Everyday Systems

I'm reposting this from my check-in because I'd be grateful for some opinions. Everything has been going well, except for one slight wobble. I have been doing a lot of bread baking, practicing for a professional opportunity that has come my way, to bake for a small co-op. I want to taste the bread when it's done, but I end up taking a bite and spitting it out. This is my solution to not wanting to eat between meals, but it disturbs me a little because it's similar to anorexia and other obsessive food behaviors. But I really don't want to eat all that bread either.

For now I'm inclined just to keep going the way I have been. I'm not too worried as long as I don't start tasting and spitting out other foods.

Does anybody else think this is a bad development?

Yeah, I wouldn't spit out. That seems just wrong (and dangerous).

I taste when I cook. You have to. But you do also have to be careful to keep it just tasting. Take a small bite.

What I find helps keep me in line is I say to myself, "OK, now I'm tasting." It's a very conscious, limited thing. I'm mindful that it is a little dangerous and that I have to watch out.

If you don't think you can handle this, then don't taste. Your food might wind up as good, but at least you won't be priming a habit of bulimia.

Reinhard

I'd taste. You don't have to eat a whole slice to know whether or not it tastes the way you want it to taste. I don't think you can sell a product to be consumed without knowing if it tasets "right" or the way you want it to taste. After you've perfected the recipe, you may not need to taste.

I think there comes a time with many good habits that you can go overboard the other way and become almost obsessive about keeping the good habits. To me, not tasting the bread or tasting and spitting out has hit the obsessive area.

The tasters in wineries and breweries taste and spit. It's just part of the job. I wouldn't do this with the food I'm preparing for a meal, but if I were making lots and lots of bread for a job, then I wouldn't feel the need to swallow.