Quick update today – I'm thrilled to announce that Breadwinner is now officially for sale on our Shopify store! Whether you're looking for a additional unit to try with a differ...
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Fred Benenson
10 months ago
Fresh Feature Alert: Jar Type Selection & Privacy Settings
Hello, Breadwinner backers,
I hope you're all kneading away at some tasty data-driven sourdough. I'm thrilled to share some freshly baked updates that I've rolled out:
1. J...
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Fred Benenson
10 months ago
Breadwinner Shipping News: International Challenges
Hello, my Breadwinner family around the globe,
I hope this message finds you well and as excited about our data-driven bread baking journey as I am. I wanted to address a matte...
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Fred Benenson
11 months ago
Breadberry Starter Shipping, Your Feedback, and More!
Hello, our Dough-tastic Data Devotees!
First, the shipping news...
Breadberry Starter Shipping
I've just returned from a quick jaunt to my local post office, dropping o...
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Fred Benenson
11 months ago
Breadwinner Update: Almost Fully Shipped, Exciting Data, & More!
Hello Breadwinners,
I am excited to bring you the latest news on our Breadwinner journey. Let's dive in!
First, I am thrilled to report that almost all of the Breadwinner u...
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Fred Benenson
11 months ago
Big Yeast Data & International Shipping!
Greetings Gleeful Gluten Gods,
Aside from a couple dozen of you who have yet to fill out your BackerKit address survey (click here to find a link to your open surveys on Bac...
First, the shipping news... Breadberry Starter Shipping
I've just returned from a quick jaunt to my local post office, dropping off dozens of Breadberry starters. For those of you who added the Breadberry add-on, your dehydrated starter is now en-route, secured in the hands of USPS.
For our international backers, we're now in "send and pray" mode for your Breadberry shipments. I've attached international stamps to your regular envelopes, hoping they make it through the labyrinth of global mail systems. Unfortunately it's all a bit of a dice roll, as customs rules differ from country to country. Who knew, for instance, that Spain has a no-go policy on playing cards? And shipping pulverized coca beans to Germany? Nein, danke! You can find more of these peculiar restrictions here: https://pe.usps.com/text/Imm/immctry.htm. Let me know if you find anything about dehydrated sourdough starters in there (e.g., I would argue it is definitely not a live animal).
Special thanks go to Noah, my trusty Breadwinner sidekick as he stuffed many of the envelopes you'll be receiving and has been a huge support during our journey.
If you're a non-US backer waiting for your actual Breadwinner, don't fret - it looks as if the majority of them have made it out of the country and many of them have already cleared customs in their destination country.
How’s it going?
So, for those who have successfully sprung their units from their boxes and are feeding the data beast, how are things kneading out? Some of you have already recorded a dozen feedings, which is fantastic! We're seeing new devices rise online daily, but do feel free to drop me a line if you encounter any glitches or need assistance with your setup – [email protected].
Suggest Features?
To help me better organize and prioritize future development on Breadwinner, I’ve baked up a new feedback system over here:
This is my first time using Canny, but I'm hopeful it will aid in keeping things well-organized and allow you to stay updated when fresh features are baked and ready.
Until next time, keep those ovens warm and the feedback coming!
Once I discovered how it much Breadberry grew when being fed rye, I knew I couldn't go back. That said, I've tried mixing in spelt, regular whole wheat, and baker's flour. But I've always come back to rye. I'm also about 1:1 (i.e., 100% hydration) of flour to water, but have definitely varied that a lot. I notice that the stiffer my starter is, the more jagged it's graph is on my Breadwinner dashboard.
But that's just me, and everyone's starter is different. So what do you feed yours and why?
Hi all
I was wondering if anyone had tried using one of these https://brodandtaylor.com.au/products/sourdough-home and if it works with breadwinner? Our local temperatures range from -1C to sometimes over 40C so having the option to cool or heat a starter looks very useful
Quick update today – I'm thrilled to announce that Breadwinner is now officially for sale on our Shopify store! Whether you're looking for a additional unit to try with a different starter or you're thinking about a perfect gift for the bread-lover in your life, we've got you covered.
I hope you're all kneading away at some tasty data-driven sourdough. I'm thrilled to share some freshly baked updates that I've rolled out:
1. Jar Type Selection: You now have the freedom to choose the type of jar you're using with Breadwinner. We've added support for standard wide-mouth mason jars in sizes 24oz, 32oz, and 64oz, along with the default 16oz jar that comes with Breadwinner. This means your graph should calculate the height of your starter properly (as opposed to showing very strange multiplier values).
Start a New Feeding: Remember to start a new feeding when you switch the jar type. Changing the jar influences the calculations behind the scenes, so your dashboard graphs might look a little odd otherwise.
