Spent $85 on a pro proofing box vs. my warm oven trick, which one actually wins long term?

I bought that expensive proofing box last month after my oven spring kept coming out lopsided, but my grandma's method of boiling water in a pan and turning the oven light on only failed me twice in 10 years, so is the $85 really worth it or did I just buy into the hype, anyone else stuck on this fence?

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona_kim971d ago

I feel you on the "did I just buy into the hype" part, because I literally did the same thing last year and then my fancy proofing box sat in the closet for six months. My grandma's warm oven trick never failed me either, but I convinced myself I needed the box for "consistency" and now I just use it to store my mixing bowls. The real kicker is I still get lopsided loaves sometimes, just now with a fancier light on the inside. Honestly, the only thing the box is great at is making me feel guilty about spending $85 when a pot of hot water does the job 90% of the time. I say keep the grandma method and treat the box as a very expensive shelf warmer, at least that's what mine turned into.

max_cooper2119h ago

My grandma's oven trick got me through like 300 loaves before I ever touched a proofing box, so yeah, the box is basically a $85 paperweight that hums. I bought mine because some baking guy on YouTube swore it would fix my dense crumb and honestly my bread was just as dense, but now it beeped at me while I cried over a flat focaccia. The worst part is I can't even sell it because my neighbor's cat slept on it and now it smells like eau de cat nap. At this point I've convinced myself the glowing interior is worth it just for the aesthetic when I open the closet, like a tiny bakery nightlight. Grandma methods for the win, fancy gear is just a tax on my optimism.