Took me FOUR HOURS to figure out why my bread wasn't rising

Turns out my yeast was dead from sitting in the pantry for like 8 months, lmao. I literally looked at the expiry date after staring at a flat lump of dough for an hour - has anyone else wasted a whole afternoon on something this dumb?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_charlie5d ago

The whole dead yeast thing is a classic example of how we assume things still work just because they're sitting there. In my experience, it's not just baking either. It's a bigger pattern where we trust the stuff we own way longer than we should. Batteries in the junk drawer, spices that have been in the cabinet for two years, even that half used tube of caulk in the garage. We just figure it'll be fine until we actually need it and it lets us down. Your mileage may vary but I've learned the hard way to check expiration dates on pretty much everything before I start a project. Saves a lot of staring at flat dough.

oliverbailey5d ago

You mentioned the tube of caulk and that's a perfect example. I've got a half used tube in my garage right now that I keep meaning to use but I know it's probably dried out or separated by now. @barnes.shane is smart with the sharpie idea, I started doing that after my wife tried to make a birthday cake with baking powder from 2019. The thing is, we don't just check dates on food anymore. I've learned to test everything before I need it, even things like flashlight batteries or spare light bulbs. It's funny how we hold onto stuff thinking it's still good just because it's there, when in reality most of it is just taking up space and giving us false hope.

barnes.shane5d ago

Relate to this so hard. Found a three year old box of baking soda in the back of my pantry and just assumed it would still work for cookies. They came out flat as pancakes. Now I label everything with a sharpie date when I buy it, saved my bacon more than once.