Parker Cook Website

Parker Cook

Sourdough Baker

Parker Cook is a former R&D chef, sourdough educator, and the owner-operator behind Basil & Bloom Sourdough, founded in 2022 in Southeastern Idaho. Applying his science- and research-based background and experience with the culinary arts to the intricacies of sourdough baking, Parker launched his microbakery in 2023. Each week he personally bakes and sells up to 200 artisan loaves at the Idaho Falls Farmers Market while providing free sourdough education on social media and documenting his microbakery's growth online. Through social media, extensive testing and baking, and experience-driven online courses, Parker breaks down baking principles into straightforward techniques for all bakers worldwide.

Education

  • B.S. in Exercise Physiology, Minor in Culinary Arts, Brigham Young University - Idaho

Professional Achievements

  • Grew Basil & Bloom's online presence while establishing a highly popular local microbakery through which he bakes and sells hundreds of sourdough loaves each week at his local market
  • Pushed Basil & Bloom's business model toward online education, e-commerce, and digital content, all while continuously evolving his own baking understanding and skills

Favorite Piece of Advice

My number one recommendation for any sourdough baker is to remember that there are no rules in sourdough baking. There are only techniques that allow you to achieve the sourdough you want to bake, so learn the techniques and apply those that get you the bread that makes you happiest!

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Forum Comments (2)

Easy guide for sourdough bread/starter?
It's much quicker to get some sourdough starter from someone else, so that’s typically what I recommend. However, if you do want to start a brand new sourdough starter, you’ll need to start with yeast. The yeast we want to harness in a sourdough starter specifically can be found on wheat stalks in the fields, and therefore is harvested with the wheat and blended into flour. The yeast sits dormant because it’s a dry environment and there isn’t any water to activate it. You’ll have the best results if you choose to use wheat flour or rye flour because those are more enzymatically active than typical white flour.

To start, take 100 grams of flour and mix it with 100 grams of water, then let it sit for 24 hours. You won’t see much activity at first, but after the first day you’ll toss half of your mixture to get down to 50 grams of the previous day’s mixture, then mix in another 50 grams of water and flour. Within 2-3 days, you should start seeing some bubbles in the mixture as the microbes become more active. You’ll want to repeat this process for 7 to 14 days, depending on your environment. The warmer the place you’re storing your mixture is, the more quickly it will activate. That’s basically how you’d harness the wild yeast in flour for a sourdough starter!
How can you tell if there is white mold on bread?
If it's a loaf of sourdough, you'll be able to see that there will be circular patterns of mold. They'll be fuzzy, and it's very distinct from the light and fluffy interior of bread. If you see it on the outside, there's mold. So you just want to look for circular patterns of bulbous, fuzzy growths if you're looking for mold on bread.

Co-authored Articles (8)

How to

Fix Dough That Won't Rise

You have it all planned: the dinner, the wine, that fresh-baked loaf of bread. Everything's coming together when you discover that your bread dough just isn't rising. Fortunately, this is a problem that's relatively easy...

340+ Funny & Creative Sourdough Starter Name Ideas

Sourdough baker Parker Cook gives you tips on coming up with a unique name for your sourdough starterTaking care of a sourdough starter is like taking care of a pet… You have to feed it regularly and make sure it stays...

How to

Knead Dough

Kneading dough leads to the development of gluten and helps to uniformly distribute the gases that are produced by the yeast. This creates the conditions necessary for producing porous and spongy—in other words, delici...

How to

Make Sourdough Bread

Sourdough baker Parker Cook explains how to make the perfect sourdough quickly and easilySourdough bread is bread leavened using only wild, naturally-occurring yeast and bacteria. For millennia, this was the only way bre...

How to

Bake Bread on the Stovetop

Sourdough baker Parker Cook explains the best way to cook your bread on a stovetopBaking bread on the stovetop is a great alternative to using an oven. Baking on the stovetop can be an energy saver, as well as a useful ...

How to Grow Yeast at Home from Scratch

A guide to making yeast for all your baking and brewing needs Yeast is a single-celled organism vital to most bakers and brewers all over the world, due to its ability to turn sugars into carbon dioxide and alcohol. You...

How to

Defrost Dough

Frozen dough is very easy to defrost and you can use a number of various methods to thaw it. Defrost any type of dough using a microwave, a fridge, or an oven. If you're in a hurry, the microwave is your best bet to quic...

How to Make No-Yeast Pizza Dough, Quick Bread, & Soda Bread

Enjoy these delicious recipes without waiting for the dough to riseIf you love making baked goods but don't have the time to let dough rise, make dough without yeast. You can easily make fluffy, flavorful dough that reli...