c/baking-fails-and-wins

Why I stopped blind-tasting my bread flour and started taking notes

Tbh I used to just grab whatever flour was on sale and hope for the best. That backfired hard last spring when my sourdough came out flat for like 3 weeks straight and I couldn't figure out why. Turned out the store switched brands on me, different protein level, same bag color. Now I keep a small notebook on my counter and jot down the brand, protein %, and date on every new bag. Has anyone else had a mystery failure that only clicked after you tracked your ingredients?

Baked a 3 layer cake for my sister's wedding, forgot the center support

Got through 2 tiers fine at the venue in Portland. Third tier slid right off about 10 minutes before the toast. Nobody warned me about using dowels for anything over 2 layers. I spent 4 hours on that cake, and it still tasted great on the floor. Now I always test the structure with a quick wiggle before I leave home. Has anyone else had a cake collapse at an event and how did you fix it fast?

That grandmother in Des Moines who taught me the fork trick for pie crust

I was at a church bake sale last spring and this older lady noticed me staring at her pies, perfect lattice tops on every one. I asked her how she got the crust so flaky without it crumbling. She told me to use two forks instead of a pastry cutter, and to stop overworking the dough like I was kneading bread. She said you only mix until the fat looks like peas and the dough just comes together. I tried her method that weekend on a cherry pie and it came out better than anything I had done in 10 years of baking. The texture was light, held its shape, and no shrinkage. Has anyone else gone back to the old school tools for something simple and seen a big jump in results?

That fancy silicone baking mat was 25 bucks of regret

Picked up one of those nonstick silicone mats last month because my parchment paper kept sliding around. First batch of cookies stuck worse than anything I've had on a greased pan, and the mat left this weird oily film on the bottoms. Tried it three times with different recipes and same result every time. Anyone else had better luck with a specific brand or should I just stick to parchment for good?

Butter vs shortening in pie crust, I picked wrong at 11pm

Had to bake 3 pies for a family thing last Saturday and ran out of butter halfway through the crust. Grabbed the shortening from the back of the pantry since it was 11pm and the store was closed. Rolled out fine, baked up golden, but the texture was all wrong. Shortening crusts turn out tough and greasy, not flaky like butter ones. My aunt actually asked if I used lard and I had to admit I cut corners. Has anyone else had a late night substitute blow up on them like this?

Hot take: proofing baskets are overrated, I stopped using them 8 months ago

I know everyone swears by bannetons for that perfect round loaf, but after 8 months of ditching mine for a simple mixing bowl lined with a floured dish towel, I actually get better oven spring. The basket just compresses the dough too much for my home oven, which runs hot on the bottom. My loaves come out with a looser crumb and a nicer ear, every single time. Anyone else ditched the fancy gear and gone back to basics? What did you notice change?

Bread proofed too long at a neighbor's garage sale

Left my dough in the car while browsing tables for 2 hours. Came back to a giant blob that baked into a hard hockey puck. Anyone else ruin a loaf just from getting distracted?

Room temp eggs are a myth, cold eggs work fine if you do this one thing

Been baking pies for years. Every recipe screams about room temp eggs. Started ignoring it about 3 months ago out of pure laziness. Cold eggs made my custard lumpy twice. Then I tried blending them for 30 seconds with the sugar before adding anything else. Smooth every time. Did a lemon tart last Sunday, perfect curd. I get that butter needs to be soft, but eggs? Blend first and you're good. Anyone else skip that waiting step?

Took 4 years to figure out my butter was too cold the whole time

I kept wondering why every batch of cookies came out flat as pancakes, then my sister watched me bake in March and said 'you know that's straight from the fridge, right?' Has anyone else had a baking habit that was hilariously wrong for way too long?

Skeptical about the tangzhong trick, now I'm a believer

I kept seeing people rave about using a flour-water roux for bread, but it sounded like too much fuss for a Tuesday night loaf. Tried it last week with my usual white bread recipe and the crumb stayed soft for 3 days, which has literally never happened at my house. Has anyone else converted after being stubborn about this, or am I just late to the party lol?

Sourdough starter tripled in 4 days after I added rye, what gives?

My white flour starter sat flat for 2 months in Austin, then I swapped in 20% rye flour and it went from barely bubbling to tripling in 4 days. Is it the extra enzymes in the rye, or did my starter just need a different food source? Anyone else seen a dramatic shift like this, and do you think it's a permanent change or just a phase?

Can we believe what a tiny oven does to bread volume?

I was reading the King Arthur Flour blog on Tuesday and found out that a standard home oven at 350 degrees actually kills yeast activity way faster than I thought, like within 10 minutes. My last loaf in our 24-inch apartment oven in Chicago came out flat as a pancake, but the same dough recipe in my mom's big double oven in the suburbs rose twice as tall. Who knew oven size and heat distribution could mess with proofing that much? Has anyone else seen a big difference switching ovens?

