Episode Details

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This week on Saving Bread, Allison talks with Parker Cook, baker, educator and content creator behind Basil & Bloom.

Parker has built a large online community teaching sourdough bread baking, fermentation, starter maintenance, whole grains, freshly milled flour and microbakery production. But there is already a lot of information online about how Parker makes bread.

This conversation looks more at the person behind that information.

Parker shares how he went from learning to cook while living in Italy to working as a research and development chef, and how that analytical background shaped the way he approaches sourdough today.

They talk about how Parker actually learns a new technique, why he tests ideas repeatedly and side by side, the importance of building experience through repetition, and why becoming a better baker may be as much about becoming a better observer as it is about collecting more information.

Parker and Allison also get into what makes an online educator trustworthy. Parker talks about creating content from real questions within his community, simplifying complicated baking concepts without losing the useful information, and the responsibility that comes with recommending products to a large audience.

The conversation also covers beginner sourdough mistakes, bulk fermentation, sourdough starter maintenance, stiff starters, freshly milled flour, whole grain baking, microbakery systems, content creation, entrepreneurship and building Basil & Bloom alongside Parker's wife and business partner, Camille.

They finish by talking about being open to different approaches to bread and Parker's belief that there are no strict rules in sourdough, only techniques that help you make the bread you want to make.

FOLLOW AND SUPPORT PARKER

Basil & Bloom
Basil & Bloom website

Instagram
Follow @eatbasilandbloom on Instagram

School of Sourdough and online baking courses
Explore Parker's sourdough courses

Whole grain, freshly milled flour and additional courses
Basil & Bloom course library

Parker's Picks and affiliate links
Shop Parker's recommended baking tools and products

If you enjoy Parker's free educational content and purchase a product he recommends, using his affiliate links is one way to directly support Basil & Bloom.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow Saving Bread, leave a rating or review and share the episode with another baker.

Long live real bread.