I worked diligently on an amazing sauce for dinner for the last hour or so - at the very end I added cornstarch to thicken it a little. Only that it wasn't cornstarch, it was baking soda. Science is beautiful but inedible.
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  • 982 points Miller4103

    It is now a pancake.

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    753 points Lil-Nuisance

    Pancake Stroganoff. Just like nobody's grandma used to make.

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    85 points unsuspectingllama_

    Better than pancake strokinoff.

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    29 points __The-1__

    Pankake

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    2 points B1g_BoyGamer

    She be pancake so I stokinoff

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    6 points Tabula-Rasa-99

    Food from the Greater Depression.

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    3 points amishbr07

    I know some Michelin star restaurant chef is going to be inspired by this. It’ll be a pancake that tastes like the sauce with syrup that tastes like meat or something silly.

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    1 points mrDuder1729

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  • 590 points eurotrashness

    My mom made my birthday cake with soy sauce instead of vanilla extract one time

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    235 points Lil-Nuisance

    That actually makes me feel a little better, thanks!

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    116 points csonnich

    I misread 1 tsp for 1 cup of salt in high school cooking class. 

    Those cookies were not only inedible, they didn't even set right. 

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    85 points Zoethewinged

    How does anyone use a cup of salt for ANYTHING without going hmmm something may be seriously wrong here

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    56 points mooinglemur

    For someone without any experience in cooking, I can see them just trusting the instructions knowing they don't know better enough to question it.

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    21 points PrincessOTA

    Listen. If you have an overworked teacher that's already yelling at another student for trying to do god knows what to the pumpkin pie, the fact that yours doesn't taste quite right and isn't setting can safely be shoved under the rug so you don't get yelled at too. Probably. This isn't directly from experience and you can't prove it is

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    7 points csonnich

    Inexperience, stress, joking around with classmates instead of paying attention. 

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    4 points jilililian

    My foods class in high school once did something like this with sourdough. Instead of selling them as loaves they sold them as doorstops.

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    2 points DaYmAn6942069

    I did the same thing with pepper into a soup. It was supposed to be spicy but not to that level

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    11 points anxiousbarista

    My partner once made biscuits and gravy with sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated.

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    3 points JeanneMPod

    the gravy part with it would be nasty but I wonder how the biscuits alone would be with that, more like a pastry, would it be any good?

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    1 points HappycamperNZ

    There's a difference?

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    19 points frankenpoopies

    Tasting notes pls

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    8 points Dr3am0n

    If it was like a teaspoon for a whole cake, I'd assume it'd work well for something like a chocolate cake.

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    2 points NecessaryZucchini69

    When did she figure that out. Also, how did it taste?

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    1 points AnastasiaSheppard

    We need to know how bad it was!

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    1 points mrcatboy

    .......How.

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  • 177 points Mysterious_Fennel459

    Are you one of those people that take powders out of their original, labelled, containers and puts them in unmarked ceramic or glass containers? The only time i've ever made that mistake was doing just that.

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    291 points Lil-Nuisance

    Um, yes that's it. I did not just stare at a package of baking soda, thought yep, that's what I need to add, then looked at the chemical reaction in front of my eyes and did not comprehend what was happening until I finally came to the conclusion that I was looking for cornstarch instead. You're giving me way too much credit. But thanks!

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    75 points ShiftyState

    Tell me you had a sleep-deprived brain fart while not telling me you had a sleep-deprived brain fart.

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    -4 points mrcatboy

    But the texture of a cornstarch slurry is nothing like baking soda in water. Shouldn't that have been a sign?

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    15 points TheOwlsLie

    Probably added the baking soda straight into the pan

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    12 points mtaw

    In which case OP was probably doomed to fail regardless as his sauce would end up with gelatinous blobs in it.

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    11 points JeremyAndrewErwin

    You need a labelmaker, if you're going to repackage spices.

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    0 points VivaltusVertuo

    and use different container sizes and colors

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  • 56 points girls_girls_b0ys

    If you add some lemon juice, it'll cancel some of the soapy taste and create sodium monocitrate, which allows cheese to melt like it's Velveeta. It'll taste very lemony, but I like to do that with a baked garlicky chicken and Swiss cheese. I pour it over the chicken and some roasted potatoes.

    This is definitely salvageable if it's something that would benefit from cheese and citrus!

