It's a Q&A day! (about bread schtuff and used pianos)
Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you'd like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!
I would like to buy (after saving up for) a used piano for my children. I was wondering if you could do a blog post on what you would look for when buying one. I really enjoy your blog.
-Jenny
This is a great question! I'm not an expert in the field, but the Piano Technicians Guild has a really good and helpful article about buying a piano, though, and it covers new and used.
A few of my own thoughts:
In general, pianos get less and less valuable as they age, unlike, say, a violin, which becomes more and more valuable with age. So, I would shy away from anything that's really old. Also, spinet pianos have shorter strings than other uprights, and as a rule, they don't sound very good. If you can get a taller model, I would!
And you'll want to look for a piano that's been regularly tuned. If tuning has been neglected for too long, even a skilled tuner may not be able to bring it back to pitch.
The very best way to decide if a piano is in good shape is to have an experienced person look at it. If your children have a piano teacher, you could ask if the teacher might be willing to come inspect a piano that you're looking at.
Another option is to see if you can hire a registered piano technician to come look at it. That would be sort of like bringing your mechanic along before you buy a used car...sometimes damage to a piano (like a cracked soundboard, which basically totals the piano) isn't obvious to an untrained ear or eye.
I have a couple of bread questions for you:
1. How do you store your sandwich bread once it has cooled? Do you put it in the fridge? Leave it on the counter? How long would you say it should last seeing as though there are no preservatives in it?
2. I had read in one of your posts many years ago that you buy your yeast in bulk (I think it was from Costco). Is that still the case? If so, would you share what the package looks like? Is it in a spice-type container? Is it with their baking ingredients? I want to be prepared for our next shopping trip there.
-Erica
When my sandwich bread is cool, I store it in plastic bags. I occasionally buy loaves of bread from the store, and I always save those bags to store my own bread. I just shake out the crumbs between uses (no need to wash!), and I find that these bags last for a long time.
I never store my bread in the fridge, because cold temperatures encourage starch retrogradation, which means the bread will dry out much faster.
I usually make three loaves at a time and I freeze two and keep one out for eating right away (although of late, my kids can polish off an entire loaf of fresh bread at lunchtime, which means we eat one, keep one out for the next few lunches, and freeze one.)
Because there are six of us here, we generally do not have a problem using bread before it gets moldy. If you can't eat your loaf fast enough, though, I'd recommend slicing it and then freezing it. That way you can take out as many slices as you need without having to thaw the whole loaf.
How long bread lasts will vary depending on the temperature and humidity levels of your home and also on what type of bread you've made. Bread with more fat, sugar, or dairy will keep longer than something like French bread, which is basically just water, yeast, flour, and salt. Also, potato bread stays fresh and soft longer than almost any other bread.
The super-duper cheap yeast I buy at Costco (love!) comes in a little vacuum-sealed white package (Here's a photo of exactly what I buy- a 2 pound bag of Red Star Active Dry Yeast
. ) You can usually find it in the baking aisle, somewhere near the spices.
I store mine in the freezer in a screw-top plastic Rubbermaid container so that it's easily accessible.
Readers: If you use a lot of yeast and aren't buying your yeast in bulk, you are crazy! (and I mean that in the nicest way possible. ;)) Even if you don't have a warehouse club membership, you can buy a 2 pound bag of Red Star Active Dry Yeast (just like they sell at Costco) from Amazon for $10.99. That's more than the $5 you'd pay at a warehouse club, but SO much less than what a grocery store charges.)
As always, feel free to add your advice to mine in the comments!
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Joshua's 365 post: Christmas Light Lines
Great insight (as usual), Kristen! I play and teach piano as well, so appreciated your response - and the article link that I will have to share with some of my families who are looking at pianos. I was fortunate to get a used piano last year, but I have a friend who's learned to tune pianos so he looked at it and tuned it first to ensure it was in good condition. It's so nice to have a piano at home now!
