iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 26/09/2026

Umm, yeah... big family... (single dude, eating half a loaf a day). I actually gave away a lot of bread. The only time I played with rye (dark rye, I believe) was to make rye bread with caraway seeds. Delicious stuff. :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 25/09/2026

I ended up throwing my starter out last year. Starting over isn't fun, but I'm seeing life! Back then, I was baking 1-2 loaves a day. That went for about 300-400 loaves, then I quit, haha. Can't wait to have fresh bread again. :) Back then, I pretty much only used white bread flour.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 25/09/2026

The book I'm following says you may see a big reaction on the second day, but it's not a "good" reaction. It doesn't mean it's ready to bake with. No raisins (that's interesting). Back to only a few bubbles. I suspect it'll be ready in a few more days.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 25/09/2026

Yup! This was 1.5 days into making my starter. It's half whole wheat and half bread flour. I was actually surprised at how active it was. Made me think the flour has bugs in it... haha.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 25/09/2026

Wow, it has been 17ish months since I stopped baking. Time really flies. And now, it's time to bring back Bubbles. :) #breadsky

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 27/10/2025

That's pretty awesome, haha. Sorry for the late reply. I haven't been baking, and I'm about to let my domain expire, so I'm not sure what will happen to this account... Hope you're doing well. :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 27/10/2025

Ah! Sorry to hear that. I've largely stopped baking as it was spiking my blood sugar levels, haha. That's why I haven't been around. I'm thinking of making pizza dough, though. It's not too hard, and it's better than anything you can buy in the store. Hope your employment situation improves!

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 17/05/2025

Haha, no worries. I've been so busy, I haven't even used this computer to check Bluesky. >< Might decide to move this computer into my main office so I can better use it for social media. Sounds like the loaf was delicious!

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 06/05/2025

Sounds great! I've not baked too many rye loaves. Mine tend to be quite dense, so I'm interested in how yours turns out. :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 27/04/2025

In the winter, when I finish baking, I leave the door open to help with heating, haha. Not sure how the Summer will go. I'll probably just let the air conditioner deal with it (and pay extra for it...).

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 27/04/2025

Yup. I check before I go to bed each night. Well done. :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 26/04/2025

Haha, you can always bring it back! I've had rye that wasn't condensed, but who knows how much actual rye flour they used. It could have been bread flour and caraway seeds, lol.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 25/04/2025

Made some rye sourdough bread in order to make a Reuben sandwich. My first Reuben. Woot! I didn't have nearly enough meat, haha. Rye is also hard to not make a condensed loaf. I'll keep working on it. :) #breadsky 🍽️

Sliced open Reuben sandwich, showing off all the inside goodness.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 21/04/2025

I'm trying to be back! Haha, I just have a lot of projects, family, etc. But I'm taking pictures, preparing for when I have time. :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 21/04/2025

Yup! I baked a few more and the last one kind of exploded, too... lol. It's what happens when you have too much cheese (or the perfect amount of cheese, haha).

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 21/04/2025

Thanks, man. That's life. Got to see my extended family for the first time in a long while, so that was nice. :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 19/04/2025

Looks like they turned out well! (Sorry, I've been offline for a bit. Family, funeral, and lots of baking.)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 13/04/2025

Grape jelly on pink sourdough bread, haha. I probably could use a lot more dragon fruit powder to get a deeper color. Either way, tasted the same, which means it tasted great. :) #breadsky

Crumb shot of a sourdough loaf made with dragon fruit powder.

Concord grape jelly on pink sourdough bread.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 13/04/2025

Woot! I've written down the ingredients. I'll see about making it next week.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 12/04/2025

Ah, alright. I've only fermented things, I haven't picked anything before. But that could be fun (and probably a lot easier than saurkraut, haha).

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 12/04/2025

I've baked like 200 loaves of normal sourdough, and I'm still experimenting, haha. Makes sense your yeast likes cider. I wonder if the dough is actually proofing faster or if the cider is making it more gassy while it still has plenty of fuel from the flour. Keep experimenting and let me know! :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 12/04/2025

I've not had one before, but I snagged this image from Allrecipes, and that looks tasty. I don't think my saurkraut will work well, though. It has dill and garlic in it. Or maybe that doesn't matter?

