Just saw this on news.com.au. A toilet paper hoarder wanting a refund on nearly 5000 toilet rolls because eBay refused to let him sell them. He also wanted to return over 100 bottles of hand sanitiser.
So for those thinking that eBay, or sellers, are profiteering due to toiler paper and sanitiser sales, they aren't. EBay put their foot down weeks ago.
We normally shop at IGA, who haven't had toilet paper for months, apart from the large industrial rolls. They have in the last week had truckloads of paper towel. Woolies you can get TP if you go first thing in the morning. I went to Coles today, for the first time in forever. They had no TP, but they had truckloads of paper towels and tissues. That was about 2.30pm.
I haven't hoarded toilet paper, but I currently have 3,968 rolls if anyone is short. I only want $9,834 per roll. Bargain!
I offered some of mine to all of them but they managed to find some. I also have a nice couple next door who were down to their last few rolls, offered it to them also. Yes is does cause others to buy more. I'm nearly out of paper towels now. Wait for it, I'll be whining about that soon 😂
I've not been having trouble with paper towels as I sometimes shop at the 7am time slot. I have been able to give a couple of packs away to the girls.
Normal household cleaning wipes are what I am finding hard to find. I am not talking about sanitiser, just the normal wipes.
Yeast is near impossible to find, let alone bread improver. I bought some yeast on ebay, although normally it is an item I'd just pick up at the shop.
But...I mainly breathed a sigh of relief when Aldi started getting some of its usual pasta sauces back. My husband likes only one, the gourmet calabrese/chilli variety with the red stripe on the lid. Out of 3 flavours, it is the hardest one to get in the best of times, and this isn't the best of times. I could easily make my own sauce I know, but he likes this one & it makes for an easy meal so when i see a bottle, I buy one now!
Long before the toilet paper rampage caused any problem in our household, one of our local Coles supermarkets had a delivery in the morning. (It was the 24-roll Sorben pack.)
We darted into ALDI (in the same square), and another shopper (who overheard me saying something about how ridiculous the toilet paper panic buying was) said in a stage whisper to me, "Coles just over there has some toilet paper." I thanked her and said we'd already managed to buy a roll from there but that it was so nice to see friendly community information exchange! (Or something along those lines.)
Almost everything is available again locally. We're very lucky in having... 4 x Coles, 2 x Woolworths, 2 x ALDI, 1 x IGA and 1 independent family-owned supermarket providing - among other items - goods produced locally from the Yarra Valley area... all within 10 minutes' drive. We also have local shops providing wonderful things that aren't available in supermarkets, including an excellent spice/grains/nuts/flours shop selling in bulk (as much or as little as one wants), a continental butcher (20 minutes or so away), several delicatessens (with my favourite about 18 minutes away), some very good greengrocers...
Even with that range of shops and supermarkets, it's a sign of how insidious the panic-buying was, in that for two weeks straight I saw no toilet paper for sale anywhere. (We weren't in need of it at the time; I usually buy enough toilet paper to last for 6 weeks in the household.)
FLOUR ALERT!
I rang Lighthouse, and they informed me that the Woolworths distribution centre in Mulgrave and the Coles distribution centre in Somerton would be receiving more packets of Lighthouse flour (including the one I want for pastry-making) next week. That's a heads-up for any bakers on these boards.
We only have 3 in our immediate shopping centre but there are a lot of other centres in a 10 min radius, I suppose. I haven't shopped at them lately though. I do envy you your spice/grain/flour shop.
My son & his wife shop at a wholefood place in Berwick, where you can (or once could) take containers. I was interested in checking that out but didn't get around to it before the virus hit.
We are down to 133 active cases in Vic though so I think better times may be ahead if we put up with the isolation just a little longer (and close borders with NSW).
There was no toilet paper in our supermarkets yesterday, or at least not at the time I dashed up there. I am at a loss as to where it could possibly all be going. I wasn't needing to buy any but just intrigued as it doesn't seem to have been on any shelves at all the last few Saturdays. Who could possibly be buying and buying, you'd think the hoarders would have their supplies for the next 12 months sorted by now.
I also noticed Coles and Aldi had removed the taped lines and barriers for queueing and didn't seem to be counting people in and out. Hope they haven't relaxed things too early!
I picked up a 5.5kg pack of baker's flour last week! Now I just have to do some baking.
Countess, you're the cooking guru. Have you made a lot of sour dough and if so, what starter would you recommend?
Countess, you're the cooking guru. (No guru, but enthusiastic, yes!)
Have you made a lot of sour dough and if so, what starter would you recommend?
I have made sourdough using seedless green grapes. The main trick is to stop other people from finding it in the refrigerator when you're not making loaves every week or so. I've had two lots mysteriously vanish and I darkly suspect that someone encountered the starter in the fridge, thought it was something "ughy", and threw it away. I now have a special container for it, and have labelled it exceptionally clearly.
Preparation time: overnight Cooking time: no cooking required Serves: Makes 1 quantity of starter
Ingredients
5-7 seedless organic green grapes
250g/9oz strong white flour
250ml/9fl oz tepid water
For feeding
100g/3½oz strong white flour
100ml/3½fl oz tepid water
Method
Slice the grapes and combine with the flour and the water.
Tip the dough into an airtight container. Cover and leave to rise for three days at room temperature. (Make absolutely sure that the container IS airtight. Ideally use a Bormioli Rocco Fido container or a Kilner container.)
After three days, discard half of the mixture and 'feed' the remainder with another 100g/3½oz of flour and 100ml/3fl oz of water. Stir well until the mixture is thoroughly combined.
