You posted a photo of your crumb. You asked why it was gummy. You waited.
Maybe someone answered. Maybe they didn’t. Maybe the algorithm decided your question wasn’t interesting enough to show to people who could actually help.
Three days later, you scrolled past the same question from someone else. This time it got 47 comments.
Sound familiar?
The Problem Nobody Talks About
Social media platforms can be great for community. They’re terrible for learning.
Your question disappears in hours. There’s no way to find that shaping video someone posted last month. The guy who really knows his stuff about hydration? His comment is buried under 200 replies about someone’s new banneton.
You end up asking the same questions other people already asked. You miss answers that would have saved you weeks of frustration. And when you finally figure something out, there’s no way to build on it because everything resets with every scroll.
I’ve been running Baking Great Bread at Home for years. Over 50,000 members. And I kept watching the same thing happen: good bakers with good questions, getting lost in the noise.
What Structured Learning Actually Looks Like
So I built something different.
Crust & Crumb Academy is organized around how people actually learn. Courses that build on each other. Lessons you can find again. A community small enough that your question gets seen.
Here’s what’s inside:
Starter 101 walks you through days 1-7 of building a starter, including what to do when day 2-3 activity fades (it’s normal), how to read the signs that tell you it’s ready, and the mistakes that don’t actually matter.
The Secret to Controlling Flavor explains the science behind mild vs. tangy bread. Once you understand what’s happening in the jar, you can dial in exactly what you want.
Pre-Ferments: The Architecture of Flavor covers poolish, biga, pâte fermentée, sponge, and levain. Which one to use, when, and why professional bakers don’t skip this step.
The Two Techniques That Changed My Bread shows you fermentolyse and the Rubaud method. These two things transformed my dough more than anything else I learned in 15 years.
The Recipe Pantry has 28+ recipes with step-by-step checkboxes, built-in timers, and progress that saves across sessions. The Crust & Crumb Glossary defines 132 terms in plain language.
Everything is searchable. Everything stays where you put it.
What Happens When the Noise Disappears
C.B. McGriff said it better than I could:
“I’m a person who has always loved learning. My life’s motto for many years is if you don’t learn something new daily then that day was in vain. Therefore, I can honestly say that I love the Academy. There’s always something NEW to learn and all of it is focused on making me a better sourdough baker. Even if the tips shared are not about your bake it’s STILL a learning moment because you can take what you learned about someone else’s missteps and apply it to your own bread techniques so you can bake great bread not good bread. The Academy encourages you to bake better and understand where your weaknesses are so they can become areas of strength.”
That’s the difference. Learning from everyone’s questions, not just your own.
Dave Whitney tried my Rosemary Garlic & Parmesan sourdough batard. First attempt. He reached out, got specific advice on scaling the recipe for his 10″ oval banneton, and nailed it:
“Hot out of the oven with Henry’s Rosemary Garlic & Parmesan sourdough batard. First try and if it tastes as good as my kitchen smells… With Henry’s advice I reduced all components by 10% to perfectly fit my 10″ oval banneton.”
That’s what happens when your question actually gets answered.
And Tracy Havlik jumped into our Fresh Start Challenge with the 2-hour ciabatta:
“These ciabatta rolls are crispy, fluffy and so tasty. Super easy recipe yielded the best ciabatta I’ve ever made.”
First try. Best she’s ever made. Because the recipe was solid, the steps were clear, and she wasn’t guessing.
Two New Recipes This Week
Speaking of recipes: I just added two that people have been asking for.
Special Round Challah – the recipe I learned from Mr. Sherman in a small German bakery twenty years ago. Both yeasted and sourdough versions. Challah was the second most-requested recipe in our community, so here it is.
Quick Ciabatta – the same 2-hour version Tracy nailed. Big holes, crispy crust, no overnight wait.
If You’re Tired of Scrolling
The Academy is free to join. Courses, recipes, tools, community.
No algorithms deciding what you see. No questions disappearing. Just structured learning that builds on itself.
Your next question deserves an answer.
Henry