Your Feedback Matters: As this is a fairly experimental feature, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know if anything seems off after making the change.
Big Boi Jars: For those going big with the 64oz mason jars, be aware that a fully empty jar of this size can max out our sensor. However, since I doubt anyone is measuring an empty jar, this shouldn't be a problem. The data may be a bit unusual with this jar size, so please consider this a fair heads up!
2. Privacy Settings: In response to your feedback, you now have the option to set your starter's dashboard as private. Just head over to your profile page and you'll find a new checkbox at the bottom that allows you to do this.
This will make sure only you can view your starter's dashboard.
Please note that I'm currently catching up on customer service emails. If you've reached out, rest assured that I will get back to you within the next few days. Your patience is greatly appreciated!
Keep the feedback coming and feel free to continue sharing your experiences, questions, and ideas. Don't forget you can always join the chat on our Discord and engage with the rest of the Breadwinner community.
Thank you for your ongoing support and happy baking!
I hope this message finds you well and as excited about our data-driven bread baking journey as I am. I wanted to address a matter that has come up from our international backers regarding customs fees.
International shipping, as many of you are aware, can be fraught with challenges. From the start, I made the decision to offer international shipping for Breadwinner because sourdough bread is a global passion, and I wanted to honor its rich history. This meant navigating the realities of higher shipping rates and customs fees - standard aspects of shipping internationally, albeit often unexpected ones.
I've tried several solutions to make this process as smooth as possible. Prior to switching to our current shipping partner, Passport, we attempted deliveries through standard DHL shipping. Unfortunately, several units got lost in customs, despite DHL generally being a tad cheaper. Passport promised 100% deliverability, which was an exciting prospect and I'm happy to say they quite literally appear to be delivering on that promise so far.
However, it's clear that the customs fees associated with Passport have taken some of you by surprise. For that, I sincerely apologize. Please know that these costs are not a price hike from our side, but rather standard international fees charged by customs. In many instances, I have absorbed some of the shipping costs to keep the prices as accessible as possible.
In light of your feedback, I've considered a couple of options to address your concerns:
I could potentially offer DHL as a roll-the-dice alternative for future shipping. However, this would not apply to Breadwinners already en route, so if you've gotten your tracking number already, your unit has been shipped with Passport. While DHL is a bit cheaper, the potential for loss is higher and it's likely that customs fees would still apply. It's a gamble, but could be an option for those willing to take the risk.
As a token of appreciation for your understanding and to make up for the surprise over the customs fees, I would like to offer any international backer an envelope of my dehydrated Breadberry sourdough starter sent with an international USPS stamp. This would be a roll-the-dice shipment, as we can't guarantee that every country's customs will accept it, but it's a small token we'd love to send your way. (Side note: if you've received your dehydrated Breadberry can you let me know? Since they were sent via regular postage, I don't have tracking visibility.)
Also, if you're still upset about the cost of shipping and customs fees, please feel free to email me directly. I value your feedback and would like to work with you individually to try and find a solution. This project is about making data-driven sourdough accessible and enjoyable for all, and I'm committed to doing what I can to make that happen.
The true challenge here lies not with Breadwinner, but with the complexities of international shipping and bureaucracy. We're navigating this together and I am grateful for your patience and understanding as we do.
If you wish to discuss this further or have other concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. I am here to listen and work on solutions. You're not just backers to me, but valued members of the Breadwinner community.
Thank you again for your support in making Breadwinner a reality.
Breadwinner… this is getting totally ridiculous
I am a Canadian with a mailing address in the USA … if you had told me that you would charge $19 USD to ship to Canada and that ON TOP I would have to pay $35 CAD in duties and taxes with the use of your “fantastic “ logistic firm … I would have decided to get my item in the US … your logistics are bringing the cost of my item at indecent levels … I am clearly not happy with the situation …
I am excited to bring you the latest news on our Breadwinner journey. Let's dive in!
First, I am thrilled to report that almost all of the Breadwinner units have been shipped out. If you haven't received yours yet, please make sure to fill out your address details. There are only a few units left to go, and those are waiting for the final address confirmations.
Seeing dozens of Breadwinner units now online and producing data is genuinely exciting. It's quite a sight to observe all these units at work and witness the real-time yeast data flow in.
I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to those who have joined the Discord community and shared their experiences. Your feedback, including bug reports, is invaluable. I am working hard to fix these issues, addressing them in order of priority.
There have been a few hiccups along the way (like the website going down temporarily this morning as I tried to implement a minor fix 🤦🏻♂️), but overall, things are going very smoothly. I appreciate your patience and understanding as I continue work out these minor kinks.
