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My grandma's old bread recipe used to be a total fail until I changed one thing
For years, her handwritten card for 'Sunday Loaf' from 1950s Ohio made a dense, heavy brick. I followed it exactly, using modern all-purpose flour. Last month, I tried it with a specific heritage wheat flour from a local mill, like the kind she would have had. The loaf rose twice as high and had a totally different, lighter texture. It made me think, are we losing these old recipes because our ingredients changed? Has anyone else fixed a family recipe by swapping back to an older style ingredient?
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laura_ross2mo agoTop Commenter
Ever wonder if we're just baking wrong? Modern flour is basically a different product, so of course the old recipes don't work. You fixed the recipe by finally using the right stuff.
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susan_ward2mo ago
I mean, maybe it's just me but I've had the opposite happen. I tried using some old style cornmeal in my great aunt's muffin recipe and it was way more gritty and dry. Sometimes I think those old recipes were just not that good to begin with, and we remember them with a bit of nostalgia. Modern ingredients are more consistent for a reason, idk.
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