The Weekly Rise — Issue No. 005

August 23, 2026

Read the Crumb

Understand What Your Loaf is Telling You

FROM MY KITCHEN

Your loaf has a story to tell.

There’s something satisfying about finally cutting into a loaf you’ve been watching, folding, fermenting, shaping, and baking for hours.

And then you see the crumb.

Maybe it’s beautiful and open. Maybe it’s tighter than you expected. Maybe there’s one giant hole running through the top, or a dense section hiding near the bottom.

It’s easy to look at those things and simply think, “Well… that didn’t go quite right.”

But your crumb is actually giving you information.

Every bubble, dense spot, gummy area, and uneven section is a little clue about what happened before your loaf ever reached the oven.

And once you learn to look for those clues, a loaf that didn’t turn out perfectly becomes one of your best learning tools.

So, this week, we’re cutting into the loaf and learning how to read the crumb.

BAKER'S BENCH

Your Crumb is a Record of the Bake.

Think about everything that happened before you sliced that loaf:

Starter activity.
Mixing.
Gluten development.
Bulk fermentation.
Shaping.
Proofing.
Scoring.
Baking.

The crumb is where all of those decisions eventually show up.

That doesn't mean every crumb has one perfect explanation.

Sourdough is complicated, and several factors can create similar results.

But your crumb can give you clues.

And those clues get much more useful when you start looking at patterns instead of isolated imperfections.

YOU ASKED . . .

Question:

“Isn't an open crumb always better?”

Answer:

No.

And I really want beginner bakers to hear this.

An open crumb isn't automatically a better crumb.

The “right” crumb depends on the bread you're trying to make.

A rustic country loaf may have a very open, irregular crumb.

A sandwich loaf should look completely different.

A loaf loaded with butter, sugar, seeds, cheese, dried fruit, or other additions will behave differently again.

The goal isn't to make every loaf look the same.

The goal is to understand whether the crumb matches the bread you were trying to make.

And that distinction becomes really important when we start adding ingredients to sourdough.

THE BAKER'S CHALLENGE

Become a Crumb Detective

For your next loaf, don't just take a picture and say:

“Looks good!”

Take a closer look.

Before you eat it, ask:

☐ Is the crumb evenly distributed?
☐ Are there unusually large holes?
☐ Is there a dense layer?
☐ Does the crumb feel moist, gummy, or properly set?
☐ Does the texture match the type of bread I intended to make?
☐ Does anything about the crumb make me question fermentation?
☐ What would I change next time?

BONUS CHALLENGE

📸 Take a photo of your crumb and share it in the Blue Ridge Sourdough Community.

Tell us:

What do you see?

And more importantly:

What do you think your loaf is telling you?

REFERENCE CORNER

WHAT DOES YOUR CRUMB TELL YOU?

Tight or Dense Crumb

A dense crumb can be associated with:

• Under-fermentation
• Weak starter activity
• Insufficient dough development
• Handling that knocked out too much gas
• Dough that didn't have enough time to expand

Ask yourself:

Did my dough actually look and feel ready before I shaped it?

Large Holes Near the Top

Those dramatic holes can look impressive—but they're not always a sign of perfect fermentation.

They may point to:

• Uneven fermentation
• Gas pockets that weren't distributed evenly
• Shaping that trapped larger bubbles
• Under-fermented areas of the dough

Ask yourself:

Was the crumb fairly consistent throughout the loaf?

Gummy or Wet Crumb

A gummy crumb can have several causes, including:

• Underbaking
• Cutting the loaf before it has cooled completely
• Excess moisture
• Fermentation issues

And this is where patience matters.

Let your loaf cool completely before judging the crumb. Cutting into sourdough too early can make a properly baked loaf appear gummy or underbaked.

Very Irregular Crumb

Some variation is completely normal in sourdough.

But if you see:

Huge holes + dense areas + uneven texture

that's worth investigating.

Look back at your fermentation.

How active was your starter?
How long was bulk?
What did the dough look like before shaping?
How did you shape it?

Your loaf can help you connect those dots.

Ready to read your crumb with confidence?

Use the full flowchart to connect what you see in your loaf to what happened during the bake:

COMMUNITY CRUMB

Community Crumb: Ellie’s Sourdough Comeback

This week’s Community Crumb comes from my friend (and Blue Ridge Sourdough Community member) Ellie, who decided to give sourdough another try after struggling with a weak starter about a year and a half ago.

This time, it clicked! ❤️

Her loaf was approximately ⅔ all-purpose flour + ⅓ whole wheat, with a kitchen temperature around 68°F. She kept her dough closer to 72°F during bulk fermentation and shaped around 9 PM.

What I love most about her description is that she watched the dough instead of just watching the clock.