Please be aware that if you switch the starter associated with your device while it's reporting data, you might lose that ongoing data. To avoid this, please restart a feeding once you switch, ensuring that the device properly reports for the associated starter.
Lastly, I want to say thank you once again for your support. Despite Breadwinner being mostly a one-man operation, your enthusiasm and engagement make it all worthwhile. Please feel free to reach out on Discord or via email at [email protected] with any feedback or issues.
I juste received my Breadwinner, yeah! But now I’m puzzled. It seems that the only way for me to get the data from the jar is to wait for it to upload it to breadwinner.life and publish it. That’s not really what I want. I just want my data, not make it visible to everyone all the time (unless I choose to share), and I would like it in real-time, not wait until it is ready. I do understand that it may be a lot more work to support that. But I’m willing to do that work for myself (and share with others who might want the same). Would you consider opensourcing the firmware code so that the community could enhance the way the product work? Or exposing open APIs to acccess the data in real-time?
Aside from a couple dozen of you who have yet to fill out your BackerKit address survey (click here to find a link to your open surveys on BackerKit), the rest of you have either had your Breadwinner delivered or it is on its way to you via our logistics network.
Here's a fun screenshot of just a few of the places Breadwinners are headed:
Once Passport picks these up they'll get started sorting and labeling them, at that point you should receive a tracking number.
As more and more Breadwinners have been coming online, I've been diligently watching my big yeast dashboard that I've decided to call the B.U.N.D.T. (Breadwinner User Network and Device Tracker):
This a realtime view of all the data coming into Breadwinner. The vertical lines are individual feedings and each starter has its own line color. If you are looking at this graph and saying to yourself "Hey, that looks really messy, what am I supposed to take away from this crazy graph?" to be honest, I agree! I'm going to have to figure out a new way to visualize all this data.
But for now it's just nice to see all the devices checking and data flowing smoothly.
I've also been closely monitoring our backend systems to make sure all this big yeast data isn't toppling our system capacity:
Unfortunately my one server has been feeling a little stressed over the last 24 hours (see all the orange warnings? that means Breadwinner's lowly web server was running low on memory), so this morning I decided to upgrade Breadwinner to a dedicated host with 2.5GB of memory.
Exciting stuff, I know.
Over on Discord, Breadwinner backer Nicoooooo posted about a their starter's particularly vigorous introduction to Breadwinner:
This can sometimes occur! Especially if you're used to feeding your starter in a larger container than the 16oz jar that comes with Breadwinner (I aim for 30-40g of remaining starter, and 50g of water, and 50g of flour).
So if this happens to you, don't worry – Breadwinner's sensor window is easily wipe-able (though you should absolutely not submerge the battery compartment in any kind of liquid) and should hold up fine against even the most aggressive starters. Using a Q-tip to clean the little glass window is also good trick since it can be a little tricky to get inside the edges in there.
That's about it for now, but we'll have a couple more meaty posts coming up soon about our battery life estimates as well as gluten free starters!
As you delve into the world of Breadwinner, we're back with some fresh-baked updates to enhance your experience and keep you in the loop.
First off, I've been monitoring the servers closely and watching new units come online. It's a tremendous thrill to finally reach this moment after more than 3.5 years of Breadwinner development, so thanks for being along for the ride with me. I've caught a couple very minor snags here or there, but for the most part everything is flowing smoothly. If you encounter any issues or just want to chat about your baking adventures, don't hesitate to email me at [email protected]. For real-time interaction and instant support, join our vibrant community on Discord here.
Connecting your mobile phone to the Breadwinner SSID is as easy as pie (or should we say, as simple as sourdough?). This enables your device to 'talk' to Breadwinner and allows for seamless operation. Once you connect to the "Breadwinner" SSID, this should popup a captive portal site that allows you to put in your wifi credentials and get you on your way. Sometimes this doesn't happen automatically, in which case you can try visiting this link to trigger it (this won't do anything if you're connected to regular wifi). Once this is done, you should receive a "Device Registered" email. If you haven't received this yet, don't fret. Try resetting your device and the email should be winging its way to your inbox. You can read more about how to do that on our guide here.
Our globetrotting Breadwinners are all set to make their international journey. We've been busy as bees preparing for the next phase, and we're thrilled to announce that international orders are set to take flight in the next day or two. I've sent a handful of orders to our international shipper Passport and am keeping a close eye on them. I'm hoping to push all the final orders through very soon.
Last but certainly not least, we can't wait to see your baking masterpieces. Share your creations and inspire other bread enthusiasts by posting your bakes to Breadwinner. Be sure to check out the baking feed to see what your fellow Supportive Sourdough Superstars have been baking.
Stay tuned for more updates as we continue our exciting Breadwinner journey. Thank you once again for your unending support and enthusiasm. We can't wait to see where this adventure takes us all!
