Addie Roberts’ new e-book, “Secrets of Open Crumb,” is a great new addition to your sourdough library. Addie is a home baker whose spectacular crumb photos earned her a large, loyal following on Instagram over the past few years (@breadstalker_). 

Addie’s book is similar to Trevor Wilson’s classic e-book, “Open
Crumb Mastery.”  Both are less traditional instructional books, and more of a personal history of each baker’s sourdough journey.  Addie’s book includes oft overlooked attention to her sourdough starter – the key ingredient in any sourdough bread.  Her unique methods are a revelation.

Addie describes each the specialized techniques that produce
her consistently eye-popping crumb photos, and she describes the background of how she learned, developed, and modified her techniques to produce the results.  The book also uniquely focuses on the important of controlling acidity (in the style of Thomas Teffri-Chambelland’s classic, “Sourdough Baking: A Treatise”) which is a welcomed addition to this overlooked topic. 

The “recipe” section of the book is not really standard recipes, but rather nine actual bakes of Addie’s favorite recipes, including the full details of starter preparation, flour choices, fermentation times, baking techniques, and photos of the actual loaves made in that bake.  Similar to Trevor Wilson’s case studies, this section of the book provides a unique glimpse inside the mind of a skilled sourdough baker.

The book is a little pricey for an e-book at $25, but it really does contain “secrets” to Addie’s spectacularly consistent crumb – her unique starter maintenance and baking techniques, in particular – that you will not find anywhere else.

This is one of the few “Secrets of…” books that actually contains secrets to success. 

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Tom Cucuzza

The Sourdough Journey

Cleveland, Ohio

January 2023©