40% Emmer at 84% Hydration: Sharp Bran Needs More Water Than Wheat

The difference between this focaccia and the skillet discard version in this ledger is the starter: this one is built to peak and used at full strength, so the dough rises 80% in four hours and the crumb is lighter. It is also the only tray bread here that is deliberately baked on the same day it is mixed, with no cold retard at all.

One hundred percent rye, no wheat, no pan support from a batter-like dough, and a 75-minute bake. This is the slowest entry in the ledger: fifteen minutes of mixing, a 16-hour rye sour, and a loaf that is better on day three than on day one. It is also the only bread here that keeps for a full week without any loss of quality.

Adding 25% butter to a sourdough is easy. Adding it at the right moment is the whole skill. Put it in at the start and the fat coats the flour particles, the gluten never develops, and you get a dense, greasy dough that proofs into a brick. Add it after the bulk, in five stages, waiting for each slug to disappear before the next, and you get a brioche that is stringy, tender and still tastes of fermentation.