The Library

Recipes, explained.

Every recipe here tells you why, not just what. Weights, timings, and the reasoning behind both — cross-referenced to the calculators and the Trouble Atlas, so when something goes sideways you know exactly where to look.

Two kinds of recipe live here. Ours are written from scratch in this kitchen, with the reasoning and the arguments left in. Adapted ones take a formula that's already proven itself — the ingredient weights, which are facts and belong to everyone — and rebuild the method in our own words, with full credit and a link back to the baker who got there first. We never reprint anyone's writing. If you want their version, and you should, the link is right there at the top of the page.

Recipes here link out to Techniques rather than re-explaining folds and shaping every time, and to Starter School if you don't have a culture yet.

Recipe No. 00 · start here if you already know the basics Choose Your Own Crumb

The recipe that isn't written yet. Put in whatever flour, liquid and add-ins you actually have — beer instead of water, 30% rye, a handful of walnuts — and it works out the hydration, tells you what that particular combination will do on the bench, and warns you before it stops being bread.

Build one →
TypeInteractive
Ingredients30 to pick from
PrintsAs a card
Level
Flour
Form
Time
Origin

Ours
No. 01
The Calibration Loaf
One flour, 70% hydration, nothing to hide behind. The loaf to learn on, and the control bake to come back to when things drift.
LevelBeginner
Hydration70%
Time~24 hr
Ours
No. 02
The Weekday Wheat
The Calibration Loaf with 30% whole wheat, and a full accounting of everything that shifts when you add it.
In the oven
Adapted
No. 03
The Country Loaf
The high-hydration blended country boule that defined modern home sourdough. Formula credited, method rewritten, original linked.
In the oven
Ours
No. 04
Pan Focaccia
The most forgiving thing you can do with sourdough. No shaping, no scoring, no Dutch oven — and almost impossible to ruin.
In the oven
Ours
No. 05
Discard Pancakes
Thirty minutes, one bowl, and a use for the jar of discard currently making your fridge smell like a brewery.
In the oven
Ours
No. 06
Sandwich Loaf
Soft, square, and sliceable. Milk and butter change the fermentation more than people expect, and this explains how.
In the oven
Adapted
No. 07
Sourdough Bagels
Stiff dough, cold overnight, boiled then baked. The one recipe where under-fermenting slightly is the correct move.
In the oven
Adapted
No. 08
Seeded Rye
High-percentage rye behaves nothing like wheat. Sticky, fast, and unforgiving of the habits every other recipe taught you.
In the oven

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