Look, the author isn't technically wrong. But also, I have to point out that the reason for all the control and preciseness is replicability.

If you measure out everything by gram, mix/kneed for the right amount of time, set the temperature the the right number, and bake for the right amount of time, you'll get the same loaf, texture, everything, every single time.

That's why we have modern store bread loafs. That's why all bakeries aren't using more "artistic" methods of intuiting the amount of ingredients.

So long as you can accept that by doing thing by feel you'll end up with loaves that are rocks, crumbs, or dough balls. That are overcooked or undercooked. Then yeah, you can intuit as much as you like. Sometimes you'll get something good. You'll even get better at it till you usually get something good.

Of particular importance are the ratios of starter-flour-water when refreshing your culture (thrice daily! then bundling or floating for overnight storage...) It influences the ratio of Saccharomyces to Lactobacillus which has an effect on the pH of your dough after the first or second fermentation. If pH goes too low the gluten will dissolve and your dough will disintegrate when you try to knead in more ingredients.

One of the USA panettone masters, Roy Shvartzapel, insists you need a pH meter to be successful but after flailing around with one I found copying the refresh ratios of one of the Italian masters to do the trick. Unfortunately, refreshing is usually not part of published recipes!

The point of a ratatouille is not that it has precisely bell pepper, eggplant, tomato, and zucchini. It’s that it’s a stew of summer vegetables, and the point should be to figure out what the summer vegetables are for you.

We live in a world where we can buy summer vegetables in January (imported from across the world), so we don’t have to deal with those limitations.

I think it’s a fool’s errand to determine the precisely correct formula for the correct (tm) way of making x, y, or z.

This might be different if you work in a Michelin-starred restaurant or get a kick out of the scientific method.

But if you cook at home, the point is to make delicious things for the people you love.

My experience and conclusion was largely the same as the author. I found the brevity of many recipes frustrating, which led me to study the details of bread making.

The type of four, how much yeast, salt and water. How the water amount varies for so many reasons in a home kitchen.

Making 4 loafs a fortnight gives plenty of opportunity for iteration and learning. And over time I was able to develop a good understanding of dough hydration and how that affects the end product, and how it can make kneading and handling the dough easier or harder. There is a sweet spot.

This also led me to adding oil to a dough. Which acts to keep the gluten chains from getting too long and chewy, thus making the dough short.

It’s also how you make a great pizza dough.

From there I started experimenting with different flours, because I had to if I wanted bread. Running low on bread flour I added semolina, and also made a pure semolina loaf.

The main thing I’ve learned is there is a lot of leeway in the recipes that still produces tasty food. I’ve made some incredible and some woeful loafs that all taste great.

I still prefer specific recipes in metric, but I find more and more I’m reading into what the ratio of ingredients is doing and why.

Machinery for fancy twisted form factors is available. Here's the Fritsch Multitwist.[2] That seems to be more of a European thing. Although it can be configured to make big pretzels.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkfnFpOEEvU

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xVNK_XRkxM

https://github.com/hendricius/the-sourdough-framework

3.6k stars

This guy and book is great. Idk if he invented it but he might have popularized using low hydration or high hydration starter to change the flavor of your sourdough.

The idea I remember is that lower hydration starter gives you yogurty flavor and high gives you more sour.

https://garrickvanburen.com/only-finding-the-non-obvious-mat...

Precision measure and mixing and timing helped me a lot in the beginning.

Though I still do that, I find that now I can rely on feel (experience if I'm honest) to know when the dough is just right.

Like with everything, there's probably a middle ground there but I think I just like having fun pretending I'm on a chem lab :)

It’s near impossible to find decent bread, compared to EU countries like France/Belgium/Germany. :(