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    43 points Lil-Nuisance

    Oh that would have been an amazing solution, because it was already a loose interpretation of a classic stroganoff, so it had already a tiny bit of a sour taste to it (cornichon juice). Where were you when I needed you! Thanks, I'll remember this for my next disaster!

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  • 32 points Charming-Flamingo307

    Some science is totally edible. You picked one of the only kitchen experiments that would make it not

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    21 points Lil-Nuisance

    Maybe I can use it as an oven cleaner or something. It smells like it.

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  • 17 points B-Georgio

    Totally thought that was a close up pic of someone’s nose / pores

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    9 points Lil-Nuisance

    Omg, please don't say that. I already don't feel so well, after having tasted it twice before finally coming to my senses.

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    4 points caleeksu

    I thought it was a back, and was definitely looking for the dilated pore of whiner or whatever they call the giant blackheads. lol. I watch too much Pimple Popper I guess!

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  • 7 points 2hourhiatus

    Last year, my mom decided to make some scones for an annual Christmas party and I offered to give her a hand making them. Such hubris.
    We followed the recipe to a tee but somewhere, somehow, something went horribly wrong. They came out like brown little hockey pucks: denser then compressed lead and shockingly vile to the taste, as if the egg had scrambled itself and rebuilt its shell around it from the plaster-like batter.
    It took us a few minutes to stop laughing at easily one of the worst attempts at scone-making in human history. We ended up putting them out on a plate with a skull and crossbones sign as a gag.

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    1 points GardeningGardenGirl

    "as if the egg had scrambled itself and rebuilt its shell around it from the plaster-like batter"

    This has me absolutely cracking up 🤣 Thank you! I've been pmsing, and just feeling so sad today, this is the first time I've truly laughed since getting up.

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  • 5 points Bury--Em

    https://preview.redd.it/dkke3rxhwg6g1.jpeg?width=280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db5e1027409c61e65b9b8e1412f44ee22bebdcee

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  • 3 points seansy5000

    Next time make a slurry before adding it and you would have caught your mistake before ruining your sauce

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    5 points Lil-Nuisance

    I did make a slurry... (You're not helping here!).

    My only excuse is that I had a bout of heartburn last week and used baking soda as a home remedy, so maybe it was muscle memory. Not a great excuse but I'm desperate.

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    3 points seansy5000

    I suppose we just have different methods of making a slurry. I add water little by little and stir it with my hand. There is bo possible way I wouldn’t be able to tell I was using anything other than corn starch.

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    2 points Lil-Nuisance

    I think it's more that at the time, I was convinced that this is the right ingredient to add, or that baking soda is cornstarch, or that I wasn't thinking at all tbh. I know they behave differently when mixed with water, I just was clearly acting completely brain-dead for whatever reason. I want to blame family members for rushing me because they were getting hangry, but I think it was just one epic brain fart moment and I should just own it. Live, love, despair!

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  • 2 points TheDitz42

    It's not your fault, there are too many white powders in cooking.

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  • 4 points Creative_Oil_7778

    How? most cornstarch comes in a plastic container? Most baking soda. Comes in a box. Not judging just curious

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    18 points Lil-Nuisance

    Oh no, judge away! It's not like I thought I was adding cornstarch. I, for some reason, thought that baking soda is the right thing to add. Until about a minute later (and two!! disgusting taste tests later) when the lights finally came back on in my brain. Please feel free to point and laugh, I certainly deserve it.

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    2 points Creative_Oil_7778

    I typically say not judging, because With taking culinary high school makes me end up sounding very pretentious about cooking stuff

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    1 points uniqueAsEveryone

    Once I made a curry. Didn't like the taste and put my plate to the floor, thinking my dog might be interested in chicken pieces. There came my cat. She sniffed it, shaked her pow and started to bury. I bet you'll never be judged like this

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    13 points Norwester77

    I’m old. I still think of corn starch as coming in a box!

    https://preview.redd.it/vwpdjnntrg6g1.jpeg?width=763&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8e7a34fef3df50a98f0c89515e8fe9439762ac07

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    7 points Nimindir

    Not old. I get my cornstarch in a box. Never seen it in a plastic container.

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    0 points Creative_Oil_7778

    I mean early twenties so I wouldn't know

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    3 points ProfessionalGrade423

    Both brands i buy come in a box. I think it depends on where you live.