On the piano subject, you should also be sure the piano has been kept in a non-smoking environment. I bought one last year that was temporarily housed in a smoker's house while the owner sold her home. The smell is nearly impossible to get rid of. I've gotten rid of most of it, but I shed some tears along the way, thinking I had made a big mistake!
Oh, that's a good point. It's tough to get smoke smell out of things if you can't wash them or paint them!
I'll have to keep those things in mind regarding the piano - I would eventually like our daughter (almost 5 years old) to learn to play the piano. I do believe it is several years off though.
As for the yeast - I bought a Sam's Club package several years ago and I still have yeast in my freezer! I'm on the second package now. We got a good deal on a membership at Sam's and it will be up in March. I am going to have to remember to buy yeast again before our membership lapses (as a family of 3 we do use our membership but not to its fullest, so I don't think we'll renew).
Yeast is so insanely cheap at BJ's that I told my wife to stop clipping coupons for the packets. I know she means well but dang are those little things expensive!
Oh yeah...unless you get them for free, the bulk stuff is always cheaper.
For those midwesterners who use a lot of yeast, but don't have a membership to a Sam's or Costco we found yeast at GFS to be very inexpensive. The cost is higher than Costco, but only by a dollar or two. It has been a few months since I bought it so I don't remember the exact price.
GFS! How I miss that store...
I buy yeast in the same sort of vacuum sealed package, at a cash and carry restaurant supply (the place is called United Cash and Carry and it's a chain, it's like Smart and Final). Once opened, I pour some of it into a small jar, and keep the rest in a large ziploc bag, tightly sealed and in the fridge. It keeps many months, this way, after opened. I've never had a bag lose its potency.
I bake 5 loaves of whole wheat at a time, and we freeze half the batch, so that I only have to bake sandwich bread every other week.
I also buy bulk yeast at GFS. I don't have a warehouse club membership, as it's not a good economic choice for me. But GFS is almost the same price, and I don't have to buy a membership.
I have a friend who got a quite satisfactory piano for her children from Freecycle a while back. It may not be concert-pianist quality, but it worked out quite well for her children to learn on.
Strings and Pianos! What a great post!
Coming from the wife of a professional pianist. . . . Keeping a piano or a stringed instrument (cello, viola, violin, guitar) in a consistant temperature is crucial for staying in tune. You will pay a lot less on repeated piano tuning if you keep it on an inside wall and keep the house temperature relatively consistent. (Stringed instruments should never be left out in the car or the instrument can crack or the strings will snap.)
Thanks for encouraging families in pursuing instrument purchase . . .
Everyday when I am reading your blog from my iphone, it all of a sudden takes me to the App Store to purchase candy crush. Does anyone else have this problem? It only started in the past week or so I believe. I'm not sure if I am clicking on an ad (if I am, it's not visible).
Oh, drat! I can't believe that's still happening, and I am so sorry. Can you send me a screen shot of what is happening so that I can get it taken care of?
I make our bread too and currently I am using your recipe (though I use left over water from boiling potatoes) and it does help the bread last longer though my house isn't as humid either since it is winter and the heat is on.
I bought a bread box on Ebay (amazon was out at the time) it is a "Progressive Bread Box" I think. I was having a HORRIBLE time using the bread before it would mold we aren't huge bread eaters, and that is cutting the loaf in half to use at a time. The box helps a lot by controlling how much moisture gets into the box with the little adjustable vents. I also use the 2.5 gallon ziploc bags (they are fairly new) in the freezer because my loaves were just barely too big for a gallon size and I refuse to buy a loaf of bread just for the bag. I haven't bought sandwich bread in over 3 years and I don't plan to start again anytime soon. Yesterday I made the fluffiest hamburger rolls EVER and I'm so proud of my self. Just had to share because I had the problem of them being too flat and then I had read about adding enough flour. I was always leery of adding too much so I always tried not too add too much which might be ok in structured loaves but not free form. Even in this particular recipe she cautions against it but I went with my gut this time and it worked out beautifully!
I buy regular old plastic bags with twist ties for my homemade loaves. They are oblong and the perfect size, and are cheap. They come 75 to a box usually, and I've bought them at both Walmart and Kroger.
