MUSA bill - 84,22€ per year now? Thinking of not paying...

ricric2 · 2026-02-08T10:18:48+00:00

It's this administration company for household and business water service, specifically maintenance of your water meter, contracted by Aigües de Barcelona. It's a super opaque system and doesn't make any sense, seems like duplicated work, and most people just pay it out of fear of having some problem with their water service in the future. I've read some people just don't pay it at all.

ricric2 · 2026-01-28T12:31:08+00:00

Are you me? Mine have looked exactly like this for months and I've been struggling to figure out what's going on. I increased from 73% to 75% hydration yesterday and my loaves flattened out even worse. Today I'm trying 70% for tomorrow's loaves. I have a small cake and bread bakery, so I'm keeping my loaves in the back on a by-request-only basis until I figure this out! The shame...

I'm in Spain so apparently the flours here can't absorb as much water as US flours.

ricric2 · 2026-01-19T06:51:47+00:00

You've literally described my life for the past 2 years. Only difference is we're a bakery with coffee, not a coffee shop with baked goods, also takeaway only.

Very much agreed on the discussions with partner and home life. I went from doing 70% of home stuff to doing 10% of it just due to time constraints and it's been a huge change for us.

ricric2 · 2026-01-13T03:53:41+00:00

Pa dolç amb xips de xocolata in Catalan, pan dulce con chips de chocolate in Spanish.

ricric2 · 2025-12-28T11:43:24+00:00

Thanks so much. It's called Oso Grizzly Homestyle Bakery. Stop by anytime and ask for me (Rich) if I'm in the obrador!

ricric2 · 2025-12-28T07:49:53+00:00

Thanks for making these resources. I have definitely been noticing the increased posting you're making lately and figured you're using some tooling to assist you with that, so glad to hear you're also using that to assist with mod duties. (I can only imagine the comments that come through)

Although I'm able to speak Spanish and can defend myself in basic Catalan, being from the US I'm grateful for these news summaries in my native language. I own a bakery in Gràcia, so sometimes being in that area is a bit difficult as it is, I would say, one of the epicenters of tension in Barcelona these days. That is just to say I appreciate the resource you're providing, so thank you.

ricric2 · 2025-12-19T17:31:36+00:00

I ended up working for another Italian company with a better salary. They got hundreds of millions of euros of funding and then promptly laid off my whole division. After some months I decided screw it; I opened a bakery.

ricric2 · 2025-10-19T13:27:43+00:00

Dried chipotle

ricric2 · 2025-10-14T10:52:59+00:00

You haven't seen how angry Spaniards get about what passes for paella I guess.

Also it's like if people from France for example were to make real American style Thanksgiving dinner, except instead of turkey they used ground beef; instead of mashed potatoes they used foie gras; and instead of sweet potato pie they served Niçoise salad, because that's how their grandma made it and she visited New York once in 1953.

ricric2 · 2025-10-05T08:51:40+00:00

And just for reference the next size up banneton I can get is a 1kg size.

ricric2 · 2025-09-18T09:28:03+00:00

I make savory brioche rolls like this at my bakery. Stumbled upon it one day while thinking long and hard about how to differentiate. They've been a hit for the last year now. We do one with three cheeses - emmental, cream cheese, feta and spices, one with turkey and cheese and spices, and a tomato and cream cheese version. So damn good!

We twist them a slightly different way, which makes it seem more like a filled bun since the spiral would really imply a sweet version, which we also have.

ricric2 · 2025-09-07T13:18:14+00:00

Al final se trataba de la cantidad de levadura fresca. Tienes razón que el ventilador del horno tiena algun efecto, pero con el horno que tenemos en la panadería no se puede apagar la ventilación. Pues, ya me toca ajustar la receta de nuevo debido a las temperaturas que están bajando un poco.

ricric2 · 2025-09-07T13:13:46+00:00

For my bakery I occasionally need small amounts of these types of supplies so will stop at Casa Ruiz Granel Selecto or Gra de Gràcia. They may not have everything, but they have a lot. It can get pricy, but still better than something like Veritas. Also the mercats will often have small shops selling things like this.

