c/bakers

That $200 commercial mixer was a complete disaster

Bought a used Hobart clone off Craigslist last month. Paid $200 cash. Thought I was saving money. The thing seized up on my third batch of cookie dough. Motor burned out. Smelled like electric fire. Took it to a repair shop and they said the gears were stripped. Parts alone would be $400. Should have just saved up for a real one. Has anyone else tried to go cheap on a mixer and regretted it?

Hit 500 sourdough loaves baked this morning and I still can't believe it

I was just wiping down my counter after pulling a batch out of the oven and it hit me that I've baked exactly 500 loaves since I started keeping track back in 2021. That first loaf looked like a deflated frisbee, I swear the crust was tougher than a boot heel. Now I can tell just by the feel of the dough if it needs another hour of proofing. Has anyone else kept a tally of their bakes and been surprised by the number?

Baking in a cast iron skillet changed my mind about bread pans

I stopped by a bakery in Portland last month called Little T, and the owner showed me how they do all their sandwich loaves in preheated cast iron. She said it gives a crust you just can't get from a standard loaf pan no matter how hot you run the oven. I tried it myself at 475 degrees for 25 minutes and the bottom crust came out way crispier than anything I've gotten from my usual setup. Has anyone else switched away from traditional bread pans for certain recipes?

Serious question about sourdough starter feeding schedules

I was reading this old baking forum last night and one guy said he only feeds his starter once a week and keeps it in the fridge. I've been doing twice a day at room temp like every recipe says, but his loaf photos looked amazing. Is there really a right way or is it more about what works for your kitchen?

Why does nobody talk about using old cake scraps for something cool?

I went to a bakery in Portland called Butterlove last week and saw they had a whole display case of cake pops made from leftover scraps. I used to just toss my trimmed edges or give them to my chickens, but now I'm thinking I should start saving them up. Do any of you repurpose your scraps into something you actually sell?

I rolled my eyes at the tangzhong method for years

Finally tried it on a batch of brioche rolls last month after a baker at the local farmers market swore by it, and those rolls stayed soft for 4 days on my counter. Has anyone else caved on a technique they thought was overhyped?

The day a customer asked me to add sourdough starter to her cake mix

I had this lady come into my shop last month wanting me to dump a cup of her homemade sourdough starter into a boxed cake mix. She said it makes it fluffier. Has anyone else heard of this trick or am I just old fashioned about using straight baking soda?

TIL that measuring flour by volume instead of weight is a total disaster

I was at a friend's place last week helping her bake cookies, and she scooped her flour straight from the bag with the measuring cup. The dough came out way too dry, and she blamed the recipe. I brought my kitchen scale over the next day, weighed out 120 grams per cup like I always do, and the cookies turned out perfect. Has anyone else had a baking fail that was just about how you measured the flour?

PSA: Forgot to account for altitude and my sourdough came out like a brick

I moved from Chicago to Denver 3 months ago and thought my bread recipe would work fine. First batch here was flat and dense, didn't rise at all. Turns out higher altitude changes fermentation speed a lot. I ended up cutting my proofing time by about 45 minutes and adding extra water to the dough. The next loaf came out better, but still not perfect. Anyone else have to adjust their hydration levels after moving to a higher elevation?

Tossed my stupid kitchen scale after using the water trick for dough hydration

I was always fighting with my scale giving me wonky readings when I'd add flour a little at a time. Tried this thing where you just use water weight to calculate your dough hydration like 65% of the flour weight in grams of water. It's way faster and I don't have to keep zeroing the scale 10 times. Anyone else switch to just measuring by feel and using the water ratio as a starting point?

My sourdough starter finally came alive after 3 weeks of failure

I tried for 3 weeks in my tiny apartment in Austin and got nothing but hooch and sad bubbles. Turned out my tap water had too much chlorine killing the yeast. Switched to bottled water last Wednesday and by Saturday morning the thing doubled in size. Anyone else deal with water quality killing their starter?

Left a brioche proofing overnight and woke up to dough all over the counter

That moment last month my sourdough starter finally doubled in size

I'd been trying to get a good sourdough starter going for about 3 months with no luck. Last month in my tiny kitchen in Austin, I fed it at the same time every day and actually paid attention to the temp. Then one morning it had this big bubbly dome on top and doubled in 4 hours. I guess I was just starving it before with too much water or not enough warmth. Anyone else have that weird breakthrough moment with their starter after thinking it was dead?

