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| Your opinions, please. On the Bay. | Login/Join |
Has Achieved Nirvana |
Ina Garten and Christopher Kimball have each stated that adding bay leaves to a dish is pretty much a waste of time. Your opinions, please.
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Minor Deity |
Agreed
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
When I've left bay leaves out of stew or sauerbraten, it seems to me that something is missing. But I'm more than willing to admit that it could just be my imagination...
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
I think it leaves quite a gulf.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Oh he’s good. He’s very good! 
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
Agree. I almost never do it.
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Jodi| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Except that we have a jar, so I’m trying to use them up, lol. So if I’m actually following a recipe (which I rarely do) - I usually add it.
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| knitterati Beatification Candidate  |
I usually add twice as many as called for, hoping it makes a difference. Does it?  Actually Samin Nosrat loves bay leaves, but I’m pretty sure hers are much fresher than the ones I’m using!
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| "I've got morons on my team." Mitt Romney Minor Deity  |
Yes, when I want a hint of that flavor I tend to double or triple the recommended number. And I'm sure using fresh leaves would be quite different. Cooking with fresh sage, for instance. | |||
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| Foregoing Practicing to Post Minor Deity  |
Could depend on the type of bay leaf too. California bay laurel is different from standard bay leaves. And even the standard ones have different hybrids or subspecies, I think. I bet a good spice shop could steer you to the best ones.
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| Minor Deity |
I do that with garlic too.
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
I’ve recently stopped as it seems entirely performative.
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| Foregoing Practicing to Post Minor Deity |
Bite into a dry leaf and see if you taste anything. If not, it won't do anything for your dish.
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| Unrepentant Dork Gadfly  |
We have a small bay laurel tree (inside) so we use fresh ones. Before that I typically bought fresh and stored them in the freezer. I can taste the difference when I skip using them. We also use dried ones when we smoke jerk chicken (since pimento wood is impossible to get now).
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| Pinta & the Santa Maria Has Achieved Nirvana  |
I can definitely taste (or miss) the bay leaf flavor. The key is to keep them fresh. This can be challenging because it's not something I use that often. My non-scientific test is that, if I can't smell the bay leaves when I open the jar, they're too old. I've used fresh bay leaves on occasion and they are even better. I know there are a jillion different types of bay leaves, but the ones I usually get are Spice Islands, which I think are California bay laurel. | |||
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