By shaping time, it was:

• Jiggly
• Showing bubbles
• No longer sticking to her hands or bowl

She cold-proofed overnight and baked at 450°F, making one Dutch oven loaf and one open-baked loaf. When open baking, you only need steam during the first part of the bake—once the loaf has had its oven spring, let the steam escape so the crust can brown and crisp.

Ellie says the bread was a little dense, but really tasty toasted—and she’d make a few changes next time, including working on her shaping and experimenting with AP or bread flour.

But honestly?

After struggling to even get her starter going before, making two loaves and knowing what she’d change next time is a HUGE win. 🎉

That’s what I love about sourdough. We don’t have to get it perfect.

We just have to keep learning.

What would you change about Ellie’s process? Or would you keep doing exactly what she’s doing and make small adjustments from here?

🍞 Thank you, Ellie, for letting us learn from your loaf!

FRESH FROM CLEAR CREEK

The Vessel Matters More Than You Think

We’ve spent the last few issues talking about what happens before your dough reaches the oven.

But once that loaf goes in, the baking environment matters, too.

One of the biggest things sourdough needs during the beginning of the bake is steam. That moisture keeps the surface of the dough flexible long enough for the loaf to expand before the crust sets.

Once the loaf has finished its initial oven spring, you want that steam to escape so the crust can brown and crisp.

And there are several ways to create that environment at home.

A few options to consider

Dutch oven

Probably the most familiar option—and for good reason. A preheated, covered Dutch oven traps the steam released by your dough and creates a small, self-contained baking environment. It's a great place to start, especially if you're baking round boules.

Bread cloche

A cloche works on the same basic principle as a Dutch oven but is designed specifically around baking bread. They come in different materials and shapes and can be especially nice if you want something dedicated to bread baking.

Covered bread baker

These are another great option, especially if you prefer baking longer oval loaves. The covered design still gives you that trapped-steam environment while giving you more flexibility with loaf shape.

Open baking with a stone or steel

You can absolutely bake sourdough without a covered vessel. A baking stone or steel paired with a separate steam method can produce beautiful bread, but it takes a little more technique because a typical home oven doesn't hold steam particularly well.

And then there's my favorite: my bread oven.

This is the setup I keep coming back to.

What I love about a dedicated bread oven is that steam, heat, and the baking environment are built into the system rather than something I have to recreate with a Dutch oven or a pan of water.

It gives me the kind of controlled baking environment that makes sense when you're baking bread regularly—and I love being able to load the loaf, let the oven do its thing, and focus on the bread rather than managing the steam.

It's definitely more of an investment than a Dutch oven, so I don't think everyone needs one.

If you're baking occasionally, a good, covered baker or Dutch oven can be an excellent place to start.

But if sourdough has become a serious hobby—or you're baking frequently—the jump to a dedicated bread oven can be a pretty exciting one.

Want to see the bread oven I use?

Curious about the oven behind my sourdough bakes? I've put together a page showing the bread oven I use, why I chose it, and what I love about it for sourdough baking.

And here's the important part:

You don't need an expensive oven to make great sourdough.

The goal is simply to give your dough the environment it needs to become the loaf you've worked so hard to create.

And, if I'm being completely honest, there's another reason I love it:

It looks beautiful sitting on top of my oven. 😂

I know—that has absolutely nothing to do with oven spring or steam or crumb structure. But if I'm going to have a piece of equipment sitting out in my kitchen all the time, I want it to look good, too. And this one does.

It's functional and pretty enough that I don't mind seeing it every time I walk into the kitchen.

That's a win in my book.

COMING OUT OF THE OVEN

Next Week: Let's Talk About Inclusions

Okay.

You've learned to read your dough.
You've learned to recognize fermentation.
You've shaped it, baked it, and now you've learned how to read the crumb.

So naturally, there's another question:

What happens when we start putting things inside that dough?

Cheese.
Roasted garlic.
Jalapeños.
Chocolate.
Cinnamon.
Dried fruit.
Nuts.
Seeds.
Herbs.

Suddenly we're asking a whole new set of questions.

When do you add them?
How much is too much?
Do they change fermentation?
Do wet ingredients affect the dough?
Why do some inclusions sink?
Why does cheese sometimes disappear?

And perhaps the biggest question:

How do you add inclusions without wrecking the dough you worked so hard to build?

That's where we're headed next.

Issue 6: Inclusions — How to Add Flavor Without Wrecking Your Dough.

UNTIL NEXT TIME. . .

Thanks for spending a little time with me this week. I hope you learned something new and found a bit of inspiration for your next bake.

Because sometimes the best sourdough teacher…

is the loaf sitting on your cutting board.

See you next week!

Happy Baking!

Alice Wilson

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