c/bakers

29

karen410•22h ago

Just learned my sourdough starter is basically a science experiment I've been ignoring for months

I was reading a blog from a baker in Portland and they mentioned that a mature starter has about 50 million yeast cells per gram (which blew my mind). Did you know that if you feed it at the wrong ratio of flour to water, you can actually starve the yeast? How do you all keep track of your feeding schedule without a notebook?

13

jamienguyen•1d ago

Rant: Everyone says to proof bread in the fridge overnight but it wrecked my batch

Honestly I tried that cold proof method everyone raves about for my sourdough last Tuesday. I left it in my fridge in Portland for like 14 hours and it came out flat as a pancake with no oven spring at all. I ended up tossing the whole loaf and going back to my room temp 4 hour proof which actually works. Has anyone else had better luck with a shorter cold proof or is this just not for certain flour blends?

14

alex_king•1d ago

Found out my oven was 50 degrees off for over a year

Was testing a new french bread recipe last Tuesday and couldn't figure out why the crust was coming out dark but the inside was still gummy. Borrowed a cheap oven thermometer from my neighbor Carol and turns out my oven runs 50 degrees cooler than what the dial says. Checked the manual online and there's a calibration screw behind the knob that I never knew existed. All those dense loaves and burnt edges make so much sense now. Anybody else ever check their actual oven temp versus the dial?

6

holly_green82•4d ago

That $50 dough sheeter I bought was a total lemon

I picked up a cheap countertop dough sheeter for $50 off Facebook Marketplace and it jammed up on my third batch of croissant dough. Has anyone else had luck fixing one of these or am I out the cash?

9

charliehill•5d ago

My bread knife shattered mid-loaf on Sunday morning

I was slicing a fresh sourdough around 7am and my old bread knife just snapped right at the handle. The blade flew across the kitchen and hit my fridge. Scared the crap out of me honestly. I had to dig little bits of ceramic out of the loaf for like 10 minutes. Ended up using a serrated steak knife to finish slicing which worked okay but not great. Now I'm looking for a new bread knife that won't explode on me. Anyone got a recommendation for one that holds up to dense crusts without breaking the bank?

6

rileyl98•6d ago

The trick with wet hands for sticky dough I kept ignoring

For years I fought with sticky dough using extra flour on my hands and the counter. My grandma kept telling me to just wet my hands instead, and I thought she was crazy. Last month I finally tried it while making a batch of 18 sourdough rolls and it worked perfectly. The dough stopped sticking completely and my rolls came out way softer. Has anyone else fought against a simple tip like this for way too long?

3

mark_cooper•8d ago

TIL the hard way that letting my sourdough bulk ferment in the fridge was a mistake when I woke up at 3 AM to an overproofed mess last Tuesday

I always thought the cold proof was foolproof, but I left my dough in there for like 18 hours and it turned into a sticky puddle. I was at my kitchen counter, trying to shape it, and it just spread flat like pancake batter. Ended up dumping 500 grams of flour and starter into the trash because I panicked. Maybe I should have just baked it in a loaf pan anyway? Has anyone here salvaged an overproofed dough by baking it in a tin or something?

16

hugo238•9d ago

A customer at my shop told me my sourdough starter was a "hobby, not a business"

This lady came into my bakery last Saturday morning, looked right at my jars of starter on the counter, and said I should just buy yeast from the store like everyone else. She claimed her grandmother baked for 40 years never used a starter once. I asked her what kind of bread she made and she said "just white sandwich loaves from a mix." I tried to explain the flavor difference and she just waved her hand at me. Has anyone else dealt with people who think real sourdough is some kind of hoax or trend?

10

the_oscar•9d ago

DAE have a stand mixer that just decided to quit mid-batch?

My KitchenAid died yesterday while I was creaming butter and sugar for a double batch of chocolate chip cookies at 3pm. The motor started smoking and now it won't turn on at all, even after letting it cool down for an hour. Anyone know if it's worth fixing or should I just bite the bullet and buy a new one?

15

emerycarr•10d ago

Overheard a young baker say sourdough starter is like a pet and it got me thinking

I was at a community bake sale in Austin last Saturday and this kid talked about feeding his starter like it was a dog. Made me remember when my grandma kept hers in a crock and never named it, just used it for 30 years straight. Do you name your starter or treat it like a tool?

24

aaron708•10d ago

Showerthought: I was overkneading sourdough for 3 years

I always thought you had to beat the gluten into submission or whatever, kept doing 12 minute hand kneads. Then my bread kept coming out like a brick, a baker at the farmer's market in Portland told me to stop after 4 minutes of folding. Anyone else have a secret trick that made their dough way lighter?

18

burns.fiona•10d ago

Took me 45 minutes to realize my oven thermometer was off by 50 degrees

I was trying to bake a batch of sugar cookies for a friend's party last weekend. They kept coming out flat and burned on the bottom no matter what I did. I checked the temp, adjusted the time, even swapped baking sheets. After wasting three batches I finally pulled out my old oven thermometer and it was reading 50 degrees higher than my oven dial. Has anyone else had a big baking fail from a tool they just trusted without checking first?

24

michael_bennett11•11d ago

That baker in Portland who yelled at me about my starter...