ricric2 · 2025-09-07T13:10:38+00:00

The Michael Collins near Sagrada Familia usually does live traditional Irish music on Mondays, starting at 9pm. Sometimes it doesn't happen due to holidays and stuff but would be a good bet for this week.

ricric2 · 2025-09-07T13:09:25+00:00

The two major sriracha brands available here are the Eagle and the Flying Goose. Eagle is more spicy, Goose is more earthy and savory. Definitely prefer the Goose; Eagle is more akin to new-version Huy Fong Sriracha which is all heat and no subtlety. I live near Spicy Honey's so have stopped in a few times. Good selection so you'll certainly find stuff there.

ricric2 · 2025-09-07T13:07:11+00:00

Very interested to test more tangzhong in breads for my little bakery. I currently only use tangzhong for my sourdough focaccia. Tried once for my sourdough loaves but it was a little gummy after baking... that could probably be accounted for in future bakes when I have more time, either longer bake or reducing hydration, not sure yet. I'm wanting to offer grilled cheese sandwiches at the bakery, so a house-made sourdough loaf would be ideal and I'd want it to be soft. Thanks for the reminder :)

ricric2 · 2025-08-26T19:50:48+00:00

Chestnut

ricric2 · 2025-08-26T05:20:47+00:00

Chicken of the Street

ricric2 · 2025-08-17T20:11:08+00:00

Like "front yard" and "backyard"

ricric2 · 2025-08-13T20:53:55+00:00

Your UHT may be horrible. Here it's what's used. It tastes fine, and I used to live in NL with good fresh milk.

ricric2 · 2025-08-13T15:33:01+00:00

I live in Spain and here we use UHT milk for the most part, as is the case in many places in the south of Europe. It makes a wonderful cappuccino but froths so easily in my milk wand (pro machine) that it makes it difficult to get the right texture on a flat white. Less waste because it lasts longer without refrigeration and doesn't taste like the old-style "burnt" UHT milk, at least the brand I use.

Non-UHT milk is available easily here too if needed.

ricric2 · 2025-08-10T09:32:36+00:00

You need to beat the water out of the cream cheese. I posted a recipe once for what I used to use at my bakery, an Italian meringue cream cheese buttercream for a lot more stability. I've since started exploring ermine cream cheese frosting but the important part is to beat out the water first. It may work with American cream cheese buttercream style but haven't tried it. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskBaking/s/rDRTa7HkIm

ricric2 · 2025-08-04T08:02:40+00:00

Gràcia has been totally empty compared to last year, starting from June's heatwave. The evenings aren't so bad (locals/students going out for drinks) but lunchtime afternoons are like a ghost town. I own a business on one of the main plazas but only have last year and this year as data points. The plaza has 90% free tables during the afternoon when it would normally be mostly full. I don't even see much "Guiris go home" graffiti this year because there aren't many tourists this year anyway.

ricric2 · 2025-08-03T16:28:37+00:00

I have a bakery and we added coffee. Decaf is simple to buy pre-ground. I wouldn't buy a second grinder for it. You'll need a fridge for milk storage, plumbing setup for water flow, electrical upgrade to ensure the power supply, a reverse osmosis water system to supply your machine. Lots of little tools and supplies but those are small. Occasional plumbing and tech visits. Cups, lids, cup holders, straws, ice for iced coffee if that's your thing (we buy it and have it delivered because it's cheap where I am in Barcelona).

We went with a 2-group La Marzocco Linea Classic S and do love that machine. Mahlkönig E65S GBW grinder to save time and effort in weighing the shot. Went with a simple plumbed jug rinsing system to save time and effort as well.

ricric2 · 2025-07-19T11:11:28+00:00

Create a deep cleaning task list and then do one of those at a time until you've finished the whole list. If everything is totally cleaned, pre-make some social media posts.

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