Hit 100 loaves of sourdough last week and it got me thinking about perfection vs. process

So I finally baked my 100th loaf of sourdough last Tuesday. I've been keeping a notebook tracking every bake since I started last January. At loaf 23 I had that perfect ear and crumb, thought I figured it all out. Then loaves 24 through 47 were total garbage, dense and gummy. Now at loaf 100 I'm wondering if chasing that one perfect loaf is even the point. Does hitting a milestone like this make you focus more on technique or just remind you that baking is a never ending experiment? Curious how other folks here feel when they hit their big numbers.

2 comments

2 Comments

anna75815d ago

Oh man, loaf 21 I had a perfect crumb like a dream and loaf 22 I accidentally used salt instead of sugar and my husband politely asked if we could just have toast from the store for a while. I think the shift happens when you start recognizing your own bad bakes with a shrug instead of a crisis. Like now when I pop out a dense frisbee I just call it "artisanal" and move on. Honestly my 100th loaf had a weird crater in the top because I forgot to score it and I was more proud of it than my perfect number 23.

brooke7116d ago

Does the shift from trying to nail a perfect loaf to just enjoying the process happen naturally around that hundredth bake, or did you have to make a conscious choice to let go of the perfectionism?