So, the other day, I had this whole bread mold pan situation. Not fun, let me tell you.
I’d baked a loaf, a pretty decent one actually, and left a couple of slices in the pan. Covered it, thought I’d get to it the next day. Well, “next day” turned into like, three or four days later. Big mistake.
I went to grab the pan, maybe for another baking adventure, and when I lifted the cover… yikes. Just yikes. Fuzzy green and white spots, all over the leftover bread, and even starting to creep onto the sides of the pan itself. It was one of my favorite pans too, a good heavy one that usually gives me a nice crust.
Dealing with the Mess
My first thought? Toss it. Seriously, just chuck the whole pan in the bin. Who wants to deal with that? But then I thought, come on, it’s a good pan, gotta at least try to save it. So, the “practice” part of this whole ordeal began.
Here’s what I did, more or less:
- First, I carefully scraped out the moldy bread. Straight into the trash, sealed the bag. Didn’t want those spores flying everywhere.
- Then, I took the pan to the sink. Hot water, lots of it. And dish soap, a good amount. I let it soak for a bit, hoping that would loosen things up.
- After soaking, I scrubbed. And scrubbed. Used a non-scratch sponge, of course, didn’t want to ruin the surface. Some of it came off easy, but there were these stubborn spots.
- I even tried a bit of baking soda paste on one particularly nasty looking area. Made a paste with water, slathered it on, let it sit for like 10 minutes, then scrubbed again. That seemed to help a bit more.
- Rinsed it like a million times. I was paranoid about any mold lingering.
Once I thought it was clean, I dried it really, really well. Then, just to be super sure, I actually popped it into a hot oven for about 20 minutes. Figured the heat would kill off anything I might have missed. Probably overkill, but hey, made me feel better.
The pan looks okay now. I sniffed it. No weird smell. I think it’s good to go. But man, what a hassle. Definitely learned my lesson about leaving bread in the pan for too long. Next time, it’s straight into an airtight container or the freezer if I’m not eating it right away.
So yeah, that was my bread mold pan adventure. Not something I want to repeat anytime soon, but at least the pan was saved. Just a little reminder that even simple things like baking bread can have their…gross moments if you’re not careful.