My husband and I move a lot, so when we looked at pianos, we decided on a digital piano--not to be confused with an electric keyboard. At a sale, we were able to get a Roland HP-307 that has the feel of a real piano in the keys, and the sound it produces is stunning. We've been really impressed with it, and I'd say it's much better for practicing and performing than the upright I had growing up. Bonuses: It only weights 175lbs, and we never have to get it tuned.
We had a music teacher recommend this to us when we were looking and we have been so pleased! 175 pounds is heavy though, as I realized when my hubby and I moved it in 🙂
I second this! We purchased a Yamaha Clavinova and my MIL piano teacher was incredibly impressed. We started looking at them because our School District has been purchasing Clavinovas instead of traditional pianos. Our new one, on a great sale, was around $2,000 but I see them on Craigslist and in the classifieds for less. As a first time piano buyer, I was shocked at how expensive pianos were...our $2k budget didn't go very far. We had a very short window to buy in...if I had to do it over I would've started looking a year or so before my kiddos started lessons so that I could've waited for a used one.
Besides having the full blessing and approval of my MIL and our piano teacher on all the "real" piano features, we have great sound, weighted keys (essential!!!), the small footprint of an upright, the sounds of many different instruments (which encourages practicing at my house. Hey, guitar and choir can be a fun option!), a thumb drive, no tuning, light enough to move around and HEADPHONES!
We are two years into owning it and really love this as a choice.
We also bought a Clavinova and love it! Two of my children are taking piano lessons and their teacher at Rollins College loves the Yamaha digital pianos. The keys feel like real piano keys, including the ability to change the tension in the keys. We can adjust the volume as needed. It is so easy to move. No need to tune it. Only issue we have ever had is making sure it get unplugged. We live in Orlando, which is the lightning capitol of the world, so we are cautious with expensive electrical appliances in our house.
Another piano teacher here: as much as I adore the sound and feel of a good quality, well-maintained piano, the fact is that I jump for joy when people tell me they've bought their kids a Clavinova. Korg is another manufacturer who made a very fine digital piano--it's been years since I went looking for one, but I'd be shocked if there weren't still some excellent Korgs to be had. Your children will benefit so much more from a good quality digital piano than they would from an old, broken down "real" piano. I practiced on a Clavinova myself until my parents gave me a baby grand when I was in my teens. I also highly recommend digital pianos to small church music programs because the instrument won't suffer with the fluctuating temperature as it sits in a building that is empty through the week. You're also more likely to find a good quality digital piano on Craigslist, etc. than an actual piano precisely because of the maintenance issue.
I make all of our bread as well but we can never go through a loaf before it is stale if I leave it out. I usually make 2 loaves at a time and slice both once cooled. Then I put 2 slices in a baggie and put all the baggies in an old bread bag and stick them in the freezer. I reuse the baggies until they fall apart (although I've also separated the slices with wax paper or parchment paper). Then when I make a sandwich, I can just take out a baggie (with 2 slices), I wrap it in a damp cloth napkin and microwave for 20 seconds. Then I flip the slices, wrap it back up, and microwave for another 10-15 seconds. After that they are ready for sandwiches. The slices are perfectly moist, as if I just took it out of the oven and I never have to worry about mold or spoilage. Separating the slices with baggies makes it easy to grab out of the freezer without all of them sticking together.
I have a piano I haven't had tuned in forever...gosh almost 20 yrs. one of those things I intended to do(learn to play) but didn't work out and piano sat..I moved and was planning to move within a couple of years after that so din't have it tuned- tried to get it tuned in 2003 and was told then that it would probably need at least 3 tunings due to not being tuned...person who wanted it tuned wouldn't manage to be home for the tuning so it never got tuned..I have debated giving it to someone but don't want to if it's just gonna cost them a bunch of tunings and moving fee and never be able to have the right pitch...
one of these days I'm gonna try my hand at homemade bread...never was successful with yeast my 3-4 attempts over the years but maybe this time it'll take for me!