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  • 1 points thedillymane

    I thought this was the moon for a sec lol

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  • 1 points Chamanomano

    You realized it immediately though, right? Other than the color, they're completely different. 

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  • 1 points rly_weird_guy

    Stroganoff soda

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  • 1 points TheVoiceofReason_ish

    I once made a huge pot of turkey stock and poured it down the drain. I forgot to put the strainer pot in there.

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  • 1 points UncleDuude

    It’s just gonna eat the acid, sweeten the sauce a bit keep stirrring

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  • 1 points Lower_Ad_5532

    Weird that you added cornstarch. Wouldn't pasta water have enough starch to thicken it?

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  • 1 points sesamesnapsinhalf

    You basically made the sauce alkaline. To neutralize it, add some vinegar. Then toss the whole thing away. 

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  • 1 points Different_Muscle9134

    On the bright side: I bet you never make that mistake again, lol.

    Long ago, before I had any clue in the kitchen, I decided to make hot fudge sauce. The recipe called for cornstarch. I used corn meal. It was technically still edible, and I did eat some of it, but it was a bit on the gritty side.

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  • 1 points UsernamesNotFound404

    Good looking soap

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  • 1 points allinagayswork

    “Beautiful but inedible” is a great way to put it.

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  • 1 points takera1996

    My mom made chili with cinnamon instead of chili powder once. Honestly wasn't that bad in a weird way.

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  • 1 points louley

    I accidentally did salt instead of sugar in the cranberry sauce, so …. Things could be MUCH worse.

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  • 1 points hmcfuego

    I did this two weeks ago. Right here with you. And I shouldn't have even used corn starch in the sauce but I was being lazy.

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  • 1 points SamizdatGuy

    My buddy worked on a busy line, cooking. One of the line cooks would always disappear at peak when he got sweaty. He would go to the bathroom and use corn starch on his crotch to cure the swamp ass, old kitchen trick. But he would take forever to do it.

    So one night, they swapped out the corn starch with flour. Guy came back like normal, but 20 minutes later had to go home cause he glued his ass shut

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  • 1 points SkyZone0100

    Nice pancake though :)

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    2 points mizinamo

    Pancake stroganoff, OP said.

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  • 1 points upsidedowntoker

    Lol Wooops..If it makes you feel any better i once made potatoe gratin with powderd sugar instead of flour . It was awful.

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  • 1 points TonyTheTerrible

    Shoulda done a roux 

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  • 1 points bethebubble

    Totally did the exact same thing to curry last week. Took me too long to comprehend what was happening as it foamed.

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  • 1 points TheBlu

    This is poetry.

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  • 1 points IvyofEden_

    Ahhh the forbidden pancake

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  • 1 points sdss9462

    There was a song about this once.

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  • 1 points Emerald_Digger

    Hey I ruined a Big Batch of Self-made cookies. Classic Salt Sugar Mix Up.

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  • 1 points tinterrobangg

    Visited my grandmother in South America in my early teens. She had set up a beautiful breakfast table for me and my father and although I had never had coffee I decided I’d try some. It was horrible, worst thing I ever drank and the more sugar I scooped in the worse it got. Well I’m overly polite and got nearly to the bottom of my cup when my dad exclaims “mama did you put salt in the sugar jar?”(translated from Spanish) I drank almost a full cup of coffee with about 1/4 cup of salt in it. I’ve never been able to forget that taste…

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  • 1 points total_looser

    You worked a sauce for one hour?

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  • 1 points mizinamo

    The anti-ooblick

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  • 1 points Wannabe_Buttercup322

    My aunt once made us all a meatloaf… with sugar instead of salt.

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  • 1 points qualitycancer

    To be honest corn starch would not have mixed in unless you had it in a slurry. Also why aren’t they labelled??

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  • 1 points Fancy-Cry-4686

    Well said 😢

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  • 1 points BlackViperMWG

    Wut? Baking soda is edible

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  • 1 points thecakeisali

    My ex once used sesame oil (1/2 cup) instead of vegetable oil for cake, in her words “it was the first one I saw and I thought oil is oil” I was in a different room and the moment she put it in the oven the smell filled the house.

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  • 1 points stefaniki

    Butter. Butter will thicker a sauce slightly while giving it a silky texture.

    Obviously can't fix this sauce, but for future reference...

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    2 points Yellow_Bee

    Cold butter*

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  • 1 points Intelligent_Event278

    Coukdnt have been that dilligent after all lol

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