I have been baking bread for years now, at least several loaves every other weekend. I’m to the point I don’t look at a recipe anymore it’s simply memorized.
Last week I baked two loaves and as always have to try a piece of warm from the oven bread! Something wasn’t right about the taste, it kind of tasted like it was just flour and water baked. A very flat taste.
Hmmm what went wrong???
I do stage all the ingredients on the kitchen counter-top first, then measure and add to the mix. Then I remembered,,,, I forgot the salt! The recipe calls for one teaspoon of salt per loaf and this little bit of salt makes an unbelievable difference in the taste of bread.
I baked two more loaves yesterday making sure I had the salt added and sure enough the taste was back to normal!
Moral of the story:
Always have the recipe in front of you as this could have been disastrous if I were canning 70 quarts of meat and left an ingredient out that was key to flavor.
I've had Paul comment on a bread (or two) before and they were the ones that I forgot to add the salt to. Amazing how that "little" bit of salt makes such a difference in taste.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteI find it's easy to get distracted when baking from memory. I'll start to measure something out like flour and my son or husband will ask me a question. I usually will forget how many cups I've measured and have to start again.
It's hard to fix a measurement or lack there of if you've already baked or processed the food.
Sounds to me, your bread wasn't its usual salt of the earth that day. ;-)
ReplyDeleteCarolyn,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the confirmation on the taste difference that no salt makes. I was wondering if maybe I was over reacting.
Sandy,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean! To help avoid skipping ingredients I’m almost finished putting together a clip board that holds just my common recipes. I keep this close by and now it will be very convenient so I will use it where as before I had to go to my computer room and get the recipes. It’s not that the computer room is that far away but I’m assembling a new booklet of basic recipes that are made from long term stored food (disaster cooking) and I hate to pull a recipe out because it tends not to get back.
Stay@Home,
ReplyDeleteGood one! :-)
No matter how many years I've made something in particular I've always had to have my recipes on hand. I guess I'm too easily distracted. :)
ReplyDeleteGammy,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you, I will have the recipe in front of me from now on.
Don't forget that salt will last forever if you keep it dry. $10 can buy you a lifetime supply and it's amazing something so inexpensive can make all the difference in the world!
ReplyDeleteWhat If,
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting. Yes you are correct, simple things like salt are cheap but also so very necessary for survival, from making food taste better to preserving it.