Elias Thorn on Baking by Feel

You still weigh your flour, but not much else. Why?

Flour and water need to be precise, because that ratio decides the whole structure of the dough. Everything after that — how long to proof, how hot the oven really is — changes daily, so I stopped pretending a fixed number would hold.

What made you trust your hands over a timer?

Burning a lot of loaves. Eventually you learn what the dough feels like when it's actually ready, versus when the clock says it should be.

Is there a common mistake home bakers make with sourdough?

Panicking. Bread is more forgiving than the internet makes it look. A slightly under-proofed loaf is still bread. It's not still a failure.

What do you wish people understood about a wild starter?

That it's not fussy, it's just alive. It wants roughly the same things you do — food, warmth, and to be left alone sometimes.

What's the one thing you'd tell someone baking their first loaf?

Don't judge it against a photo. Judge it against the loaf you made yesterday.