Hinge, better known as the dating app designed to be deleted, is traditionally used to foster romantic connections. But for home baker Madi Chilcott, it’s a great way to share her homemade sourdough and expand her social circle.
Food & Wine recently interviewed the content creator, who explained she started giving away free made-from-scratch bread after she picked up a baking hobby. “I live with my sister, and she couldn’t keep up with the amount of bread I was producing,” Chilcott told the outlet. “I was testing new recipes, new inclusions, new techniques . . . basically pumping out loaves left, right and center with nowhere for them to go.”
Since Chilcott was also going on what she described as “a fair number of Hinge dates,” she decided to use her fresh bakes as an icebreaker.
“Giving away sourdough became this super chill, five-minute interaction where I could meet someone, hand them a loaf, and just feel out the vibe without committing to a whole date,” she said.
In a February video posted on Instagram, Chilcott shared Hinge messages and exchanges of her offering a free loaf of sourdough, along with footage of her delivering them in person.
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“So a guy that I matched with two months ago just messaged me asking if I’m still making sourdough bread,” Chilcott said in the intro. “And then he mentioned that he’s bringing his two single friends with him to pick up the bread.”
“Honestly, offering sourdough on Hinge has become such a fun, low-pressure way to meet people,” she added. “. . .I’m not overthinking anything. We just meet for a few minutes, I say, ‘Hey,’ give the bread and whatever comes from it comes from it.”
Many commenters were amused by the effort.
“If they don’t rock up like this for baked goods, what’s the point?” one person wrote, while another said, “I would say go get that bread, but it looks like you’re providing the bread.”
“Can I sign up to get some sour dough?” wrote another.
