variation, but really help it 'sink in'.
Only read if you want to *understand and explore* dough structure, not if you want to learn the basics of bread making. Furthermore, only read if you're the kind of person that enjoys grandpa's stories. The ones that meander before getting to the point. The ones that repeat themselves with subtle variation, but really help it 'sink in'.
October 2, 2022
The author definitely fills the gap in the currently available literature on sourdough baking, as he says himself. The book is well written and explains all processes that happen within the dough in a digestible way. Even though he covers a lot of details which might seem “too much” during the first read, he gives the reader/baker the right tools to really start understanding the whole process. Very happy I stumbled onto this book!
May 30, 2022
This is the best book about sourdough baking ever.
It really changed my perspective on working with the dough, fermentation and handling sourdough baking. It's not about open crumbs only but it's about achieving the types of crumbs that you want.
This book should be triple the price.
Great job Trevor !!
It really changed my perspective on working with the dough, fermentation and handling sourdough baking. It's not about open crumbs only but it's about achieving the types of crumbs that you want.
This book should be triple the price.
Great job Trevor !!
January 21, 2023
This book is great for people who want to understand the hows and whys baking bread. You defintly need some baking experience before you read it.
October 6, 2020
My review is for the 2nd edition of the book. I’ve never read the first one. While the book is no doubt very informative and definitely filled a void in the sourdough bread baking literature, I find the writing, especially after the first section, to be unnecessarily tedious, to the point it feels like he’s trying to meet certain word count. From the section of doch handling on, I find myself constantly skipping pages and pages to find the information that actually is useful. It gets to the point I feel quite annoyed.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews