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