Got my giveaway prize and immediately had to clean it and switch starter jars! I can already tell this is going to be way better than my mason jar as I hate that the mason jar I have that’s small isn’t wide mouth! This will be a breeze to clean and feed with way less mess!! I only keep a very minimal amount of starter during the week to do big feeds on weekends so exited to use the rubberband it comes with to mark growth on my next feed!

Drawing Saturday! I'm giving away THREE prize packages to help you start (or restart) your bread journey. If you did one of our bake alongs, it will twice! Each winner receives: - A signed copy of my book, "Sourdough for the Rest of Us" - A sachet of Vitale Sourdough Starter (meet Goldie!) - A Goldie Jar to keep her happy at home How to enter (all three required): 1. Introduce yourself in the community. Tell us who you are and what brought you to bread. 2. Complete three courses in the classroom. They're quick, they're free, and they'll set you up for success. 3. Post in the 🎁 January Giveaway Entry category with a photo of your bread (any bread, any skill level) and share your bread baking goal for 2025. Rules: - One entry per person - Must be a member of Crust & Crumb Academy - Winners drawn randomly on January 31st (that's Saturday!) - Open to US shipping addresses (international winners cover shipping difference) Still time to get your entry in. Perfection is not required. Just show up, learn something, and share your goal. Let's make 2026 the year you bake the bread you've been dreaming about.

The moment we've all been waiting for is here! After reviewing all the amazing entries, I'm thrilled to announce our THREE winners of the January Sourdough Starter Kit Giveaway! 🏆 Our Winners Are: 🥇 Candi Brown-McGrath - Topping our 30-day leaderboard with an incredible 1,007 points! Candi has been an absolute powerhouse in our community, completing courses, engaging with fellow bakers, and sharing her bread journey with us. 🥈 Colleen Vergara - Coming in strong with 944 points in the last 30 days! Colleen has shown incredible dedication, consistently showing up, learning, and contributing to our baking community. 🥉 Tracy Havlik - Earning 735 points this month! Tracy has been actively participating in discussions, completing classroom courses, and inspiring others with her baking progress. These three bakers went above and beyond — they introduced themselves to the community, completed courses in our classroom, and shared their bread baking goals with us. That's exactly the kind of dedication we love to see! 🎁 Each Winner Receives: • A signed copy of my book, "Sourdough for the Rest of Us" • A sachet of Vitale Sourdough Starter (meet Goldie!) • A Goldie Jar to keep her happy at home A huge thank you to SourHouse for helping make this giveaway possible. If you've been struggling to keep your starter happy, the Goldie keeps it at the perfect temperature so it's ready when you are. And when it's time to proof your dough, the Dough Bed gives you consistent, controlled fermentation without fighting your kitchen's mood swings. Want to check them out? Use code HBK23 for 10% off everything in their store. 👉 https://sourhouse.co?ref=BAKINGGREATBREAD 🙏 📬 Winners: Please DM me with your shipping address, email, and phone number so we can get your prizes on the way! Congratulations again, @Candi Brown-McGriff , @Colleen Vergara, and @Tracy Havlik! You've earned it! 🍞✨

As an old school cook (your dough MUST double in size), accepting to ‘read the dough’ really does work! My house is on the cooler side so there were several/many failures before I trusted this idea. What fun it has been to share homemade breads with neighbors and family. Now to move to the more complex looking creations - and learning to score properly.

Loved the Challah group bake we all did over the weekend! Quite tasty yesterday evening, OK today, and plans on making French toast with it tomorrow morning!