c/bakers

The whole butter vs. shortening pie crust debate came back to me today

I was making a batch of pies for a farmers market stand near Portland last Saturday, and a older lady walked up and watched me roll out dough for a solid minute. She finally said "you know, your grandma would have used lard, not that yellow stick" and just walked away. It got me thinking about how much I defend butter because of the flavor (and the flake, you know?) but I have to admit shortening gives a way more reliable crust every single time. I grew up watching my mom use Crisco for everything, and her pies never failed. But then I switched to butter for taste and I've had some real disasters with shrinkage and sogginess. So which side do you fall on - are you team butter for the flavor or team shortening for the dependability? Or has anyone tried that half-and-half trick I keep reading about on blogs?

Always thought proofing baskets were a waste of money till I borrowed one

Tbh I used to just use a mixing bowl lined with a floured tea towel for my sourdough. It worked fine for like a year. Then a buddy let me borrow his $15 banneton last month and I gotta say the difference in oven spring was noticeable. The loaf held its shape way better and the crust had that nice spiral pattern without the towel sticking. Now im wondering if my bowls were actually crushing the gluten structure or something. Anyone else made the switch and never went back?

Had a croissant disaster yesterday and it flipped my whole method

I was at my kitchen counter in Omaha trying to laminate butter for a batch of croissants and the butter block shattered into pieces when I rolled it out. The temp was too cold and I had rushed the chill time, so instead of smooth layers I got greasy mess. Anyone else have a butter fail that taught you to slow down and watch your thermometer closer?

90 minutes watching a master baker's sourdough feeding videos and I'm a convert

I always thought the whole starter feeding schedule was just internet hype until I saw this guy in Portland show his process live with a kitchen scale and a thermometer. Now I realize I was half-assing it for years. Has anyone else had that moment where watching someone else's technique made you totally rethink your approach?

DAE find out their oven temp is way off after years of baking?

I was calibrating my oven yesterday for a new sourdough recipe and found out it runs 35 degrees hotter than the dial says after I borrowed a probe thermometer from a friend. Been baking cookies and breads at the wrong temp for like 2 years and wondering why stuff was always slightly off. Anyone else check their oven and get a surprise like that?

My sourdough starter was a dud for 6 months until I started using pineapple juice instead of water

I kept getting this lifeless, grey starter that barely bubbled no matter how much I fed it. Then a baker at the farmer's market near me said to swap the water for pineapple juice in the first 3 days to lower the pH and kill off bad bacteria. I tried it with my new batch and it was doubling in size by day 4. Has anyone else used fruit juice to jumpstart a starter?

That week I tried to bake 200 cookies for a school bake sale and forgot to rotate my pans

I pulled 4 trays of charcoal out of the oven Tuesday night because I was too busy frosting the first batch and my kitchen smelled like regret for three days, has anyone else had a bake sale go completely sideways like that?

Why does nobody talk about how adding a pinch of citric acid to pie dough can make it super flaky?

I tried it last week on a whim after reading some random blog, and the crust came out so tender and layered I almost thought I grabbed the wrong pan from the oven, has anyone else messed with acids in pastry and seen weird results like that?

Took me 6 months to figure out why my bread kept splitting at the bottom

I kept getting these ugly cracks along the bottom crust of my sourdough loaves... drove me nuts. Tried changing hydration, scoring deeper, even bought a new banneton. Finally figured out it was because I wasn't letting the dough warm up enough before baking straight from the fridge. Once I started letting it sit on the counter for 45 minutes before the oven, no more splits. Has anyone else dealt with bottom cracks that turned out to be a temperature thing?

Burned $40 on a 'professional grade' silicone mat that melted into my cookies on the first use

I found out the hard way that the cheap dollar store parchment paper I've been using for years actually works better than this overpriced gimmick, has anyone else had a baking tool fail so hard it ruined a whole batch?

That Saturday dough disaster ruined my whole week

Last month I had what I thought was a perfect Saturday morning planned for baking. I woke up early at 5 AM to get a jump on my sourdough for the farmer's market. I had 12 loaves proofing and they looked amazing. Then my oven thermostat gave out right as I went to bake the first batch. I didn't notice until the first loaf came out pale and flat after 45 minutes. I lost about $40 in ingredients and had to cancel my booth at the market in Portland. Has anyone else had a single piece of equipment just tank an entire day of work like that?

Last Tuesday my sourdough starter finally peaked after 3 months of fighting it

I've been trying to get a consistent rise since January... kept getting flat loaves that tasted like vinegar. Then last week I fed it at exactly 8am instead of whenever I remembered, and left it on top of the fridge where it's warmer. By noon it had doubled in size and smelled like ripe fruit instead of nail polish remover. Baked two loaves that evening and got the best oven spring I've ever had, with a crust that cracked when I tapped it. Has anyone else had their starter suddenly click after months of struggling with it?

