Heard a baker on a podcast say 'a fail is just a recipe you haven't fixed yet'

I was listening to the 'Bake It Better' show yesterday and the guest said that exact line. She talked about her sourdough starter disaster from 2020, where she had to toss three whole jars. Instead of quitting, she wrote down every single thing she did wrong and tried again the next week. It made me realize I usually just get mad and give up. How do you guys actually learn from a baking mess-up?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_anthony4d ago

Is it really that deep though? I just eat the weird looking cookies and move on. Writing down every mistake for a batch of bread feels like turning a hobby into homework.

milessmith2d agoTop Commenter

Look at it this way, if my cookies come out like hockey pucks again next week because I forgot what went wrong, that's on me. But I'm not filling out a report card for every batch, that's just silly. Most of the time you can just remember the big screw up, like adding salt twice. Feels like some people are baking for the notes and not the snacks.

the_wyatt4d ago

Anthony's got a point about not making it homework, but writing one quick note like "oven too hot" on the recipe card saves me next time. It's not a whole diary, just a fix for future you.