I was at a workshop in Portland about 3 months ago and this older baker named Carol told me I was ruining my sourdough by feeding it too often. She said once a week in the fridge is plenty, while I was doing daily feeds. I still think she was wrong for how aggressive she got about it, but her starter did make amazing loaves. Has anyone else had a veteran baker tell you something that goes against everything you learned?

31

jason524•11d ago

My grandma's trick for flaky pie crust still works better than my food processor

I was over at my grandma's place in Louisville last month helping her bake for the county fair. She just grabbed a butter knife and cut the shortening into the flour by hand, no gadgets at all. Her crust came out way lighter and flakier than mine ever does with all that fancy equipment. Anyone else ditch the machines and go back to the old way?

6

miab87•15d ago

Bought a $25 proofing basket and it ruined my dough

I was using a mixing bowl with a towel for years, figured it was time to upgrade. Grabbed a cheap banneton off Amazon, thought I was saving money. First use, the dough stuck like crazy even with heavy flouring. Ended up tearing my loaf on the way out and had to scrap the whole thing. Anyone have a good recommendation for a proofing basket that actually works without wrecking your dough?

7

theawest•16d ago

Tried using cold water in my sourdough starter and it flat out refused to rise

I usually do all my baking with room temp water, but last Tuesday I was in a rush and just used cold tap water from my Boston apartment. My starter didn't budge for 12 hours and I ended up tossing a whole batch of dough. Anyone else have their starter get super picky about water temp like that?

17

terry_barnes•16d ago

The week I ruined 40 loaves of sourdough by trusting a new thermometer

So last Tuesday I was baking my usual batch of sourdough, about 10 loaves for a local market. I bought this cheap digital thermometer off Amazon for like $8 because my old one finally gave out. First batch came out looking fine but the crumb was gummy and dense. Thought maybe I messed up the starter. Second batch the same thing. By Thursday I had 40 ruined loaves and literally like $120 worth of flour down the drain. Finally on Friday I borrowed my neighbor's thermometer and checked my oven temp. Turns out my new thermometer was reading 50 degrees low the whole time. My oven said 450 but it was really at 400. Now I'm wondering if I should just stick with the old dial thermometers or if I just got a dud. Has anyone else had bad luck with those cheap digital probe ones?

16

sarah229•18d ago

Hit 500 sourdough loaves this week and it messed with my head

I keep a tally on my phone of every loaf I bake for my weekend market stall. Tuesday I hit 500 exactly. That number stopped me for a minute because I started this two years ago with one sad flat loaf from a packet of yeast. Now I'm mixing 50 pounds of flour every Friday night. What milestone caught you off guard in this trade?

23

david739•18d ago

Found out my oven was 60 degrees off after 2 years of baking

I was messing around with a cheap oven thermometer from Amazon last week and nearly dropped it when I saw the reading. My dial said 350 but the thermometer said 290. I had been wondering why my bread loaves kept coming out dense and undercooked in the middle. Now I gotta figure out if I should get the oven serviced or just learn to adjust every recipe by 60 degrees. Has anyone else dealt with an oven that runs this cold?

33

wade_perez•19d ago

Found out how much butter is actually in croissants and I'm shook

I was reading through an old King Arthur Baking blog post from 2019 and they broke down that a classic French croissant has about 1 tablespoon of butter per roll. I always guessed it was less, like maybe half that. I've been eating 3 of them for breakfast without thinking twice, haha. Anyone else ever look up the actual numbers on stuff you bake regularly?

7

emery879•22d ago

I finally compared my old stand mixer to a used commercial model

I baked with a KitchenAid for 7 years and thought it was fine until I picked up a beat-up Hobart from a closing diner in Burlington for $200. The Hobart kneads dough in half the time without heating up or walking across the counter. Has anyone else made the switch from home to commercial gear and noticed a huge difference?

15

coleman.seth•26d ago

Old timer told me to stop kneading my bread so hard 5 years ago and it changed everything

He watched me pounding the dough for 10 minutes and said 'you're beating the flavor out of it, just fold it gentle a few times' so I tried it with a wetter dough and now my crumb actually opens up nice, anyone else had someone call them out on rough handling?

12

angela43•26d ago

That time a bakery owner in Boston told me my sourdough was too wet and I spent 3 months fixing it

Honestly, I thought I had my sourdough recipe down perfect. Then last fall I took a loaf to a small bakery in Boston called The Oven Spot. The owner, a older lady named Rita, took one look at my crumb and said 'you're drowning it, honey.' She pointed out my hydration was around 85% and suggested I drop it to 72% for a better structure. After 12 failed batches and a lot of wasted flour, I finally got a loaf that actually held its shape in the oven. Has anyone else run into a baker who called out a specific flaw that totally changed your approach?

24

wright.taylor•27d ago

Overheard a baker at my local shop in Denver say she rests her cookie dough for 48 hours minimum

Tried it with my last batch of chocolate chip cookies and the flavor was way deeper than my usual 30 minute rest, anyone else notice a big difference with longer dough rests?

26

cameron426•27d ago

Just realized people are overworking their pie dough into tough crusts

I watched a neighbor in Des Moines spend 20 minutes kneading her pie dough until it was smooth, and I wanted to cry (you know, for the pie's sake). She told me her grandma always said to work it till it feels right, but that's just wrong for flaky results. Has anyone else had to diplomatically tell a friend their crusts are tough because they're overmixing?