Baker. Author. Educator. Community builder.
Bread is where it starts.
People are why it matters.
I'm Henry Hunter, an artisan bread baker, author of seven books, and the founder of Baking Great Bread at Home, Crust & Crumb Academy, and From Oven to Market.
I help everyday people bake great bread, understand their dough, and build confidence in their own kitchens. Everyone deserves a place to learn without feeling foolish for asking.
The baker behind the bread
Before bread became my work, I spent 26 years in television advertising and marketing with CBS and Fox. I'm also a United States Army veteran.
Later, as a farmers market bread vendor, I learned what it takes to bake for customers, manage production, and stand behind what you've made. I've had dough that didn't cooperate and loaves that didn't turn out the way I'd planned. Those experiences still shape how I teach.
Sharing recipes and answering questions grew into books, communities, classes, and tools. Each one gives bakers another way to get the help they need.
I want you to understand why a method works, what to look for in your dough, and what to do when the bake takes an unexpected turn.
One baking ecosystem
Some bakers are mixing their first loaf. Others are learning sourdough, milling their own flour, or getting ready to sell. These communities give them a place to ask, practice, and keep going.
Where the conversation begins.
Our Facebook community brings home bakers together to learn and share. We share recipes, work through questions, and help one another bake a better loaf tomorrow.
Meet our Facebook community →
Bakers don't come here to get likes. They come here to get better.
Through structured lessons, live Saturday bake-alongs, and practical guidance, we're helping home bakers build confidence. Bring your questions and your dough. We'll work through them together.
Explore the Academy →
Turn the bread you already bake into a business.
From pricing and production to marketing and finding customers, we help home bakers take their bread from the kitchen to the marketplace, with guidance grounded in the work of selling bread.
Explore From Oven to Market →Recipe Pantry
I built and curate Recipe Pantry, a growing collection of more than 230 recipes baked by thousands of bakers in our communities.
Sandwich loaves, sourdough, enriched doughs, holiday breads, and ancient grains. Recipes you can return to as your skills grow, with a community you can turn to when you have questions.
More ways to bake
Alongside the main collection, I've built resources for bakers who want to work with recipes in new ways, explore fresh-milled grains, or plan their next holiday bake.
For bakers who want to turn the bread they bake into a business. Work with scalable recipes, care labels, and cottage food compliant labels as you prepare bread to sell.
Explore Pantry Pro →
Recipes for exploring ancient grains and freshly milled flour. Put what you're learning about the grain to work in your own kitchen.
Explore ancient grains →
Breads and bakes for the holidays, gathered in one place so you can choose something for your table or make a gift from your kitchen.
Explore holiday baking →Kids Can Bake gives younger bakers a place in the Pantry, too. There's room at the counter for the next generation.
From my kitchen to your bookshelf
My bread books carry the same approach as my classes: explain the process, teach the reason behind it, and help the baker put it to work.
Practical sourdough guidance for everyday home bakers.
Bringing your bread to customers and building a baking business.
A Journey Through History, Science, Art and Community
Sourdough starter, fermentation, and baking.
A practical guide to natural leavening.
A History of What We Broke and How We're Taking It Back
Beyond the baking books
Echoes of Giants and Forgotten Truths
Alongside my baking books, I also write fiction. The Watchers’ Descent is another part of my work as an author.
Explore my fiction →My bread books carry the same practical approach as my teaching. My fiction gives me another place to explore stories and ideas.
Built from bakers' questions
A feeding calculation. An unfamiliar term. A recipe you'd like to convert. I build tools around the questions our bakers ask, so the next step feels manageable.
Plan starter feedings and levain builds, save your plans, and use the Peak Journal to learn how your starter behaves.
Open the Studio →
More than 237 terms and techniques explained in language home bakers can understand. A place to look things up and connect the words to the work.
Explore the glossary →
Convert recipes between commercial yeast and sourdough, with help handling the flour and water in your starter.
Open the converter →
Explore the relationship between temperature, time, and fermentation. Watch the dough, not the clock.
Open the Compass →
A companion for exploring freshly milled flour, whole grains, and the differences between modern and ancient wheat.
Explore The Mill →
Baking tools, equipment, and gifts I've selected for home bakers, gathered in my 2025 Holiday Shoppers Guide.
Explore the 2025 guide →
A starting point for bread-baking questions, with guidance on starters, fermentation, shaping, scoring, and more. Find the topic that matches where you are in your bake.
Explore The Bread Authority →The proof is in the people
Crust & Crumb Academy's October 2026 media kit records a 5.0 out of 5 ProveWorth rating from 75 reviews.
Read what our bakers say →Somewhere, somebody is looking at a bowl of dough and wondering whether they've done something wrong. I want that baker to have somewhere to turn.
A first sourdough loaf that finally works. A baker learning to mill flour at home. Someone taking their first batch of bread to market. Those are the moments that give this work meaning.
I write the books, build the tools, and keep showing up because people deserve answers they can understand and a community that wants them to succeed.
Still learning. Still building.
My work continues through fresh-milled flour and ancient grain education, baking tutorials, newsletters, live demonstrations, and new tools shaped by our community's questions.
Read the latest on the blog →Your next loaf starts here
Bring your questions, your curiosity, and whatever experience you've got. There's room for you at the counter.