Barbara Alpern

Long time professional artisan bread baker, caramel maker and member of our Baker Specialist team, Barb grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan and has four grown sons. She has baked in Michigan, Maine, Vermont, and Texas (if you count baking cookies for her son's wedding!).

Posts by Barbara Alpern

Maintaining a smaller sourdough starter
10/30/2018
Here at King Arthur Flour's Baker's Hotline we hear a common lament from frugal sourdough bakers:…
Determining the friction factor in baking
8/27/2018
In our earlier blog post on Desired Dough Temperature, we introduced a formula that professional…
Desired Dough Temperature
5/29/2018
When the seasons change it's not uncommon for our Baker's Hotline to hear from frustrated…
Sourdough starter troubleshooting, part 2
3/12/2018
In our first sourdough starter troubleshooting post we tackled sourdough starter viability, and what will…
Sourdough starter troubleshooting
3/09/2018
“Did I kill my starter?” This is a surprisingly common sourdough question on our Baker’s…
Using the autolyse method
9/29/2017
If artisan bread baking is a passion of yours, you’ve no doubt come across the…
Kneading wet dough by hand
6/19/2017
Have you ever heard the saying “wetter is better” when it comes to bread dough?…
Steam in bread baking
2/28/2017
Have you ever loaded your perfectly risen artisan bread into the oven, only to discover…
Levain for sandwich bread
12/09/2016
Have you ever used a levain for sandwich bread? I recently took a class at…
How to make Jewish Rye Bread, Part 2
3/23/2016
Yesterday we prepared the rye sour, old bread soaker, and ground caraway seeds for our…
How to Make Jewish Rye Bread, Part 1
3/22/2016
I’m a rye girl from way back. When I was growing up in Michigan I…
Artisan Sourdough Bread Tips, part 3
10/15/2015
At last, a baked loaf! This is the third and final installment of our artisan…
Artisan Sourdough Bread Tips, part 2
10/14/2015
Are you ready to learn some new artisan baking techniques today? If you haven't been…
Artisan Sourdough Bread Tips, part 1
10/13/2015
One of the most frequently asked sourdough questions we get on our Baker's Hotline is,…
Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake
3/10/2015
Passover is a holiday that celebrates questions – none of which have to do with…
Mom’s Caramels
12/10/2014
With this post we welcome first-time King Arthur Flour blogger Barb Alpern, a dedicated bread-baker,…

Barbara Alpern

Posts by Barbara Alpern

Maintaining a smaller sourdough starter

Determining the friction factor in baking

Desired Dough Temperature

Sourdough starter troubleshooting, part 2

Sourdough starter troubleshooting

Using the autolyse method

Kneading wet dough by hand

Steam in bread baking

Levain for sandwich bread

How to make Jewish Rye Bread, Part 2

How to Make Jewish Rye Bread, Part 1

Artisan Sourdough Bread Tips, part 3

Artisan Sourdough Bread Tips, part 2

Artisan Sourdough Bread Tips, part 1

Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake

Mom’s Caramels

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