I bought bread molds at a flea market, and my life – and sandwiches – haven’t been the same since.
       Welcome to Buy This Thing, the kitchen and homewares column that delights Eater writers and industry experts.
        A few months ago, I was browsing an open-air flea market in Lambertville, New Jersey, looking for the perfect trinket, when I noticed two curly silver rocket ships standing upright on a table. The gentleman sitting at the table saw my bewildered expression and directly said to me: “Bread tube.” “Five bucks each.” Whether because of the mystery of the man, or because of the mystery of the pipes, I knew that I needed them. When I later found my friend, I picked up my new purchase and said, “Bread tube.”
        What is a bread tube? Not to be confused with Breadtube, a left-wing online group inspired by Peter Kropotkin’s anarcho-communist manifesto “Winning Bread”. Breadtube is just what the name suggests: the tube you use to bake your bread. Available in five decorative shapes – flower, square, heart, scallop and star – the bread stick and the bread it makes is like throwing a sandwich party: whimsical, bizarre, and if you play it right, it’s delicious. .
        The Pampered Chef, the company that made bread rolls in the late 90s, advertised them in an accompanying brochure: “Turn your regular chilled bread dough into fun and whimsical shapes for fun bread baskets, appetizers, appetizers and desserts.” My favourite things. But that’s not all: “The bread tube can be used as a slicer for slicing cheese, charcuterie or cookie dough. Match the shape of the meat and cheese with the bread you make in the tube!” This image is straight out of a nightmare. , but I quickly became fascinated with the idea of ​​fan tower toasts. $10 for something so brilliant is a steal.
        The booklet that came with the bread tube lists “chilled baguette dough” as the main ingredient for five of the five bread recipes, so (unless you have chilled baguette dough on hand) you’ll have to find a way using the tube as the main ingredient. ingredient. bake container. I have found that a simple recipe for white bread sandwiches is sufficient, as simplicity is more likely to achieve the desired result. You can also try bread with raisins or seeds – one blogger even had success with pumpkin bread – just don’t mix brownies with anything thinner. The bread tube method should be easy, most importantly.
        When the dough is ready, lightly oil the bread tube and lid, fill in the dough and close the lid. The loaves are baked upright in tubes in the oven, which helps them pop. Then you have to wait many painful hours until the bread is completely cool to remove the monstrous loaf from the tubular crust.
        When you bake a lot of bread at home, the task can sometimes seem tedious – after all, a loaf of bread has a lot of looks, and most of them depend on your skill level. (While I’m pretty sure I can braid my own hair, my loaves always look like a few obscene snakes.) But using a bread tube solves the occasional problem with regular bread baking, turning the loaf into an advanced art. The shape requires very little effort, not a high-level bread art form that requires too much effort. The resulting slices are perfect for small snacks, mini-sandwiches or as a base for snacks.
        Seeing these oddly shaped buns provide a much-needed shot of serotonin, and more importantly, bread buns stacked vertically next to each other, is a swan song for the Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album cover. I’m not saying bread sticks have changed my life, but I’m not saying they haven’t either. Although they were released over 20 years ago, there seems to be a plethora of forms available on Etsy, eBay, and Amazon – hurry up, I noticed more.
       As the two new games show, it’s not so much about learning a specific recipe, but about how you can change your lifestyle.