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Shoutout to the baker who told me my cookies were overmixed
A customer at my shop said my chocolate chip cookies were tough, then a fellow baker pointed out I mixed in the dry ingredients until no flour streaks showed. I switched to folding just 10 times then stopping, even if some flour remained, and the texture got way softer. Do you think visible flour streaks are worth the risk for a better crumb, or should I keep folding until it's uniform?
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johnson.daniel24d ago
The 10 fold rule seems a little arbitrary to me. I have been baking for 20 years and I just mix until it looks right, which usually means a few flour streaks are fine. I get wanting a soft cookie but I think people get too worked up over tiny details in the process.
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troyreed24d ago
oh man, I get where you're coming from completely. I've been at this for maybe 10 years now and I still catch myself overthinking the whole "correct" number of folds thing. It's like, you know your dough and your kitchen better than any rule out there. The 10 fold thing is just a starting point for people who aren't sure what they're looking for yet. You've got the experience to trust your eyes and that's what really matters. I think the whole baking community gets hung up on these micro rules sometimes when the real trick is just paying attention and adjusting as you go. Keep doing what works for you, that's how all the best recipes got made in the first place.
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jade_singh20d ago
I mean, @troyreed you mentioned the whole "micro rules" thing and that really stuck with me. Honestly, I think the bigger issue nobody talks about is how humidity and elevation totally wreck any fixed fold count. Like, I live in a dry climate and my dough stiffens up way faster than someone in a humid place, so 10 folds would be way too many for me. The rule makers probably tested this in some perfect lab kitchen, not my 80 degree apartment with a window unit AC. So yeah, trusting your eyes is the real move because every kitchen is basically its own little world with different conditions. Keep doing it your way, man.
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