Comments on: (Baking) Rule #1

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:22:19 +0000

J., thanks!

baking soda, glad this struck a chord for you.

Tanna, I’m very familiar with that scenario with patients also. Those decisions are usually so much heavier than those involved in baking, but the principle is sure the same, isn’t it?

breadchick, very wise advice!

Lori, we fall into that “my way or the highway” mentality all to often, don’t we?

Claire, thanks!

Kim, I’m more sports-challenged than I used to be, and to tell the truth there’s a lot I don’t like about the mindset around professional sports, but I still find some heroes in the sports world.

rainbowbrown, maybe it’s just that I’m getting older but I think that kind of integrity in sports figures is getting harder to come by.

Laura, it’s so good you can accept each others differences with only a little eye-rolling!

Lien, thank you!

Lisa, that’s one of the great points of contention in sourdough baking. I wrote a little bit more on the subject in my Sourdough Stories post.

Melissa, indeed!

Jude, I do need to learn to cut to the chase a little sooner, don’t I?

Jane, I’m curious whether opinions in France vary as much as here.

ct, thanks! “Fussy” is a good word, I think.

Jennifer, thanks for reading and have a great day yourself!

Katy, I can’t say Dennis Rodman was ever one of my crushes. (Neither was Shaq.)

Johanna, I like to read the advice and if I have no idea what I’m doing it’s good to have some guidelines — but you’re so right that all the variables can make things so complicated that sometimes you just need to throw the guidelines out the window.

Elizabeth, funny how that works, isn’t it? WIsh I could get my husband or kids interested in baking…

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:48:38 +0000

How refreshing! We have been recently noticing how very forgiving bread actually is. Up until about two months ago, I was baking all the bread – virtually my only real task in the kitchen. But I got tired of baking sandwich bread. My husband (a brilliant cook) neeeeeeeds sandwich bread. And so he has taken over and now kneads sandwich bread, leaving me free to make more interesting (to me) bread.

The remarkable thing is that his methods of mixing the bread are entirely different from mine. I am a measurer. I consider myself a strict measurer (even though I generally measure by volume and don’t actually make sure that a cup measure is always full). My husband, on the other hand, is a “wing it, toss in the ingredients” kind of guy. His sandwich bread is easily as good, if not better, than the sandwich bread I was making by measuring oh so carefully (the sandwich bread I was making was good too…). What gets me is that he uses a kitchen spoon to eyeball how much yeast he should add. And a coffee cup to scoop flour out of the bag. And adds it to “some” water until he likes the consistency…

By: Johanna

Johanna — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:45:05 +0000

wise words – I have often puzzled over some of the advice I see on blogs because I work differently without problems – but there are so many variables working on recipes that cannot always be known when writing it down for someone else. And it is such a joy when it does work!

By: katy

katy — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:05:21 +0000

I agree! And sometimes the best successes come from little tweaks that just feel right! BTW, when I was in high school, I was a basketball nut too. I had a major crush on (of all people, so random) Dennis Rodman! (And I think Shaq’s free throw percentage *is* negative, so maybe he should reconsider that statement…)

By: Jennifer S

Jennifer S — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:34:22 +0000

Great blog. I enjoy reading it. Thank you for clearing up the differences in bread. I’ve always wondered.

Have a great day.

Jenn

By: Friday Favorites 6/27/08 Edition « Two Frog Home

Friday Favorites 6/27/08 Edition « Two Frog Home — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:18:16 +0000

[...] I’m not a big fan of stringent baking rules, except for when the rule is Do what works [...]

By: ct

ct — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:39:42 +0000

This is not just a post. This is an excellent essay! Better than many “pro” articles in food magazines! You made me smile so many times with delight as your wittiness points out the “truths” with all these (fussy) baking rules.

ps: all of your posts are always so much fun & informative to read.

By: Jane

Jane — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:12:24 +0000

Well said and so very important to remember. I was rather “shocked” when I first started in on American sites, books and forums regarding bread. I couldn’t believe how many different views there were and how people claimed that each way was the only way. But it does all come back to every individuals motivations for making bread and that is often forgotten. That is a pertinent point!
I don’t mind weighing and trying to reproduce certain recipes perfectly but I have to admit I really enjoy just feeling the dough and adding a bit of this and a bit of that and even if each time it’s a little different, that is one of my great pleasures. Learning from each other and experimenting is such fun.
Jane

By: Jude

Jude — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:02:12 +0000

I was wondering where you were going with the basketball story — then it made perfect sense. Thanks for the entertaining read.

By: Melissa L.

Melissa L. — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:18:26 +0000

A really great post – that was just what I needed to hear. With my bookshelves filled to the brim with “expert advice” I think I often take their statements as dogma and hesitate to deviate. I think so many of us (myself included) have this desire to be by-the-book, as if there was some prize at the end of the road for knowing all the rules; when in fact, the real prize is the knowledge that comes from experimentation and the smiles that result from pulling bread out of the oven that you know will work, despite all the rules you broke!