Is bread really that precise?
My parents bake bread with 1000% guess work. Admittedly that's backed up with many years of baking, but they taught me to bake their bread the same way in one go...

I suppose it maybe depends on what bread you're baking - super fluffy white loaves might need the extra care, but my favourite bread is my parents (and when I can be arsed, my) bodgey stuff...

But then I regularly guess/throw in some extra at all my cooking... That said, I usually get compliments rather than cursing...
picasaweb.google.com/oppresswomen/MyCakesD# For some fine examples :)
(errrggghhhh should be doing something else, but what was it?!, Fri 4 Jun 2010, 19:26, 1 reply, 15 years ago)

it's simply about whether or not you're after consistency or not.
i would suggest that to be able to claim you have mastered something then you need to be able to prove you can reproduce the results time after time.
i would also suggest that the "bodgey" approach will not tend to produce this.
no offence intended.
i only tend to use this degree of precision with baking and breadmaking.
( blaireau69 , the Cumbrian Travis Bickle., Fri 4 Jun 2010, 22:38, Reply)

Very good point...
Consistency is important, it should always be enjoyable. But there can (if you want there to be) a large range of 'right' that can be called consistent. Depending a little on cake, but usually I can get consistent looking and tasting results with the bodgey approach. That's what I mean by mastering the proportions (if I mentioned that at all?!) - if the proportions are good then the rest works every time.

For bread making I will confess that I like inconsistency, as then it's like you did a different recipe every time :P I do make a mental note of what biases affect the results and how, so I can keep making a loaf if it's particularly good :)

Really want to do lots of baking now! I forget how much I enjoy it :)
(errrggghhhh should be doing something else, but what was it?!, Mon 7 Jun 2010, 21:07, Reply)