Jim wrote:

> Brian Mailman wrote:
>
>> Dusty Bleher wrote:
>>
>>> You can just as well use a small box (a Saki "cup" comes to
>>> mind),
>>
>> You mean the vessel that H.H. Munro drank sake from?
>
> There's a short story there somewhere. ;-)

FINALLY....
> There is no substitute for the kind of developed skill that tells you
> exactly how things should look and feel. No matter how much I
> measure, there are immeasurables in baking that I haven't mastered
> yet.

IMy point was that I was agreeing with Dusty.... it's all measuring of
one sort or another. The chef I apprenticed to looked as if he was just
throwing this and that into a stockpot but he actually knew by feel and
'cup' he made of his palm what was tablespoon, quarter cup, etc.

> ...I'll bet your grandfather could eyeball the dough and know its
> hydration too.

No doubt and he probably didn't know what hydration was particularly.
Just that the dough was right or it wasn't and how to fix it.

B/