Culture and Crumb

07/06/2026

Sourdough Sunday Tip: 🦠🍞😂

When you pull your starter out of the fridge for its weekly feed, you may see a clear water that has developed on top. This clear “water” is called h***h!

H***h is a liquid made up of water, alcohol, and acids produced by your starter’s wild yeast and bacteria. It usually appears when your starter has run out of food and is getting hungry. H***h can be gray, brown, or slightly yellow liquid. All of that is normal! If the h***h is ever black or growing fuzzy fur it’s bad. When you see this simply mix it into your starter and feed that lil pet.

My recommendation for a feed it a 1:3:3 ratio:
-50 grams starter
-150 grans filtered room temp water
-150 grams bread flour

Also do a smell test each time you go to feed your starter weekly: If your starter smells like nail polish remover, it’s not dead, it’s dramatically starving and demanding a snack. Feed that tiny microbiome and watch the magic happen.

31/05/2026

Sourdough Sunday Tip 🥖🦠

One of the coolest parts about sourdough is that it’s literally alive… and because of that, your environment matters WAY more than people realize.

This week I watched a loaf being made in a much more humid environment than I’m used to, and it was fascinating seeing how much the bulk fermentation changed just from the moisture in the air alone. The dough rose differently, felt different, and behaved differently overall. Microbiology meets weather!

One of the biggest lessons in sourdough baking is learning that recipes are guides , not rigid laws. Learning to experiment with your flour and water ratios is part of becoming confident with your dough.

Typically:
• More humidity = less water needed in your dough
• Drier climates = dough may need more hydration

Your dough should teach YOU what it needs. Sticky, slack, overly wet dough in a humid climate usually means it’s time to slightly back off the water.

That’s the beauty of sourdough though, it’s science, intuition, patience, and a tiny bit of chaos all mixed together in your Dutch oven. 🍞

24/05/2026

SOURDOUGH SUNDAY!!
Hello Culture and Crumb friends!
On Sunday I’m going to be sharing sourdough recipes I’m testing, tips, tricks, and answering any and all questions you may have!
For those of you who purchased the starter kit and have started making bread please share your pics and feedback! I hope your kitchen pet has a name and it working great for you!

If you are interested in purchasing active, live, hydrated ready to use sourdough starter and step by step detailed beginners guide to sourdough please message me! Let’s get you baking today!

Today’s recipe that I’ve made a few times and has been a BIG hit is “Banana Pudding Sourdough inclusion loaf” and YES it’s as decadent as it sounds. I made this loaf and tried it as French toast (yum) and even on its own with honey is mind blowing!
Recipe as followed:
-100 g of Culture and Crumb active bubbly sourdough starter
-360 g filtered water
-510 g bread flour
-10 g salt
-small box of vanilla pudding (add this into the mix with the flour while making the dough at the start)

Incusions to be added after bulk fermentation is over right before cold proofing stage:
-fresh bananas
-crushed vanilla wafers
-sprinkle of brown sugar

Simply follow the Culture and Crumb instruction booklet and when it’s time to add inclusions add them and bake as normal the next day after cold proofing!
Get ready to have your mind blown and your home to smell like a Southern bakery ENJOY! 🍌🍞

19/05/2026

Culture and Crumb is my idea brought to life after baking my sourdough for my amazing microbiology dental hygiene students!
Baking sourdough is a fantastic way to see microbial science work in real time. As I always say to my students “it’s a microbial world and we just live in it!”
Please share Culture and Crumb with your family and friends and message me and I’d love to get you a full sourdough starter kit including highly active and ready to use starter AND a beautifully made detailed instructional book with step by step instructions on how to make sourdough today. NO WAITING! Bread can be yours today! That’s why I say “from fed to bread in two days!”
There is also detailed instructions on how to keep the starter in your fridge always ready to make bread!
Yes you can research how to make sourdough but there is SO much information out there it will get overwhelming. I’ve done the research for you combining many tips and techniques that has givin me a successful loaf each and every time I make it!
Thanks more than anything for your support on my newest Roman Empire obsession 😜💞🍞
Pictured is my fantastic Cheddar and jalapeño sourdough loaf!

19/05/2026

16/05/2026

WE ARE LIVE! It’s the official launch of Culture and Crumb at the Lake Dallas High School band craft fair! Thank you to everyone who made my first craft fair a success! Thank you for your purchases and enjoy you new kitchen pet! On to the next!

16/05/2026

WE ARE LIVE!! It’s the official launch of Culture and Crumb at the Lake Dallas High School craft fair! Thank you to everyone who purchased and enjoy your new kitchen pet!

12/05/2026

Welcome to Culture & Crumb 🥖🦠✨

My name is Leah and this is a new exciting business venture for me! I am a Professor of Microbiology at Texas A&M for Dental Hygiene students. I love micro and all things science and during a very difficult time in my life I also got into making sourdough. I consumed hundreds and hundreds of hours of content about sourdough making. It took me hours and hours and weeks and weeks to get my first sourdough loaf success because there is SO much info out there! But now I have streamlined the process for YOU. I've done the research for you! Take my hours of study, my ready to make starter, and detailed instructional booklet and make your FIRST loaf a success! Thats why we say:
"From Fed to Bread in Under Two Days!"

Culture & Crumb was created to make sourdough approachable, beautiful, science-backed, and actually doable for normal humans — even if you’ve never baked bread before in your life.

What we offer:
✨ Live active sourdough starter cultures--NO dehydrated starter that takes weeks to get ready! This starter is ready to go. Either put it back in the fridge upon purchase and use when ready OR begin your first loaf that day!

✨ Detailed beginner-friendly instructional booklet

✨ Science-packed fermentation guidance

✨ Tips, tricks, troubleshooting, and support

✨ A whole lot of encouragement when your dough looks suspicious

One of my very first customers shared this after making her first loaf:
"I received my sourdough starter and instructional booklet from 'Culture and Crumb' on a Wendesday and could not wait until the weekend to start it. The instructions were incredibly detailed, and easy to follow. I was able to make my very first loaf beautifully! The process did take a little bit longer than I expected, but that was because I accidentally used all-purpose flour instead of the recommendation in the instructions. Even with my mistake, the bread still turned out amazing. Highly recommend 'Culture and Crumb' for anyone wanting to learn sourdough!" (Her first ever sourdough loaf is pictured below!)
-Nicholette

And honestly… if sourdough can survive accidental all-purpose flour, there’s hope for all of us!

Thank you for being here and supporting this little dream of mine. More sourdough, science, starter tips, and crusty bread content coming soon. Be ready to see me in person at local craft fairs and farmers markets! I'll keep you all posted! 🍞

Heres to microbial wishes and sourdough dreams!