I always thought it was a waste of fridge space and did same-day proofs instead. Read a post from a pastry chef in Paris that said the 12 hour chill develops way better layers and now I swear by it. Anyone else notice a big difference in oven spring?
Was digging through my mom's recipe box last weekend and found a note that my grandma started her 'vintage' sourdough starter in 1998, not the 70s like she always claimed. I was born in 95 so that thing is a total fraud lol. Has anyone else caught family members lying about how old their starter is?
I've been trying to get a decent sourdough loaf for like 6 months and kept ending up with frisbees. Last week at my local farmers market in Eugene I watched this older baker pull a perfect boule out of her cooler and asked her point blank what I was doing wrong. She watched my hands for 30 seconds and told me I wasn't giving my starter enough time to peak before mixing. Switched to feeding it at 8pm instead of morning and waiting for it to double in 4 hours. Third loaf after that change had the best oven spring I've ever seen. Anyone else had a tiny timing tweak that made all the difference?
Was working a double shift with Jen from Le Petit at the farmers market on Sunday and she told me she chucks cold butter straight into her dough for croissants. I've always let mine sit out for 45 minutes to get pliable before laminating. Who's got the right take on butter temp for that perfect flaky layer?
Watched a baker at Tabor Bread hit a tray of day-old croissants with a propane torch for 10 seconds each and they came out flaky and hot like fresh from the oven, has anyone else seen this trick work?
I have been trying to get a good sourdough starter going since last fall and every loaf came out like a frisbee. Then I went to a small baking demo at the local library in Eugene last month. The woman running it said most home bakers keep their starter too cold and feed it too much flour. She showed us how to keep it at a steady 78 degrees using a simple heating pad under the jar. I tried her method and within a week my starter was doubling in size. Last weekend I baked my first loaf with a real oven spring and an open crumb. It felt like a real victory after so many failures. Has anyone else found that temperature makes a bigger difference than feeding schedule?
Last month I baked six batches of sourdough in five days for a local farmer's market in Asheville and every single loaf came out with an open crumb and blistered crust. No failed rise, no burnt bottoms, no gummy middles. It felt like I was in a groove but honestly it spooked me because I kept waiting for something to go wrong. Has anyone else had a streak so good it made you suspicious?
I was at my apartment in Chicago last Tuesday trying to prove the dough overnight and thought the radiator would be a nice warm spot. Came back 3 hours later and it had literally melted into a puddle of butter and flour. Had to start over from scratch with cold butter this time. Has anyone else had a prove go totally sideways from too much heat?
I bake sourdough on Saturdays usually but last week I got busy and left my dough in the fridge from Tuesday to Friday. Pulled it out expecting a disaster but the crust came out way crispier and the flavor was deeper than anything I've gotten from an overnight rest. Has anyone else pushed their cold proof past 48 hours and gotten good results?
I keep a tally on my pantry wall and crossed 500 yesterday. It's wild because I started baking during that rough stretch in 2020 and somehow never stopped. Most of those first 50 or so were basically hockey pucks until I figured out my starter's timing. Anyone else keep count of their bakes or am I just weird?
Had a chat with a pastry chef named Carmen at a shop in Austin last week who said she just throws her discard away, and it got me thinking. I've been trying all these discard recipes and half of them come out gummy or flat, and in the end I'm just using extra flour and butter to make something mediocre. Why not just compost it or toss it and put that energy into a proper loaf? Anyone else feel like the discard hype is more about feeling frugal than actually making better baked goods?
I spent last Sunday making both from scratch for a family brunch. The danish dough was way easier to work with, less butter mess, and it puffed up nicer in the oven. My sister in law even said the danish tasted better. Has anyone else had better luck with one over the other for laminated pastries?
I kept fighting with sticky dough for months. Stuck to my fingers, stuck to the counter, made a mess everywhere. Saw a video from some bakery in Vermont where the guy just wets his hands before handling the dough. Tried it last weekend on a batch of sourdough. Night and day difference. No more flour clouds everywhere, dough slides right off your skin. I was adding way too much flour to compensate, making my bread dense. Has anyone else found a weird trick that changed their whole process?