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 12/04/2025

Indeed! I even lost weight with this. It's quite filling.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 12/04/2025

Haha! You're not wrong... but more cheese is better. ;)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 12/04/2025

Yeah, that sounds delicious. I'm sure it smells good, too. I should challenge myself once a week to do something completely new...

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 12/04/2025

It's hard having a normal grilled cheese after using fresh, home-baked jalapeno and cheddar sourdough bread. :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 12/04/2025

I'm sure it will! It only takes about a week to have a good starter, then the sourness is largely up to when you use the starter. Growing peppers sounds like it will take a while... lol.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 12/04/2025

Oh? I'm usually not the person who eats jalapenos, so I have little experience. Dill, you say? I'm sure I can find some at the grocery store this Sunday. :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 11/04/2025

Thanks for sharing! How does this change the flavor? I'm just used to the basic ingredients of flour, water, and salt, haha. I'm currently experimenting with dragon fruit powder, though. Just baked some pink (mildly pink) loaves. I'm afraid it'll change the flavor, but we'll see!

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 11/04/2025

Interesting. I guess I was thinking of them as not savory, thus sweet (and for using fruit). But I've honestly not tried bread like that before. I'll add it to my bread-baking bucket list. ;)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 11/04/2025

Those are definitely inventive ways to bake! My breads are mostly the same every time, haha. I'm a bit too busy to experiment... But one of these days, I'll totally use you as inspiration. :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 11/04/2025

Made jalapeño and cheddar sourdough bread. It's kind of a pain trying to keep all the things inside the dough, but it makes for the best grilled cheese sandwiches! Fresh jalapeños. Next time, I'll try picked jalapeños. :) #breadsky 🍽️

Jalapeño and cheddar sourdough bread, using large cubes of fresh jalapeños.

In-the-pan shot of a grilled cheese sandwich using jalapeño a cheddar bread.

Close up of the grilled cheese sandwich. Oooo, it was so good. Light crunch on the outside, fresh, chewy bread, and a gooey delight in the middle. Topped it off with a bit of garlic salt.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 10/04/2025

Ah, yes, I could do that. Pastrami is probably closer to normal for me. That sounds good. :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 10/04/2025

No problem! Glad it helped. :) Those breads sound amazing! I'm still doing basic stuff (except for today; I baked jalapeno and cheddar loaves). I've yet to make a "sweet" bread (other than adding jam to it, haha).

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 10/04/2025

Ah, interesting! I've never thought to use apple cider instead of water. It looks like it turned out great, so keep on choosing your own adventure. ;)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 10/04/2025

Thanks! I don't think maintaining your starter has to be hard. For example, you could maintain a stiff starter instead (almost like a dough, unlike a liquid starter). This way, you can bake when you have time and not waste much flour when you don't have time. :)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 10/04/2025

Got a jalapeno and cheddar one for tomorrow. :) I'll try to remember to post a picture, haha.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 10/04/2025

That's awesome, man. I don't have smoked mackerel, but I do have homemade sauerkraut and can make rye bread. :D

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 10/04/2025

I've been making sourdough bread every day for months now. This is my latest. :) I don't have anything amazing to post, so I've mostly just stopped posting. But maybe I don't need to post "amazing" things. I'm just sharing what I've baked. That's good enough. Hope you're baking awesome things!

Sourdough batard on a metal cooling rack.

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 23/03/2025

Thanks! It was so nom that I ended up making a second sandwich, which I probably shouldn't have eaten, but I loved it all the same. ;)

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Dustin Tigner (Lvl1Baker) @lvl1baker.com · 23/03/2025

Jalapeno and cheese sourdough bread makes AMAZING grilled cheese sandwiches. As such, 8 of my loaves this week will be jalapeno and cheese. :) #breadsky

Grilled cheese sandwich made from jalapeno and cheese sourdough bread.

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