That one stranger at the county fair told me my pie crust was wrong, and she was right

She leaned over my table at the Des Moines fair last month, pointed at my lard-to-butter ratio, and said 'you're fighting the flour, honey,' then walked off, and after 12 years of baking I finally stopped overworking my dough, so what's the one odd tip a stranger gave you that actually stuck?

TIL letting bread dough rest longer fixes my dense loaf problem

I read on a King Arthur blog post that 30 extra minutes of autolyse can change the crumb texture completely. Tried it with my usual white loaf this Tuesday and the difference was wild, no more hockey puck. Has anyone else found a timing tweak that solved their recurring fail?

Overheard a kid say sourdough starter is 'just wet flour' and I had to walk away

Picked a glass loaf pan over metal after 8 years of burnt edges

Honestly, I always grabbed my grandma's metal pan and just dealt with dark crusts on the sides. Switched to glass for a banana bread last Saturday and the edges came out even, no scorch at all. Has anyone else made this switch and noticed a real difference, or was it just my oven being weird?

I finally dropped $40 on a Danish dough whisk and it's night and day

I kept burning through wooden spoons mixing heavy bread doughs, and my wrists were killing me after every batch. Picked up a Danish dough whisk from a local kitchen supply spot for about $40 and it cuts through sticky dough like butter. First try with a 75% hydration sourdough and I finished mixing in under 2 minutes with zero arm pain. No more fighting with the dough getting stuck in the middle of the spoon either. Has anyone else tried one of these or do you swear by a different tool for stiff doughs?

Forgot to weigh my flour and my cinnamon rolls turned into hockey pucks

I was at my parents' house last Christmas morning trying to whip up a batch of cinnamon rolls from memory (big mistake). Got all the way to the rising step and realized the dough felt like I was kneading a brick. Turns out I just eyeballed the flour instead of using a scale like I always do at home. After a solid 10 minutes of cursing under my breath I just added extra butter and milk to soften it up, but they came out dense as hell anyway. Has anyone else had a holiday bake go sideways because you skipped one tiny step?

Pro tip: check your baking powder date before you start mixing

I got halfway through making a double batch of pancakes for my crew last Saturday before I realized the batter wasn't bubbling. Checked the baking powder can and it expired 8 months ago. Had to toss it all and start over, wasted about $6 worth of eggs and flour. Now I keep a marker in the pantry and write the date I open any leavening agent right on the lid. Anybody else get burned by old baking powder before?

That simple buttercream frosting took me 6 hours to get right

Everyone says buttercream is the easiest thing to make but I spent a whole Saturday fighting with mine. It kept separating and looking greasy no matter what I did. Turns out my butter was too cold and I was adding the sugar too fast. Has anyone else had a basic recipe take way longer than it should have?

My stand mixer bowl cracked mid batch of cookies yesterday

I was mixing up a double batch of chocolate chip cookies for a bake sale and about halfway through the dough, the glass bowl just split right down the side. Dough and glass shards went everywhere on my counter and I had to toss the whole batch. Has anyone else had a KitchenAid bowl fail like that or should I switch to a metal one?

Warning: Don't waste $60 on that fancy silicone baking mat set I tried

I bought a 3-pack of those nonstick silicone mats from a kitchen store downtown last month. Thought they’d be great for cookies and bread, but after 4 uses the edges started curling up and the surface got sticky. Lost $60 and had to toss them. Has anyone else had these mats fail on them or is there a brand that actually holds up?

Rant: My sourdough starter died after 2 years of feeding it

Had this starter going since March 2023, named it Betty and everything. I got busy with a big pour job last week and forgot to feed it for like 4 days straight. Came back and it was moldy on top, smelled like nail polish remover. Had to toss the whole jar in the trash. Anyone else lose a long term starter from being too caught up in work?

I thought room temp butter was just a suggestion for cookies

For like 8 years I would just microwave my butter until it was soft and throw it in the mixer. Last Thanksgiving my sister-in-law watched me do it and asked why my cookies always came out flat and greasy. Anyone else stubbornly ignore the basics and then feel dumb when someone finally points it out?

Warning: That trick with using yogurt instead of buttermilk backfired on me bad

I was at my neighbor's house yesterday and she was bragging about how she swaps yogurt for buttermilk in all her cake recipes with no issues. So I tried it on a batch of lemon layer cakes for a bake sale tomorrow. Big mistake. The batter looked fine going in but after 20 minutes in the oven, the cakes sank in the middle like little craters. I read online that yogurt has a different acidity level and it reacts weird with baking soda if you don't adjust the ratios. Ended up tossing three whole cakes and starting over with real buttermilk at 3 bucks a carton. Has anyone else had this yogurt fail or did I just mess up the math?