Overheard a woman at the grocery store say she‘s been baking bread for 20 years and never uses a thermometer

I was picking up flour yesterday at the Piggly Wiggly on 3rd street and this lady was telling her friend she just goes by feel and look for her sourdough. She said she ruined 3 loaves her first year because she kept poking them with a thermometer. That got me thinking about all the times I've stressed over exact temps. I've been baking for about 4 years now and I always stick my probe in at 190. But maybe she's got a point about just trusting your senses more. Anyone else ever ditch the thermometer and just go by color and touch?

2 comments

2 Comments

jasonp7114h ago

My buddy Mike swore by thermometers for years, then his broke halfway through a bake and he just winged it. Said that random loaf was the BEST crust he ever made and now he never temp checks anymore.

kevin_hernandez838h ago

So Mike's telling you that breaking the thermometer is actually the secret? That's wild but I kind of get it. When you're not staring at numbers, you just go off how the dough looks and feels and smells. That's how people baked for thousands of years before someone stuck a metal probe in a loaf. Same thing happened to me with steak - I threw away the instant read and now I just poke it with my finger. The crust thing makes sense too because you're probably leaving it in longer than you would if the thermometer told you it was done. Maybe the real trick is using the thermometer for the first few bakes to learn the basics and then letting it go.