We store our bread basically the same way. 🙂
Although we don't have a Costco membership, we have a friend who is willing to pick up a few items for us. The other thing I'd recommend buying at Costco (or online, or another warehouse-type store) is vanilla. A quart-size bottle of real vanilla costs a fraction of what it does if you were to buy those tiny little bottles they sell at grocery stores. We make a lot of muffins, and I add vanilla because it makes them taste more sweet without adding additional sugar. I also add it to smoothies, and we use it in hot cocoa, chocolate-peanut butter breakfast bars, granola, etc. So worth buying in the big bottle!
At my Costco, the vanilla is 6.99 for 16 ounces. I was a huge fan until I started adding vanilla to DH's daily oatmeal. I finally switched to making my own. It's not really less expensive, but it's easy, tastes good and lasts a lot longer than the smaller bottles. It generates far less plastic waste, and I don't worry as much about running out. I buy a 1.75L glass bottle of Kirkland Vodka (around $17, IIRC) and a two pack of vanilla beans for about $11. The vodka is always stocked, but the beans seem to be seasonal, so grab them when you see them. The longer you can soak the beans, the better your vanilla will taste. Re-using the beans from batch to batch helps to moderate the cost a little bit. It takes about three months to "cure", so I try to have one finished bottle (which I pour into my old, but clean 16-oz. bottles) and another one "cooking" in the dark recesses of my pantry. You know, kind of like where Kristen's V-8 was hiding.
Update: today at Costco, I noticed that the Kirkland 1.75L Vodka is actually $13.99. Red Star Yeast is $4.49 for 32 oz.
I am excited to try your potato bread recipe!
I have a tip for those that are wanting to buy their yeast in bulk. I live in NJ and we have BJ's and Sam's club no Costco at least where I live. I buy our yeast at BJ's and they offer a one day pass if you are not a member and from time to time also a 60 day membership. This can be a good way to stock up on things like yeast and other bulk items if you do not want to pay for a full membership.
I had no idea yeast was so much cheaper buying at Amazon - woah! Thanks for the tip 🙂
Thanks for the bread tips! Is your sandwich bread recipe on your site?
Yep! Here's white sandwich bread: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2009/07/wednesday-baking-sandwich-bread/
And here's whole wheat sandwich bread: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2009/03/wednesday-baking-whole-wheat-bread/
Thanks!
I love Red Star Yeast. Also SAF red packet yeast. I can't find the SAF here in Florida, but my dad routinely drives down from Pittsburgh and can purchase it locally. Also you can buy it from EmergencyPreparedness for $3.99 a pound. Or even from King Arthur Flour. I will never buy packet yeast again.
I make Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. SOoooo easy.
I said Red packet, meant red pouch - it's a 1 pound container.
Can you share with us the items you get from Costco?I bake all of our bread, there's just 2 of us, we dropped Costco a while back. I tended to buy stuff I did not need but I'd sure love to have that yeast!! What items make Costco a worthwhile investment for your family (which I realize is bigger than mine..) Thanks!
You know, I was just thinking yesterday that I should do that. I've added it to my to-post list. 🙂
Nice tip for the yeast. I will check it out at Sams.
Gordon Food Service (GFS Marketplace) sells the same bag of yeast, if you have them in your area, and they don't require any membership to shop there. Some other things that are a great deal there are grated cheese, spices, parchment paper (I cut the whole stack in half along the fold to fit my pans), and I find great buys in their clearance section.
What type of bread would you recommend for someone who is baking bread for the first time? I've made a few different pizza doughs but nothing with a sponge. However, I am ready to make the leap. It helps that my three year old wants to make it with me - although there is a good chance she will get distracted.
Also do I need a special bread pan or will a Corning ware loaf pan do? (If a special pan, which do you recommend?)
For your first foray, I'd highly recommend this French bread: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2009/03/wednesday-baking-cheap-cheap-breadfrench-bread/
It's about as fail-proof as you can get, and it just requires a baking sheet!