Unpopular opinion: letting dough rest longer changed my bread game

I used to rush through my sourdough, shaping and baking within 4 hours. Last week I tried an overnight cold proof in the fridge for 12 hours instead. The crust came out way crispier and the crumb had those big holes I see in bakery loaves. Has anyone else found that extra rest time makes or breaks their results?

Walked into a bakery in Denver and saw them proofing bread in a repurposed fridge

I was visiting my cousin in Denver last month and he dragged me to this tiny bakery called Rise & Shine. They had this old beat-up fridge running at like 85 degrees with trays of dough inside. The baker told me they hacked the thermostat with a simple temperature controller from Amazon for 30 bucks. Never thought about using an old appliance for proofing instead of buying a fancy cabinet. Has anyone else tried rigging up something like that at home?

Changed my mind on cold butter for pie crust

I was at the county fair in Boise last year, watching the pie contest judging. A baker named Ellen saw me struggling to roll out my dough and said, 'Your butter's too cold, honey. It needs to give a little, like a firm handshake.' She showed me her method: take the butter out an hour before, cut it into cubes, and let it sit on the counter. The next crust I made was flaky and tender, not tough. Anyone else find a slightly warmer butter works better for them?

Butter temperature debate: room temp vs straight from the fridge in laminated dough

I've been making croissants for about 3 years now, and I keep seeing people online say you absolutely need room temperature butter for lamination. But last week I tried it with cold butter straight from the fridge (like 38 degrees) and got way better layers. My theory is that warm butter just melts into the dough too fast, especially in my kitchen which runs hot. What's your experience with this, am I the only one who gets better results with cold butter?

I finally baked my 100th loaf of sourdough and the consistency is finally there.

After six months of flat, dense bricks, loaf number 100 came out with the perfect open crumb and a crisp ear, which felt like a real turning point after so many fails.

My sourdough starter straight up died after 8 years and I had to start from scratch

It happened last month, right after I moved to a new apartment in Denver. I think the altitude change and the weird tap water here just killed it. One day it was bubbling fine, the next it smelled like nail polish remover and had a gray liquid on top. I tried feeding it twice a day with bottled water for a week, but it was gone. That starter was from my first baking job in 2016, so it felt like losing a pet. I had to beg a pinch from a baker friend downtown and now I'm back to square one, building it up again. It's a huge pain. Has anyone else had a starter just give up on life after a move, and how long did it take you to get a new one strong enough for good oven spring?

Serious question, I just found out my sourdough starter was way too wet for the last six months.

My loaves kept coming out flat and gummy, and a baker friend in Seattle asked me point blank, 'Is that starter more like soup or dough?' I switched to a much thicker paste and my next batch had the best oven spring I've ever seen. How thick do you guys actually keep your starter?

PSA: I picked a 5% hydration starter over a 20% one for my rye bread.

The dough was way easier to handle and the crumb was still nice and open. Anyone have a go-to hydration for whole grain loaves?

I just counted my sourdough loaves from this year and hit 200

I keep a little notebook by my oven and tally each bake. I looked at it today and saw I passed 200 loaves since January. That number hit me because I remember struggling to get a decent rise just two years ago. It's not about selling them, it's about the quiet hours and the feel of the dough. Has anyone else tracked their bakes and been surprised by the total?

PSA: My sourdough starter straight up died after a week in the fridge

I got busy with a big wedding cake order and forgot about my starter, Bob. When I pulled him out last Tuesday, he was gray and smelled like nail polish remover. I tried feeding him twice a day for three days with my usual King Arthur bread flour, but he never bubbled. I had to toss him and start a new one from scratch yesterday. Anyone have a foolproof method for long-term fridge storage that actually works?

I finally figured out why my sourdough crusts were always too thick

For months, my loaves were coming out with a crust you could use as a roof tile. I kept seeing other bakers online skip the ice cubes in the Dutch oven, and I was doing it too. Turns out, that steam in the first 20 minutes is what makes the crust expand before it hardens. I started adding 3 ice cubes under the parchment paper last week, and the difference is crazy. Has anyone else found a better way to get that perfect chewy crust?

Honestly, my grandma told me to stop using my stand mixer for shortbread and just use my hands

I was at her place last weekend making my usual recipe and she saw me get the KitchenAid out. She just shook her head and said, 'You're warming the butter too much. The heat from the motor and the paddle is why your cookies spread.' She had me mix the flour and sugar into the cold butter with my fingers for like two minutes. Ngl, the dough felt totally different, way more crumbly. Baked them and they held their shape perfectly. I've been doing it wrong for years. Anyone have other recipes where hand mixing is actually better?