S14.E03: Bread Week

[Souris]

Add me to the chorus that it seemed like the wrong person went home. I thought it was going to be Rowan.

Tasha did so well! Paul really sounded impressed. And I loved Josh's lion.

Allison is SUCH an improvement over Matt. She is just fun.

I really, really want a Devonshire slice. 

Noel's penguin jumper was cute.

Edited October 17, 2023 by Souris

[magdalene]

I am not happy with who went home. It should have been Rowan or Dan.

Allison is a great co-host and there is genuine joy  in Noel again.

[Danny Franks]

The challenges were all fairly basic again this week, which I'm happy with. Just bake some nice bread and do a bit of design work. And the majority of the flavours seemed like thinks I'd really like to eat.

Lots of garlic and rosemary, which is always good. Oh, and Tasha's pastrami and cheese bread sounded fantastic.

The tiger bread looked pretty great, and definitely wouldn't be out of place alongside that lion bread from years ago.

I feel like Dan probably should have gone, given his unbaked showstopper. Abbi going was a bit of a surprise. Maybe the balance of all three bakes was just in his favour, but everyone knows the showstopper is the big decider.

Tasha star baker again seemed very fair. Paul saying she "understands bread" is definitely one of the biggest compliments he can give. It's hard to disagree with that too, based on her bakes.

She also deserves plaudits for having eyes even more strikingly blue than old blue eyes Hollywood himself.

Allison is meshing really well with everyone, and seems to have quickly figured out what Noel did - she's there to be gently funny and to relax the bakers rather than stress them out more. This might sound strange, but I think the fact she's a straight woman has added a new energy that the show needed. She reminds me of Mel, but funnier.

 

[HurricaneVal]

Bread week is always my favorite week in this competition.   Other than the chronic under proofing in the technical challenge, I think this was a great week.  Except for the under-baking and under-proving issues--which are fixable for the next time the recipe gets done--I think I would have happily eaten any or all of the bakes they made.  Each time a baker described their flavor combinations I would go "Mmmm...that sounds good!" 

Despite him being absent in the cold open skit, this week took the Paul-pandering to a higher level.  Yes, he's a terrific bread baker.  Yes, he learned how to bake bread as a young child working in the family bakery under exacting standards.  I appreciate that perspective he brings.   I understand that the Paul worship in each episode is a lot of cheeky British dry humor that is really poking fun at him, but there are a lot of people in this world who take things quite literally who probably believe he's the Beatles of baking.

[Shrek]

Am I the only one who likes a not flavored crusty loaf that tastes like bread? I've tried a few flavored breads & just don't like the taste of anything but bread with my bread & butter.

[Pallida]

3 hours ago, Shrek said:

Am I the only one who likes a not flavored crusty loaf that tastes like bread? I've tried a few flavored breads & just don't like the taste of anything but bread with my bread & butter.

Are you my mom? 🙂 I showed her a picture of the sourdough bread I picked up from the farmers market and she asked where the butter was on the slices. 

I like dipping bread in saucy foods (including salad dressing), so I also don't need my bread to have added flavor, but I also don't need butter because of that. 

[meep.meep]

On 10/24/2023 at 10:17 AM, Shrek said:

Am I the only one who likes a not flavored crusty loaf that tastes like bread? I've tried a few flavored breads & just don't like the taste of anything but bread with my bread & butter.

Me!  Watching the episode, I said something to my daughter about not needing all that stuff they were adding.  I don't need curry, or rosemary, or raisins in my bread.  If you're wanting to change the flavor, why not use a different type of flour?  Nobody said they couldn't make rye bread.

[ombre]

I'll agree with everybody else who's saying how lovely this season is. Allison seems a great addition.  Genuine and a really generous performer. 

I think abbi leaving so early is one of my biggest disappointments in all of this show. (I mean, other than the whole past season, obviously).  I've been having so much fun seeing what ingredients she came up with and am really bummed that we don't get to see what she'd do in the next weeks. 

[dleighg]

On 10/14/2023 at 1:42 PM, kittykat said:

In my experience it takes at least 30 min to fully cool rolls even with fridge help.

I'm a very amateur bread baker (and don't do it with time limits) but I wondered why they were all fanning their rolls like crazy people. Would a few minutes in the fridge have been a bad idea?

[Rickster]

On 10/27/2023 at 3:22 PM, dleighg said:

I'm a very amateur bread baker (and don't do it with time limits) but I wondered why they were all fanning their rolls like crazy people. Would a few minutes in the fridge have been a bad idea?

I’m also a very amateur and only occasional bread baker, but I’m thinking the cold refrigerator temperature would cause the steam in the hot bread to condense and make it soggy, vs. evaporating at room temperature.

[Jordan Baker]

I'm late to this episode. I'm also seriously disappointed. Abbi was one of my favorites from the beginning, and I was sad to see her go. More than that, I don't think she deserved to go.