Washington Post on the influx of new bakers

[aaronatthedoublef]

I'm with you. But look on Amazon and see people selling $25 of paper towels for more than double that.

Bread machines seem not to be outrageous yet. Most are under $100.

[Mike Nolan]

There have always been people on Amazon listing things at outrageous prices, I've always wondered how many of them get clicked on by mistake.

Amazon says they check for things like this and remove them, but I still see them frequently.

[BakerAunt]

I have two used bread machines. The old Welbilt--which is great for traveling, as it is the smaller (price $20 at an estate sale)--and an older Zo that does a better, and quicker kneading job ($40 at a moving sale). I never bake the bread in them. I don't even let the dough rise inside, because it tends to form a "skin" on top. I much prefer rising buckets. Last time I looked, KAF was sold out of those as well.

Why doesn't someone just make a bread kneading machine? I wouldn't buy a full-price bread machine because it has bells and whistles that I would never use.

I predict that in a few years, there will be LOTS of used bread machines around.:)

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

[skeptic7]

I wish someone would make a bread bucket. I had an antique one with a hook and a crank. It was designed to clamp on a table. I used to do 3 or 4 loaves of bread at once. However it was so old that it was made in the days of lead solder, so I gave it away.
I had a more modern one, but it didn't have a clamp and did have a tendency to move when you tried to use it.

If you had lots of money, the Anxstrum ( sp ) mixer would make a nice bread kneading machine. That is however more expensive than a bread machine.

[Mike Nolan]

I have yet to figure out exactly how the Anksarsrum works. It doesn't appear to be a true spiral mixer like the (even more expensive) Fanug. I wish pmiker was still around, he had an Ansarsrum, as I recall.

Spiral mixers are supposed to help prevent over-oxdation of your dough, not that I think I'd recognize over-oxidation unless it was pretty extreme.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--I think that Lehman's has a crank bread bucket. I don't know if it is what you seek, but it might be worth a look.

[RiversideLen]

BakerAunt wrote:

I predict that in a few years, there will be LOTS of used bread machines around.:)

I think sooner than that, BakerAunt. Most of the people I have known who bought bread machines in the past used them once or none. One of the problems, I think, is that many people are unaware how to measure flour correctly so they often use more flour than needed which results in a dense gnarly loaf (I too did that so many years ago) and then they give up. Though, I don't doubt some people will stick with it and become very good bread bakers.

[Mike Nolan]

Eggs are in short supply in lots of places, and it takes 22 weeks for a chick to grow into a laying hen.

Wholesale egg prices are up 180% over the last month.

Stores and wholesalers usually start to build up inventory in advance of Easter and the annual egg sales, which usually start around now, but egg demand for Easter may not be as high as usual due to social distancing.

[BakerAunt]

Mike--Omaria has an Anksarsrum, but she rarely posts at Nebraska Kitchen.

[chocomouse]

I agree, Len, that people don't measure flour correctly. However, I think the real problem is that bread machine users think they can "set it and forget it". I always use a bread machine to mix and knead my dough, as I have arthritis and can no longer knead; I use the "dough only" setting, and have never baked in a bread machine (and I'm on my third abm). I check my dough frequently when it is mixing and kneading. I no longer even weigh my flour, nor do I measure very accurately, and much of the time I'm not even using a recipe (exceptions to those comments are when I am trying a new recipe). I almost always have to add more flour or water to get the dough to the correct "tackiness". It would probably take a new bread baker a few tries to figure out what a proper dough looks, feels, and acts like to get a nice loaf. Maybe now, in this time of social distancing at home, Grandmas and Moms can bake with their youngsters and pass on some of their skills.

[Mike Nolan]

There were eggs at the store today, not cheap but plentiful. A little generic brand flour, not much sugar, no TP or Kleenex. There was a line of at least 15 people waiting to get in at Sams, so I went elsewhere, as they were standing too close together, probably in violation of the limits on groups.

[BakerAunt]

I don't know if there are any new bread bakers looking at Nebraska Kitchen, but if so, please ask any questions that you may have. We love helping people become comfortable with bread baking. You don't need a bread machine or mixer: bread can be kneaded effectively by hand. All of us started out kneading by hand, and some still do. We also have people who use bread machines (usually just for kneading) and mixers. We would be delighted to share our experience and help you advance your skills.

While there is a lot of knowledge and skill here, we also admit our "oops" moments. You will find information here on how to save your dough when you forget the yeast, let the dough rise too long, realize you haven't added enough flour. And we bake more than bread here, so you can branch out. (See Mike's blog post on bagels!)

[Mike Nolan]

I posted a note on the Washington Post story about the right way to measure flour, because bread machines work better if the dough is nice and soft. You can deal with stiffer doughs easier manually. As we all learned the hard way, it is really easy to measure out too much flour.

Traffic (ie, page views) is up on the site over the last week or so, but not subscribers. We have picked up a few BBGA members as subscribers, though.

[Mike Nolan]

The Washington Post says seed merchants are the latest to see a big increase in orders because of COVID-19. Spring greens like spinach and lettuce are selling especially well, along with any kind of beans.

Amazon says that the 7th most popular item in online searches these days is jigsaw and other adult puzzles, which usually rank somewhere around 2000th. My wife and her sister, who have been getting together on Sundays to do puzzles, are doing virtual puzzling, they do a puzzle then send a photo of the completed puzzle to each other.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Wow. My six year old was just saying this morning that we should be starting our own garden! Out of the mouths of babes. Of course she wouldn't eat anything we could grow...

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