Failed Baking Moments

[TheViper]

We all had them in our baking journey. Most of us had it when we was just starting out and now are experts. While some of us still fail from time to time when baking.

One of my recent failed baking moments was when I was making banana bread. I put the banana bread in the oven and set the timer. I then went into the living to watch the last 15 minutes of this tv show. When it was over I went to check on the bread and it didn't look done at all. So, I went and watched another show that came on. Went to check on the bread again 20 minutes later and it still looked like it was when I put it in. I started to think my oven was broken or something and started to get frustrated. Then I looked at my oven setting and noticed that I never turned it on.

What were some "failed" baking moments you experienced?

 

[RenegadeOfFunk]

I have to say my most memorable fail at baking was when I was living in Germany and we decided to cook a big traditional Thanksgiving meal for most of the town we lived in. We rented an apartment on a farm and there was a HUGE table in the tack room, so they set up a donation box and we had a buffet, all cooked by yours truly.

I was baking 4 pumpkin pies and I had everything ready to go into the oven. I spent all day preparing the food and just as I was putting the pies into the oven, I slipped and spilled two of the pies all over the floor. I sat in the middle of them crying my eyes out for about 15 minutes before I could pick myself up and put the remaining two pies in the oven. It was such a heartbreaking moment for me because I love food so much. hahaha

Now that I look back in it, it was silly of me to get so emotional over the pies. Kindof a funny memory though.

 

[Christine Mlinek]

I have to say my most memorable fail at baking was when I was living in Germany and we decided to cook a big traditional Thanksgiving meal for most of the town we lived in. We rented an apartment on a farm and there was a HUGE table in the tack room, so they set up a donation box and we had a buffet, all cooked by yours truly.

I was baking 4 pumpkin pies and I had everything ready to go into the oven. I spent all day preparing the food and just as I was putting the pies into the oven, I slipped and spilled two of the pies all over the floor. I sat in the middle of them crying my eyes out for about 15 minutes before I could pick myself up and put the remaining two pies in the oven. It was such a heartbreaking moment for me because I love food so much. hahaha

Now that I look back in it, it was silly of me to get so emotional over the pies. Kindof a funny memory though.

OH you poor thing!! you worked very hard at it and was loaded with stress and being tired, I can only imagine just sitting there feeling defeated...... Glad you can laugh now! LOL

I think my biggest failure was trying to smoke a turkey out on the BBQ one year for Tgiving. Only to find out after 6 hrs it was still not done (smoking a turkey takes A LONG time) we finished it up in the oven, and the house smelled like hickory smoke for days...... awful!

 

[Josie]

I don't think I've had any actual baking fails.. that I can remember anyway. But each and every time I bake, I beg the baking gods to allow me one day of baking without getting flour on every surface and object within a hundred metres of me lol. I've been baking my entire life and still.. where there's flour, I'll make it snow.

 

[charahome]

My greatest fail was learning to make biscuits. It became such an event that 25 years later, my kids still talk about it.

I tried and failed at a recipe for (sad to admit) over 3 months. No matter what I did, they never raised. the end product was a very hard biscuit that my kids would use as weapons to throw at each other.

I had a friend come over, and walk me through the recipe. I was missing the baking powder, that whole time. URGG>>

 

[OhioTom76]

I had the exact opposite problem. Some moron in our household must have bumped some of the buttons on our oven in a certain way which caused it to switch from Fahrenheit to Celsius, and when we were setting the oven temperature we were obviously setting it way too high as a result. In addition to ruining the stuff we had been baking, it caused the glass door on our oven to shatter from the prolonged exposure to the extreme heat.

 

[charahome]

I had the exact opposite problem. Some moron in our household must have bumped some of the buttons on our oven in a certain way which caused it to switch from Fahrenheit to Celsius, and when we were setting the oven temperature we were obviously setting it way too high as a result. In addition to ruining the stuff we had been baking, it caused the glass door on our oven to shatter from the prolonged exposure to the extreme heat.

Ok, so Frisbee biscuits is not a s bad as a shattered oven. That must have been a very scary moment. I cant even imagine such an experience.

 

[rainbou]

I've never seen an oven that can switch from Fahrenheit to Celsius. That's crazy! Did you happen to live with roommates at that time? I've had a similar experience, but I'm sure it didn't cost as much to fix as your problem did!

My roommate thought it would be a good idea to put his clear glass plates in our oven for storage while we did a bug bomb. He forgot to take them out. Needless to say, that didn't end well...

