As a general rule, I leave all baking to Desiree. There is one notable exception: dirt.
I bake the dirt.
Yesterday, I baked four batches of soil I emptied
from some old planters in which a variety of plants had grown and were either
harvested or had died off on their own, just to be annoying.
The idea behind baking the dirt is to kill off any
bugs or diseases that might persist when we plant something new in the pots. To
that end, the ideal temperature is somewhere near 180 degrees Fahrenheit for 30
minutes. Notably, soil is no different from pastries; you don’t want to burn
the product. You can actually cause harm to plants if you burn the soil due to
changes in how it holds moisture.
But let me tell you, there is nothing quite like
the smell of dirt baking in the oven. If my dirt turns out okay, I may take a
stab at cream puffs.
—Mitchell
Hegman
We have been battling spider mites a little, so for us "baking dirt" is especially helpful.
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