I know everyone here swears by making your own sourdough starter from scratch. I did that for 6 months and it was a pain. Last week I picked up a dehydrated starter packet from King Arthur for $8 and it works just as well. My loaves come out the same. Am I missing something or is the gatekeeping just for fun?
I was walking through Little Italy in San Diego a few weeks ago and popped into this tiny bakery called Italianissimo that's been there since the 70s. The guy behind the counter must have been 80 years old, and he was still mixing dough by hand in a big wooden trough. No stand mixers, no digital scales, just his hands and a little bench scraper. It got me thinking about how much the trade has changed since I started baking 15 years ago. We have all these temperature controlled proofing boxes and fancy hydration calculators now, but that old guy was just going by feel and the look of the dough. I asked him about it and he said "the flour tells you when it's ready" which sounds like something from a movie but he meant it. Has anyone else run into an old timer who works totally different than us?
I keep my starter in a quart mason jar and I guess I fed it too late before bed. Woke up at 2am to a loud pop and found sticky fermented goo dripping down my cabinets. Had to scrub everything before work this morning. Anyone else had a starter go rogue on them and find a better container system?
Last week at the shop I heard her tell someone she uses bread flour for pie crusts too and I wanted to scream about gluten development, has anyone else had to bite their tongue watching beginners ignore basic flour science?
I was so excited to use the new wood-fired oven at the co-op bakery space. I thought I had the temp dialed in but the bottom got scorched on both trays. Lost about 6 hours of work and like $30 in butter. Turns out that oven runs way hotter on the floor than the thermometer reads. The person running the space didn't warn me either. Has anyone else had issues with uneven heat in shared ovens?
I seriously almost gave up on my sourdough starter after day 5. It was just this gray bubbly mess that smelled like feet and did nothing. But I kept feeding it exactly 50g of flour and 50g of water every morning before school. By day 14 it started doubling in size and had that tangy, fruity smell instead. Now at week 6 it's a total beast - doubles in 4 hours and gives me the best oven spring I've ever had. Has anyone else had that moment where your starter suddenly clicks and turns into something way better?
Honestly I've been baking for about 2 years and couldn't figure out why my sandwich loaves always came out dense. A baker at the farmers market in Austin watched me one time and said 'you're beating the air out of it, not building structure.' I cut my kneading time from 12 minutes down to 7 and started using the windowpane test. Has anyone else had advice from a stranger totally change their outcome?
I used a 10 year old starter from a friend for 6 months and my bread was okay but never great. Switched to a new starter I made from scratch 3 weeks ago and the flavor is way more complex and lively. Has anyone else had better luck with a young starter over an ancient one?
A lady at a farmer's market in Denver last June told me my chocolate cake was 'crumbly and dry' right to my face. I was mad at first but she was right. I cut my bake time by 5 minutes and started brushing simple syrup on each layer. Turns out I was overbaking everything for years because I was scared of underdone centers. Anyone else have to totally change a go-to recipe based on one piece of feedback?
I went to the supply store in Portland last week and picked up what I thought was bread flour. Turns out someone mislabeled a whole pallet of all-purpose flour as bread flour. I didn't notice until I pulled my loaves out of the oven and they were flat and dense. I lost about 40 pounds of dough and had to refund four wholesale orders. The store manager admitted they had complaints but didn't put up a sign. I'm going back today to check every bag myself before I buy. Has anyone else had supply mixups like this mess up your baking?
I tried one of those quick 3-day starter methods I found online. After 4 weeks of baking with it my loaves got this weird acetone smell and barely rose. Turned out the fast method skips the bacterial balance you get from a 10-14 day ferment. Has anyone else had a starter crash on them after rushing the process?
That expensive banneton trapped so much moisture my dough turned into a sticky mess every time, and after three ruined batches I finally went back to a floured tea towel in a regular bowl has anyone else had better luck with cloth over those trendy baskets?
I wasted about 8 bucks worth of butter last week because my $15 kitchen scale was off by almost half an ounce. Started noticing my cookies were coming out flat and greasy. Weighed a stick of butter on my mom's scale and it was reading way different. Pulled out a second scale I had in my car for packages and yeah, mine was junk. Cost me two batches of dough before I figured it out. Anyone else double check their scale accuracy or am I just paranoid now?
I was at the Sonoma County Fair last month and entered my chocolate cake with a standard buttercream. The judge told me my crumb coat was too thick and my frosting was too soft for the 90 degree heat. She said 'you need a crusting buttercream that can hold up in warm weather.' I went home and tried an ermine frosting with more powdered sugar and it didn't slide off the cake. Now I make sure to test my frosting in the actual room temp I'll be serving in. Has anyone else had a frosting disaster at a competition?
I was making 4 loaves of banana bread for a church bake sale in Springfield and completely spaced on the baking soda. They came out flat and dense like weird banana pancakes. Has anyone else forgotten a key ingredient and tried to salvage it after baking or did you just toss everything?
Read a Baker's Journal article that said commercial bakeries discard 30% of their starter daily and realized my twice a week feeding was actually starving my culture.
I've been making pies for about 3 years now and always used butter because everyone says it tastes better. But I was making 5 pies for a family gathering in Tacoma and the store was out of my usual brand. Grabbed shortening instead and figured I'd give it a shot. The crust came out WAY flakier than my butter ones do and held together better for the lattice top. Nobody at dinner even noticed the taste difference. Now I'm wondering if I should switch for good. Anyone else gone back and forth on this?
Last month I pulled out a sheet tray and noticed my cake layers were baking lopsided. Turns out the rack itself had a slight bend after 8 years of heavy use. Has anyone else fixed this with a cheap replacement or do you just deal with it?
I always knew humidity was a factor but last Tuesday I measured it exactly for the first time. My kitchen was at 70% humidity and my dough was sticky and overproofed by 45 minutes compared to my usual recipe. Turns out high humidity adds enough water from the air to change the whole hydration balance. Has anyone else noticed their bread acting different on rainy days?
I thought it was just extra work for no payoff but my crust got that deep blistered crunch and the crumb opened up way more than my straight doughs ever did, has anyone else noticed a real difference switching to a cold overnight preferment?
I've been at this for about 6 months now and went through 37 loaves of brioche that were either too dense or flat as a pancake... finally nailed it last Sunday with a soft, tall crumb. What was the one trick that clicked for you all?
I was baking a 3-layer chocolate cake for my sister's birthday last Saturday and two of the layers came out of the oven with a big dome on top. I thought it was just my oven running hot at 350, but then I realized my baking soda was from 2022 and probably dead. I leveled them with a serrated knife and the cake looked fine, but the crumb was kinda dry. Has anyone else had old leavening mess up their layers like that?
I was baking at a friend's place in Miami last summer and my dough was a total mess. Sticky, flat, would not rise right even though it was warm. Turns out her kitchen was so humid it was basically proofing the outside of the dough faster than the inside. I had to drop my water by almost 20% to get a decent crumb. Has anyone else had to adjust their hydration for local weather like that?
I bought this expensive silicone brioche mold from a kitchen supply shop in Portland thinking it would last forever. After just three batches, the sides started peeling and it got all sticky. I tried washing it gently but the material just degraded. I should have stuck with my old metal pans that cost $12. Has anyone else had bad luck with those high-dollar silicone baking molds?
I used to hand-knead brioche for 20 minutes because I thought the mixer would overwork it, but after burning out my shoulders on a 5-pound batch last year, I gave in. Now I let the KitchenAid run on low for 8 minutes and the crumb is actually fluffier. Am I the only one who resisted the change for way too long?