 

[Shortbread92]

My most failed baking moment so far has been presenting a failed bundt cake. I made the cake mix and cooked it in the pan. Everything was going well until I had to take it out the pan. Evidently I didn't grease the pan enough because the cake tore into two separate pieces. I had to try and mask it over with icing but it was painfully obvious what happened. How embarrassing.

 

[monkeyboots]

Such sad tales!
The first apple pie I made for my husband got a tablespoon of cayenne instead of cinnamon!
Luckily I could smell that something was amiss while it was baking so nobody had to suffer a bite.

 

[ACSAPA]

I once forgot the yeast when I was making dinner rolls and ended up with hard, flat hockey pucks.

 

[Trellum]

When I tried to make cookies for the first time, my first ones were so hard and didn't taste good, lol. I burnt some, then the second time I used too much butter, so I ended up with a tin covered of cookie dough. Fortunately the dog ate some, but not all So sadly everyone saw my mess

 

[SweetToothOutlaws]

I think the one fail that I had was having to learn the hard lesson that my oven cooks faster then my other oven did, and when we first got the oven I would bake the item for the length of time on the recipe and my item would be burnt. I almost gave up on baking after telling myself this is not what I'm supposed to do, even though I love to bake. So now I mostly cut the bake time in half, if it isn't done then watch it with a close eye to keep and check for doneness every so often.

 

[Shimus]

I once forgot the yeast when I was making dinner rolls and ended up with hard, flat hockey pucks.

This. I always typically use too much or not enough and one time my good lord I could have played hockey or tennis with my rolls. Not what I expected. Also, cookies. I've failed and they've stick and blackened before because I didn't have the necessary tin or and/or lubricant to make sure they didn't stick - and I even hovered over them and watched.

 

[Winterybella]

When I tried to make cookies for the first time, my first ones were so hard and didn't taste good, lol. I burnt some, then the second time I used too much butter, so I ended up with a tin covered of cookie dough. Fortunately the dog ate some, but not all So sadly everyone saw my mess

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I came checking to see if I should be posting in this section but it appears I have not been doing so badly. I think the things that have been happening to me are minor. Hence I am now encouraged to press on. It makes me feel good to know that the pros had some major foul ups.

 

[Shimus]

Everyone has failures, nobody can predict life entirely - the oven might blow up, the insides may catch fire, there could be any numerous freak accidents to worry about - but most of the time, failures or messups are the result of improperly reading and interpreting the recipe into your own work. I've experienced this a couple times now, situations beyond our control (our turkey last thanksgiving decided to take a flamebroiled approach)

 

[Winterybella]

Shimus, now you are scaring me. Sounds like a movie with all those "explosives". I don't hope to have that experience any time soon or rather at all. Where the baking is concerned I like to stick around and see what's happening. I find forum postings can run you into some accidents in the kitchen. It has not happened with my baking since I am extra careful, but with my cooking I have had some "burnt offerings" once or twice.

 

[Trellum]

Lol, I'm scared too, winterybella! What Shimus said is scary, but yeah, it could happen. Actually the last time I baked a pie I was thinking.... ''ummm... what if....??''. I've had thought on that in the back of my head, after all it takes is a faulty oven or valve or whatever! Sometimes I do think of that! I rather not to tho

 

[Trellum]

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I came checking to see if I should be posting in this section but it appears I have not been doing so badly. I think the things that have been happening to me are minor. Hence I am now encouraged to press on. It makes me feel good to know that the pros had some major foul ups.

I'm not such a pro yet But I got quite a bit experience, you will too if you continue baking so often =D What matters most is making mistakes, because we learn so much from them. Actually I have learnt more from my baking and cooking mistakes than from any book, so whenever you make a mistake baking... tell yourself: ''well, at least I'm getting closer to get it right the next time'', and you will see that you will get it right next time =D

 

[Shimus]

We have experience, but it's not like we're making an episode of "The Top Chef" anytime soon. We're novices in certain aspects; seasoned cooks in others. It's nice to see the world of cooking collide and bring so many different types of people from different walks of life together looking for the perfect recipe. Ahh cooking, a good middle ground.

I keep watching Food Network shows and adjusting recipes I see there too.

I failed a nice stir-fry this guy made with beans and cheeses for the garnishment. Looked nice for an outdoor cookout but I went a bit too long again in my easy bake oven. This was last summer? I think. I just am suited to cooking more on the top of the stove sometimes then inside it haha.