I was at the downtown farmer's market last August, selling a big batch of layered cakes. A lady stopped and said my buttercream looked a little split on the edge. She grabbed a spatula, scraped off the cracked part, and smoothed it with a warm blade. Then she showed me how to add a tiny bit of corn syrup to keep the cream from cracking again. Has anyone else had a random stranger totally save a cake at a market?
I bought these expensive linen bread baskets online thinking they would give me that perfect artisan shape. Problem was, they didn't breathe at all and my dough stuck like glue every single time. After three ruined batches and a lot of cussing, I finally went back to my old floured tea towels in regular mixing bowls. Anybody else have luck with a specific brand of bannetons that actually works?
I had a day last week where three batches of sourdough came out perfect. First time in 6 months that I nailed the crumb on my rye loaf. The starter was super active and my kitchen sat at 78 degrees, which never happens in winter. Anyone else have those random days where the dough just behaves?
Last Saturday at the shop in Portland I had a 3-tier wedding cake order and somehow managed to flip the entire bottom layer onto the linoleum, frosting side down, and had to scrape it off and re-bake from scratch in under 90 minutes, anyone else ever had a cake disaster that made you question your career choices?
I woke up to my starter having gone completely dormant even though I fed it like always and kept it at 78 degrees. Turns out my kitchen tap water had too much chlorine that day because the city was flushing hydrants up the street. Has anyone else had their starter suddenly act weird for no obvious reason and what did you do to fix it?
I was making a blueberry pie last week and my filling was way too runny. My neighbor told me to try instant potato flakes instead of cornstarch and it worked perfectly! Has anyone else tried this trick for fruit pies?
I keep seeing everyone rave about their 10-year-old starters and how it makes bread taste better. But after 6 months of feeding my starter daily in Portland, I got the same results as using a $3 packet of active dry yeast. The time and flour waste just isn't worth it for me. I made two loaves side by side last week, and honestly my family couldn't tell the difference in a blind taste test. The commercial yeast loaf rose faster and had a more consistent crumb too. Has anyone else found starters to be more of a hassle than they're worth?
For months I kept getting pancakes instead of loaves. I was adding my starter too early before it was actually bubbly. Then my neighbor who bakes for a living said wait until it floats in water. Tried that last weekend and got my first real oven spring! Has anyone else had their starter look active but actually not be ready?
She mentioned she stopped using convection ovens years ago because they dried out her pound cakes. I always thought fan forced was better, but now I am testing my standard recipe at 325 without the fan. Has anyone else noticed a big difference skipping convection for certain bakes?
I've always hated working with super wet dough, like 80% hydration or more. Just felt like a sticky mess that wasn't worth the trouble. But last Thursday I decided to follow a recipe from a baker in Portland who swears by it. My kitchen was a disaster area for about 20 minutes while I did coil folds every half hour. Then I baked it and I swear the crust had this crackle I've never gotten before. The inside was full of those irregular holes you see in bakery bread. Now I'm thinking maybe I've been wrong about wet doughs this whole time. Anyone else have a recipe that made you change your mind on something you thought you hated?
I always thought fresh yeast was the only way to get a good rise, but last Tuesday I forgot to buy it and used a packet of dry yeast that was sitting in my pantry for 6 months. I mixed it into a sourdough white loaf at 70% hydration and the dough doubled in size within 40 minutes, way faster than my usual hour. It came out of the oven with a perfect crackly crust and airy crumb, no weird taste at all. My neighbor even asked if I changed my recipe because it looked better than usual. Has anyone else had dry yeast surprise them like that?
My old scale finally gave out last week after a decade of guessing at flour weights. That new one with the 0.1 gram accuracy has already saved two batches of sourdough from being too dry. Anyone else find a tool that made a bigger difference than you expected?