Bought a $40 bread proving basket and it changed nothing lol

I figured spending money on a fancy banneton would finally give me those perfect bakery-style sourdough loaves. Nope, my bread still came out flat and dense, just with prettier swirl marks on top. Total waste of cash honestly, I should've just kept using a mixing bowl with a towel. Anyone else get suckered into buying gear that didn't actually help?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaret55115d ago

Tbh I fell for that same trap with a fancy lame for scoring bread. Paid thirty bucks for this special curved blade thinking it would magically give me those ear shapes everyone posts. Nope, my scores just looked like a toddler drew on the loaf with a butter knife. The basket and the lame are sitting in my cabinet collecting dust now, just a couple of pretty paperweights.

knight.uma15d ago

Wait, so you're telling me you went all in with the basket AND the lame and still couldn't make it work? That's rough, but honestly kind of validating because I almost did the same thing. What was your hydration at when you tried the scoring? I feel like nobody warns you that if your dough is too wet or too stiff, no fancy blade in the world is gonna give you those Instagram ears.

blair_torres7015d ago

That whole thing reminds me of a bigger pattern I see all the time where people think buying the right tool is going to skip the learning curve. It's like when someone gets a fancy new drill but still can't hang a shelf straight, or buys top-of-the-line hiking boots but never actually builds up the stamina for a long trail. The gear makes you feel like you're doing it right, but the real work is in the technique and the practice, not the price tag. You can have the sharpest lame in the world and still not know how to angle your wrist or handle the dough tension. I've seen it in every hobby I've ever tried, from woodworking to fishing. The stuff is just the stuff, it's the hours of messing up that actually teach you.