Question about buying expensive bread flour - is it really worth it?

I dropped $60 on a 50lb bag of King Arthur sir Lancelot high gluten flour last month thinking it would fix my bagel texture issues, but honestly I can't tell much difference from the $25 generic brand I used to grab at Restaurant Depot. My bagels still came out chewy but not dramatically better, and now I'm stuck with a massive bag taking up half my pantry. Has anyone else shelled out for premium flour and regretted it or did I just get a bad batch?

Unpopular opinion: Letting dough rest overnight is overrated for home bakers

I tried it for a month straight making sourdough in my little apartment kitchen in Austin. Honestly, the texture was barely different than my usual 2-hour rise, and the extra time just meant I kept forgetting to bake it. Who else has wasted a whole day on a method that didn't really change the end result?

Been kneading dough wrong for 5 years and only realized it last Tuesday

I always punched down my sourdough like I was angry at it, but a baker at a farmer's market in Portland saw my technique and said "you're deflating all the gas, not shaping it." After 5 years of dense loaves, I tried her gentle fold method and my crumb finally opened up. Anyone else have a "wait, that's not how you do it" moment that was embarrassing?

Appreciation post: my sourdough starter after 18 months of neglect

I had a jar of starter in the back of my fridge that I forgot about for a year and a half. I was about to toss it when I read something online about how resilient wild yeast can be. So I scraped off the dark liquid on top, took a tiny spoonful from the bottom, and fed it with equal parts flour and water. Three days later it was bubbling like nothing ever happened. The bread I baked with it yesterday had this deep, tangy flavor I never got from my younger starters. It really surprised me how much character comes from a culture that's been through some rough times. Has anyone else resurrected a starter after a really long break

Nearly set my kitchen on fire with a plastic spatula left too close to the oven vent

Was baking a triple batch of chocolate chip cookies at my aunt's house in Phoenix last August and that thing melted into a puddle of toxic goo right as I pulled the trays out. Anyone else have a favorite spatula material that can handle actual heat without ruining your batch?

My sourdough starter almost died after I left it in the car for 3 hours

I was driving home from a farmer's market in Austin last Tuesday and forgot my starter was in the bag on the passenger seat. The temp hit 95 that afternoon and by the time I got home it had this weird orange liquid on top and smelled like nail polish remover. I panicked and scooped out the good bit from the bottom, fed it double the usual amount of flour and water. Took about 4 days but it finally started bubbling again like normal. Has anyone else rescued a starter that got too hot?

Used to eyeball my dough hydration... finally bought a scale

For like 2 years I’d just add water till it felt right. Then last month I made a batch of sourdough that came out like glue because I overshot the water by a quarter cup. My buddy who bakes for a living told me to get a $15 kitchen scale off Amazon. Now I weigh everything in grams and my loaves actually hold shape. Has anyone else had to unlearn the "feel it out" method after way too long?

Just realized I spent $120 on a fancy silicone baking mat that started peeling after 3 months

My grandma’s old parchment paper never let me down for 40 years and now I’m back to buying the cheap stuff at the grocery store, anyone else ditch the fancy tools for the basics?

Finally picked sourdough over commercial yeast for my baguettes

I always used instant yeast for baguettes because it's faster, but last month at a bakery in Chicago I tried a 24 hour sourdough version and the crust was way better. Made the switch for my Sunday bake and the flavor depth is insane even though the timing is trickier. Has anyone else found sourdough worth the extra wait for lean breads?

That one Saturday morning last spring when my sourdough starter died mid-bake

I had just fed it for 8 days straight and then forgot to turn off the oven light, cooked the whole starter to 110 degrees, and had to scrap 3 batches of dough before I figured out my proofing box was the culprit instead of my starter, anyone else ever lose a batch to something stupid like that?

Had a pie crust disaster at the county fair demo that made me switch to metal bowls

Tried that 'resting dough overnight' trend everyone raves about

I let my sourdough sit in the fridge for 18 hours like the forums said, and it came out flat as a pancake with zero oven spring. My usual 4 hour room temp proof gives me tall loaves with great crumb every time. Anyone else find that long cold ferments kill their bread's rise?

Warning: Don't trust supermarket yeast, switch to Saf-Instant if you bake often

I used those little packets of active dry yeast from the grocery store for years and always got inconsistent rises. Finally switched to a 1-pound brick of Saf-Instant yeast from a restaurant supply place near me in Portland, and my bread comes out perfect every single time. The active dry stuff went dormant way faster in my fridge, plus I was paying almost $4 for 3 packets versus $6 for a whole pound. Has anyone else found this makes a bigger difference than they expected?