Horror Story: when I confused the windex for my shpritser
It was Tuesday morning. I was at a wedding last night until 2 am so it's no surprise that I made this mistake. I guess it could happen to anyone. I just didn't expect it to happen to me.
I woke up groggy- but with one thought going through my mind- "must. bake. bread". I've had the dough all ready to go, sitting in my fridge now for a few days. Still in my pjs, I dumped the dough out and started shaping it into one large boule. I turned on the oven and made myself some coffee.
One hour later: still kinda groggy, I slashed the loaf, and loaded it into my tiny oven. I breathed a sigh of relief that I had accomplished my morning's task. Now I could relax- "but wait! one more thing!" I thought to myself, "I have to steam the oven!" I went into the other room and grabbed my trusty spray bottle, opened the oven door, and shpritsed away like there was no tomorrow. Seconds later a sweet, familiar smell hit my nose like a punch in the face. I looked down in horror as the shock settled in.... What I was holding in my hand was WINDEX, and not water in a spray bottle. And just like that, the fate of my beautiful crusty white loaf was sealed. It was toxic. My bread was ruined. So was my morning.
Oh no! There is nothing worse than spending a lot of time prepping only to have the whole thing undone by a colossal mistake at the end. I did the exact same thing last year, but instead of Windex, I blessed my bread with a bottle of diluted Murphy's Oil Soap. Lovely.
Hasn't happened yet, but my spritz bottle and my bottle of diluted bleach are exactly the same (one blue, one red) I am always careful and check but I can see how it could easily happen.
Fortunately I avoid this problem by buying a small water sprayer from the plant section in Walmart, the other products are in larger clear bottles or the original from the store, I also don't keep them on the counter where I keep the water for baking.
But can relate to the groggy fog of an early morning!
Hope the day improved.
Glad to see I'm not alone in this folly. I, too, did the same thing a number of years ago. French Bread that took over 14 hours of rises and just ready for the oven. I make all my own cleaners and used the same generic spray bottles for both cleaners and my baking sprayer. Not too bright I know, .................never did that again........Bright Labels abound now. Live and Learn.
Just thought I'd add my two-cents worth.......misery does love company!
Better Baking Ahead...............Regards...........Lyn
I've done it too, albeit with a homemade "cleaning" solution which contained just a little bleach, dish soap, vinegar, and water.
I usually just spray the walls(and sometimes just the general oven cavity), not the breads directly.
Just once, I could realize with the first half squirt of the trigger I had the wrong bottle. Had 2 loaves in the oven. Only one may have had a faint soapy taste, lol !
I've caught myself just in time, plenty of times. Finally I moved my water bottle to a location right next to my oven. That helped.