4 ms·

Grocery stores are still restocking really frequently as people have shifted from eating out to eating and cooking at home. Everyone is also learning to make br

Grocery stores are still restocking really frequently as people have shifted from eating out to eating and cooking at home. Everyone is also learning to make bread and/or bake at the moment, because I haven't seen flour or sugar in stock consistantly for a while.

SlowRobotAhead 7y ago
Yeast shortage no doubt. Flour and sugar all day; but yeast is flat out gone.
- ardy42 7y ago
  > Yeast shortage no doubt. Flour and sugar all day; but yeast is flat out gone. Time to learn to make sourdough, then!
  - lostlogin 7y ago
    Yes! At its dumbest, just keep some dough from your last yeasted batch and feed it flour (70g flour, 100g water). Rise times go way up but that’s the point, you get more flavour that way.
  - OJFord 7y ago
    And the tl;dr is just 'mix some of the flour and water ahead of time, and leave it longer than you would've left the whole thing with yeast'. IMO 'sourdough' is hyped to such an extent that it makes it sound like it's going to be some complicated process requiring an exacting baker and a perfect recipe. It's not.
    - lostlogin 7y ago
      This is very accurate. The long and complicated books and blogs are really off putting. I’ve got my recipe almost to its minimum I think. Deleting steps as much as possible. The idea that the starter needs much care at all is crazy and I’m asked about it regularly. It can go many months without any attention at all and is just fine ~10 years in.
    - tathougies 7y ago
      Yup, sourdough is easy and fun! The easiest pet too!
- tathougies 7y ago
  You know you have bread yeast literally on every part of your body right? Just stick your foot in some flour, water, and sugar, and let it rise. Then, feed this starter (like sourdough), and mix in a spoonful or two with every bread recipe, and keep the starter like you would a sourdough starter.
  - jopsen 7y ago
    Do I wash the foot first? :) (Sorry, I couldn't help but ask, hehe)
ChuckMcM 7y ago
I find that kind of impressive since the "baking" section is down to a single aisle at the super market these days and suddenly it's quite popular. Ideally a number of post pandemic people will continue with the baking. It is so much cheaper to make your own bread.
- klipt 7y ago
  > It is so much cheaper to make your own bread. Only if you don't value your time, and ignore the energy costs of running an oven. It's a good backup option in a pandemic because flour keeps longer than bread, but normally for most professionals it's much cheaper to earn the money and buy bread that's produced in bulk.
  - ksdale 7y ago
    I agree with you in principle, but I would point out that our long, precarious supply chains are the exact result of most professionals earning money to outsource things. I'm sure it's still a good deal, but it's less of a good deal than it looked like before supply chains started breaking left and right.
    - klipt 7y ago
      Those supply chains will recover after this once-per-century risk is over (eg we find a vaccine). For now I'm still way better off as a professional who can work from home and order food online, than I would be as a subsistence farmer somewhere. And remember, being subsistence farmers without long supply chains didn't help the native Americans when Europeans arrived with a new plague they weren't immune to.
      - ksdale 7y ago
        I didn't say you should become a subsistence farmer. Mine is more of a general argument about the costs of specialization. And do you think the Native Americans were more or less specialized than the Europeans?
    - 7y ago
lostlogin 7y ago
Where I am it’s a packing problem, not a flour supply problem. Previously bakeries, cafes and restaurants bought big sacks every so often. That has stopped and homes are now wanting 1,2 or 5kg bags and there aren’t any. The flour is available but in the wrong bags.
- tathougies 7y ago
  People who are unemployed should buy wholesale flour and repackage
  - lostlogin 7y ago
    That is everyone right now. New Zealand is on a complete lockdown. No travel, essential services allowed only.
- greedo 7y ago
  My grocery store is doing this with rice and flour. I assume they're sourcing both from restaurant suppliers selling the large bags.
- taurath 7y ago
  Just like toilet paper, it seems.

SlowRobotAhead 7y ago

Yeast shortage no doubt. Flour and sugar all day; but yeast is flat out gone.

ardy42 7y ago
> Yeast shortage no doubt. Flour and sugar all day; but yeast is flat out gone. Time to learn to make sourdough, then!
- lostlogin 7y ago
  Yes! At its dumbest, just keep some dough from your last yeasted batch and feed it flour (70g flour, 100g water). Rise times go way up but that’s the point, you get more flavour that way.
- OJFord 7y ago
  And the tl;dr is just 'mix some of the flour and water ahead of time, and leave it longer than you would've left the whole thing with yeast'. IMO 'sourdough' is hyped to such an extent that it makes it sound like it's going to be some complicated process requiring an exacting baker and a perfect recipe. It's not.
  - lostlogin 7y ago
    This is very accurate. The long and complicated books and blogs are really off putting. I’ve got my recipe almost to its minimum I think. Deleting steps as much as possible. The idea that the starter needs much care at all is crazy and I’m asked about it regularly. It can go many months without any attention at all and is just fine ~10 years in.
  - tathougies 7y ago
    Yup, sourdough is easy and fun! The easiest pet too!
tathougies 7y ago
You know you have bread yeast literally on every part of your body right? Just stick your foot in some flour, water, and sugar, and let it rise. Then, feed this starter (like sourdough), and mix in a spoonful or two with every bread recipe, and keep the starter like you would a sourdough starter.
- jopsen 7y ago
  Do I wash the foot first? :) (Sorry, I couldn't help but ask, hehe)

ChuckMcM 7y ago

I find that kind of impressive since the "baking" section is down to a single aisle at the super market these days and suddenly it's quite popular. Ideally a number of post pandemic people will continue with the baking. It is so much cheaper to make your own bread.

klipt 7y ago
> It is so much cheaper to make your own bread. Only if you don't value your time, and ignore the energy costs of running an oven. It's a good backup option in a pandemic because flour keeps longer than bread, but normally for most professionals it's much cheaper to earn the money and buy bread that's produced in bulk.
- ksdale 7y ago
  I agree with you in principle, but I would point out that our long, precarious supply chains are the exact result of most professionals earning money to outsource things. I'm sure it's still a good deal, but it's less of a good deal than it looked like before supply chains started breaking left and right.
  - klipt 7y ago
    Those supply chains will recover after this once-per-century risk is over (eg we find a vaccine). For now I'm still way better off as a professional who can work from home and order food online, than I would be as a subsistence farmer somewhere. And remember, being subsistence farmers without long supply chains didn't help the native Americans when Europeans arrived with a new plague they weren't immune to.
    - ksdale 7y ago
      I didn't say you should become a subsistence farmer. Mine is more of a general argument about the costs of specialization. And do you think the Native Americans were more or less specialized than the Europeans?
  - 7y ago

lostlogin 7y ago

Where I am it’s a packing problem, not a flour supply problem. Previously bakeries, cafes and restaurants bought big sacks every so often. That has stopped and homes are now wanting 1,2 or 5kg bags and there aren’t any. The flour is available but in the wrong bags.

tathougies 7y ago
People who are unemployed should buy wholesale flour and repackage
- lostlogin 7y ago
  That is everyone right now. New Zealand is on a complete lockdown. No travel, essential services allowed only.
greedo 7y ago
My grocery store is doing this with rice and flour. I assume they're sourcing both from restaurant suppliers selling the large bags.
taurath 7y ago
Just like toilet paper, it seems.