Leave for at least 24 hours and the starter should be ready to use. It should be like a bubbly jelly in texture. If it is not yet bubbling and active, feed it once more and leave it for another couple of days.
If you are using the starter regularly, say every week, you need to discard half and re-feed it every couple of days. Also, feed the starter after you make each loaf of bread. The starter should be stored at room temperature (except on very hot days) and should be a like a thick batter.
If you are only making bread once a month you can keep it in the fridge but return it to room temperature before using. Keeping it in the fridge will slow down the activity but not stop it. If the starter seems to be inactive, give it another feed. Remember it is a live mixture of yeast and bacteria and it needs to be fed.
I had originally planned to make my starter with an apple, but I remember going around in circles trying to find a Cox apple (which Paul Hollywood recommends) and not actually being able to source one at the time. I think that the Jazz apple variety would be a gorgeous apple to use as a starter, though. They are a little pricey ($5.90 for 1 kg at either Woolworths or Coles) but there is nothing to beat the sensation of eating a truly delicious apple... I think I've talked myself into buying a kilo of Jazz apples and making some more sourdough starter while munching on the rest of the apples!
Paul Hollywood says: It is important to have an organic apple, free of chemicals, for this, or the starter may not ferment. I like to use a Cox, but any organic apple will do.
Ingredients
1kg strong white bread flour
1 organic apple, grated, with skin, avoiding the core
360ml tepid water
Method
Stage 1. Mix 500g of the flour with the apple and water. Tip this into an airtight container and mark the level on the outside of the container (so you can see whether the mix has risen). Cover and leave to ferment for 3 days.
Stage 2. After 3 days the mix should start to smell quite sweet, a bit like cider. It will be a little darker in colour and will have started to grow; it may also have some bubbles. Check the level against the mark you made on the outside to see how much it has grown. Discard half the mix and add another 250g bread flour and 170ml water – this is called ‘feeding’. Mix thoroughly in the bowl. Tip back into the container and leave for a further 2 days.
Stage 3. There should now be plenty of activity in the dough, indicated by lots of small bubbles. If there is nothing happening, look at the side of the container – you’ll be able to see whether the dough has risen and fallen by the smearing on the side. If it has risen and fallen, then it is active. If your starter is active but has sunk down in the tub and a layer of liquid has formed on top, then it is actually over-active. Stir in some more flour to return it to a thick consistency and leave for a day. It should regain the thick, bubbly texture you want. If there is no sign of rising on the container, and no bubbles, leave the dough for a couple more days.
Once your starter is active, discard half of it, as before, and mix in another 250g bread flour and enough water to return it to the consistency of a very wet, sloppy dough. This time leave it for 24 hours. If the starter begins to bubble within this time, then it is ready to use. Ideally, when you come to use it, you want to starter to be thick and bubbly. If you shake it, it should wobble like a jelly, without dropping down. When you put a spoon through it, it should be like a thick batter. If your starter is not bubbling, feed it again, following stage two, and leave it for a further 2 days.
If you are using your starter often, you can leave it at room temperature, feeding it at least every 3 days and whenever you take some to make bread. Simply stir in some strong white bread flour and enough water to return it to the consistency of a very wet dough, bearing in mind that you will need 500g starter for each recipe. Then leave it, covered, until it achieves that thick, bubbly, jelly-like stage. If you are making sourdough less often – say, once a month – then keep the starter, covered, in the fridge. This will slow down the activity and preserve it almost indefinitely, but you must let it come back to room temperature before use. If it seems to be inactive, give it a feed of fresh flour – the bacteria within it are living so they need feeding.
You probably already know about the (very lengthy) proving time...? The first proving takes about 5 hours, and the second proving at least another 5 hours (up to 8 hours).
It's definitely worth it, though.
I have a bread machine to do the actual kneading, and then I remove it from that tin to put into my large red Emile Henry dish and cover that with a wet towel. Every two hours or so, I dampen the towel again to prevent it from drying out.
Instead of using the damp towel method, it might be worth trying out putting a ramekin of hot water into a cold oven into which you place the dough to rise. (Less washing up of doughy towels!) Another alternative is to use beeswax cloth. (And if cling film doesn't fill you with horror, you can always use GladWrap. It does fill me with horror, so I avoid it.)
For the second proving, I put the dough into a proving basket that is the same size and shape as the cloche or loaf baker that I plan to use for the bread. Again, I tend to use a wet towel to cover it.
The same dude was just at my local Drakes recording a new bit - didn't hear too much of what he was saying as I walked past (just wanted milk), something about working from home and conditioner, I think.
I was poking through my hoard in the shed looking for something a couple of days ago and struck gold. An unopened 1 litre container of HAND SANITISER, that came in a box of stuff from a garage sale. HAPPY DANCE TIME !!!
As for toilet paper I travel around a fair bit with work and have managed to find the odd pack here and there. I also had my name on a list at the local IGA and they eventualloy came through with a large pack ( after 3 weeks wait ), so now I have more than I need for awhile. Hopefully by the time that all runs out it will be back on the supermarket shelves.
I don't know much about making sourdough at all. I have made ordinary bread and hot cross buns and that sort of thing, but a gourmet cook I am not.
I often feel a bit inadequate when i watch Masterchef and such on TV, I've never done half the things they do.
I actually looked at buying a sourdough starter on ebay but they mostly seem to have to come from Canada and USA and I found it bewildering, all the different types. Never thought of starting my own.
I knew these loaves take time, but then again, I just happen to have some time at the moment.
PS Re toilet rolls, I feel secure as long as we have one unopened pack in the laundry as spare, waiting. Once that goes into use, I start looking for another pack.
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