A couple updates as Breadwinners start finding their way across the country...
Domestic Breadwinners are Shipping Now!
We are thrilled to report that we have successfully dispatched Breadwinners to over hundreds of our US-based backers! Once our shipping provider begins dropping them in the mail, you should receive a shipping notification from Shopify with a tracking number. Hopefully your Breadwinner won't take more than a couple of days to reach you from our warehouse in southern California.
International Backers
If you're not based in the US, don't fret – early next week I'll send the signal to get your Breadwinners on their way. We'll be using Passport, which is a company specially designed to ensure international shipments get to their destination, and importantly, through customs without fuss. One tradeoff with using Passport, however, has been that we haven't been able to incorporate customs fees into your overall shipping cost. This means that you'll likely have to pay a small fee on delivery in order to get your Breadwinner home. I wish this weren't the way of the world, but alas, international shipping is always a difficult rite of passage for any crowdfunding project.
Breadberry
So many of you ordered Breadberry! I tried to convey to my little jar of yeast that it's now famous, but didn't get much reaction. Turns out yeast has kind of a one track mind.
Anyway, I'm in the process batch growing Breadberry and dehydrating it down into little pieces so it can be sent to you through the mail. I think I have a pretty good system, but will be ramping it up more over this weekend. My hope is to have most of this done in the next week or two. I'll keep you posted!
Discord
Since Breadwinner is more-or-less a community-first project, I wanted to make sure you knew you were invited to our Discord server. It's basically a chat hangout where we talk all things Breadwinner. I am envisioning this to be a really good place for people to find help as they unbox their Breadwinners. And while we have been rigorously testing and building the system for years, there are going to be inevitable glitches along the way. Hopefully none of them will be show stoppers! Either way, we'll be in it together. To get on our Discord, just check out this link here:
Dear Fred:
Doesn't OnTrac uses Amazon delivery service? It's really awful. They usually just leave packages on the public sidewalk. My package will most likely be stolen. Oh well, that's unfortunate.
[email protected]
Just a quick note to remind you all to check your emails for a message from BackerKit. This email prompts you to complete your address survey, a crucial step that enables us to send your Breadwinner right to your doorstep. So, please make sure to fill it out if you haven't done so already!
Now, for those of you who decided to add a dash of my starter Breadberry to your order...
If you opted to include an extra $10 to your BackerKit pledge for some Breadberry, rest assured, it'll soon be on its way to you. Given the unique logistics involved in shipping a semi-living organism (which we'll dehydrate for safe and easy transport), we'll need to send your Breadberry in a separate parcel. This will most likely be a standard envelope via regular USPS post.
As the sole founder, full time product guy and logistics specialist of Breadwinner, we are in a unique position where Breadwinner is a mass-produced item ready for retail, while the dehydrated Breadberry orders will be a handmade labor of love by yours truly. I'll personally oversee the production, packaging, and shipping of each order from my very own kitchen. This artisanal approach gives a personal touch to your Breadberry, but it may also introduce some unexpected hiccups. So, I kindly ask for your understanding and patience in case of any unforeseen issues. Of course, I'll keep you updated every step of the way!
If you're eager to dive in with Breadwinner but lack a starter, have you considered reaching out to a local sourdough bakery? Often, they're happy to share some starter with a fellow baking enthusiast, and you could start baking right away.
If that's not feasible, or if you're more inclined toward the DIY approach, I highly recommend The Perfect Loaf's comprehensive guide here. I'm a fan of using rye flour to feed Breadberry, but if you can source locally milled and grown flour, you'll cultivate a starter rich with local yeast—adding a uniquely regional flavor to your bread!
I'm popping in with a quick update to let you all know that we're really close to sending out the surveys to get your addresses for shipping. This is it – we're getting closer to the moment where you'll have your Breadwinner at your doorstep!
Now, on to some details. As some of you may already be aware, the EU recently updated their customs rules to be more strict. This change has thrown us a few curveballs while we've been sending out preview units. But don't worry, we are all about finding solutions.
In light of these changes, we're now working with a shipping provider that specializes in international deliveries. They're pros at ensuring packages get delivered, regardless of how complex the customs rules might be. We believe this collaboration will help us navigate these new customs waters and get your Breadwinner to you without any hiccups.
In spite of these challenges, I'm pleased to report that we're still more or less on schedule to begin shipping devices by late May. Yes, you read that right - the Breadwinners are coming home soon! It's been a bit of a journey, but we're almost there, and we couldn't have done it without your support.
Thank you once again for your patience, understanding, and unwavering support throughout this journey. We'll continue to keep you updated as we get closer to the shipping date.
Stay excited, and as always, feel free to drop me a line or leave a comment if you have any questions!
