Whether it’s for the simplicity of ingredients, freshness of the product, or support for a small community business, customers are craving a slice of sourdough bread from Abby Koele’s at-home bakery, Proof Waco.
In the kitchen of her and her husband’s first home, Koele moves back and forth between the oven, counter, and fridge – cutting dough, setting timers, and baking bread to reach her 4:00 p.m. pick-up time. Her wake-up call this morning to get it all done in time? 3:00 a.m.
“I love a good challenge,” she said.
Koele and her husband, both Baylor grads, recently moved back to Waco from Houston. Back in 2022, she started baking just for friends or neighbors, always bringing a loaf of bread to some event. Before the move, friends encouraged her to do a pop-up sale event, which is when the name Proof was created. Now, back in Waco, she wanted to make weekly sales an official routine – and it’s paying off.
“We have sold out the last three weeks,” she said.
The sourdough bread industry has seen a rise since the COVID-19 pandemic when extended time at home allowed for new hobbies and the reigns of social media took hold of the bread-making process. According to Google Trends, searches for the word “sourdough” have seen a steady increase, peaking in 2020 and again earlier this year. So, what makes it so popular?
“A lot of sourdough breads in your grocery stores have sugar, and other processed things included in the bread. At a home baker, your typical sourdough bread is going to have just flour, wild yeast, which is the sourdough starter, and water,” Koele said.
While some prefer to buy from local bakeries like Proof Waco, others have taken the challenge upon themselves. Baylor sophomore Karis Moon keeps her starter in her dorm room, using a friend’s apartment off campus to bake her bread to share with college friends.
“This past December, random TikTok’s of sourdough started popping up on my page. I am very science-brained, and the science behind the fermentation process fascinated me,” Moon said. “I’m not even the biggest bread eater. I just like being able to make it. It’s a success story because it’s not for the weak. It’s not easy. It’s a very long process.”
For most bakers, it takes about a week to make one loaf because of the fermentation process needed to produce a usable sourdough starter. Formed from specific portions of flour and water, sourdough starters create their own wild yeast. Sourdough starters likely originated from ancient Egypt around 1500 BCE, making that process not only long, but also historical.
“It’s a tradition that has kind of held, and I think that people want to learn how to do something that's sustainable,” Koele said.
For more information on Proof Waco and to order a loaf of your own, visit this link.