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COVID-19 hobby and saving money at the same time

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    COVID-19 hobby and saving money at the same time

    Well, "sort of" on the "saving money" thing.

    Two things happened to me back in March of this year:
    • My Chapter 13 was discharged after five long years, and
    • My company sent all 20,000+ employees home, with workstations, until further notice
    When I made my last payment, I opted to pretend I was still in my Chapter 13 and pay my savings account instead of the Trustee, and as such, cost cutting where and when possible was still the order of business. I have a taste for artisan breads which can cost anywhere from $6.00 to $10.00 per loaf, and that was a luxury I, for the most part, had to do without during my bankruptcy. When we got sent home I decided to start baking bread, more specifically, sourdough bread, one of my very favorite types.

    Yeah about that; to say "Easier said than done," is rather the understatement. My first few loaves served well as weights in the bottom of a trash can liner as I dropped a new one into a trash can. Fortunately I stuck with it and once I got a good handle on baking a sourdough wheat bread, I started moving into my preferred style, Dark Rye with lots of Caraway seeds. One added wrinkle is I have a few family members and neighbors who have mild gluten intolerances, so instead of using wheat flour to augment the rye (rye flour is typically too heavy and it's gluten is not elastic enough to provide for a good rise), I started using an ancient grain called Einkorn (a very ancient ancestor to modern wheat).

    Of late I've been confident of the taste and texture of my breads to share some with folks in my sphere, and while I have yet to perfect the artistic look of many experienced bakers, I think I've nailed the crunchy crust and insanely flavorful crumb (the meat of the bread) aspect of bread baking. The good news is, every review so far is something like this, "Dude, that is the best tasting rye bread I've ever had!"

    As for the "money saving thing", I figure I can bake a loaf of sourdough wheat bread for about $0.75 per large loaf (about twice the size of a normal store bought loaf), however, and this is where we get into my eccentric tastes; I figure it costs me more like $8.00 to bake an all organic Einkorn / Dark Rye / Caraway loaf of bread.

    If I can figure out how to post a picture, I'll add a few shots.

    Latent car nut.

    #2
    Hmmm, I think I've managed to upload them, but I cannot find them in my gallery.
    Latent car nut.

    Comment


      #3
      Funny thing... we are currently looking into getting a breadmaker. On the more pricey side (north of $175), but it could be interesting.
      Chapter 7 (No Asset/Non-Consumer) Filed (Pro Se) 7/08 (converted from Chapter 13 - 2/10)
      Status: (Auto) Discharged and Closed! 5/10
      Visit My BKForum Blog: justbroke's Blog

      Any advice provided is not legal advice, but simply the musings of a fellow bankrupt.

      Comment


        #4
        I have heard, but have no first hand experience, that bread makers rely on commercial yeast and don't do a very good job with sourdough (which is a wild yeast). I do have a KitchenAid mixer, which had been collecting dust for maybe 15 years, which makes the job pretty easy. Basically the mixer can do all of the mixing and kneading tasks except for the final hand knead which takes between five and ten minutes.

        Regarding the pictures; when I try to upload one I get this message:
        • Upload failed due to forum's upload quota. This file will require 1.72 MB but you only have 1.29 MB of 4.77 MB remaining.
        Latent car nut.

        Comment


        • justbroke
          justbroke commented
          Editing a comment
          It appears that you are out of space, and I can't change it. Maybe downsize the image first to get it below 1.29MB?

        #5
        The irony is, I've never uploaded anything before; that makes me curious as to what is using up all of that space.
        Latent car nut.

        Comment


        • justbroke
          justbroke commented
          Editing a comment
          Go to your User Settings and look for the "media" tab. See if there is anything shown. I show nothing in my personal settings.

        #6
        Hmmm, same as you, nothing.
        Latent car nut.

        Comment


          #7
          Okay, Plan B...

          Latent car nut.

          Comment


            #8
            shipo - those look grear! Very yummy I bet 🤗
            Filed Chapter 13 - 07/20/12
            Discharged 8/2/16

            Comment

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