Easy Tips to Improve Your Baking

A Simple List

I've tried to keep the list as simple as possible and stick to the most essential things and high impact things.

Tip 1: Learn To Use A Scale

Ever wonder why a recipe works one time and not the next? Or why a recipe everyone raves about fails for you? You need a scale. Cups are very inaccurate. When the colonists arrived to America, they did not have many scales so they resorted to cups for baking. The rest of the world uses scales.

Baking is not like cooking. If you're off by 25% in your flour you'll have dense rock cookies versus the nice spread you expect.

Plus as an added bonus...scales are easier and faster than cups. By using the scales tare function, you can often pour things right into your main bowl without using any utensils or extra bowls.

Tip 2: Use King Arthur Flour Recipes by Weight

If you're going to use a scale you need to find recipes that are listed by weight, not by cups. King Arthur Flour is one of the few places you can find this. They have a wide variety of recipes, many are online, and tested by professional bakers.

Yes again there is a bonus! If you have problems, their professional bakers will often help you, for free!

Tip 3: Use Baking Stones

Your oven is probably crazier than you think. You may be surprised, but probably you're not, but how off, uneven, and erratic your oven heating can be. You COULD calibrate your oven or buy a fancier one but personally I'm lazy and assume most of us don't have the money for that. The trick? Use baking stones. Get too large rectangular baking stones. Put one on the top rack and on the rack you will use.

Stones are awesome because they they minimize problems with inconsistent or uneven oven temperatures.

Tip 4: Always Preheat

Baked goods are heated in three ways. Your oven's thermometer measures only one of these temperatures: the air. Baked goods are cooked mostly by the radiant heat -- the heat coming off of the sides, tops, and bottoms of your oven. Another reason why baking stones are important. It takes much longer to get the entire oven up to the temperature of your thermometer read out.

Tip 5: Follow Directions Exactly

Inpatient people will hate this rule. Baking is not cooking. You can't go with the flow and expect consistent results. Don't worry! If you don't have time for the directions, go for a simpler recipe or method. This might even including going with a box mix.

Chefs don't put directions down to waste your time. They are trying to save you time. If you're busy find simpler recipes, or practice in advance. For example in cakes or cookies, beating sugar and eggs before adding flour is often important. The sugar will not dissolve as easily when the flour is present and there is less liquid, and also the sugar is important for spread and color. And with the eggs, they will not be mixed as evenly and not provide the same structure. Or, if the flour is beat too much, it will become chewy and there will be too much gluten development which will affect the spread and toughness of your final product. Follow the directions.

Tip 6: Keep Ingredients at Room Temperature

Many ingredients can be kept at room temperature. When the temperature of your ingredients is off, you will have problems with things like spread, dissolving, and blending. Eggs and butter can easily be kept at room temperature for some time. They were both designed to be kept at room temperature before the age of refrigeration. That's why butter is salted (as a preservative) or cultured as in Europe.

Milk will go bad, but if you can put it out a few hours before you bake it will help.

Don't microwave your ingredients! If the ingredients are not at room temperature, microwaving is not a good solution. For example melted butter does not aerate well (which is important for leavening) nor blend with the ingredients when microwaved. Stick to room temperature.

Other Useful Things

Those were the main tips, but there are also a few extra useful tips.

1. Use High Quality Parchment

Using parchment when baking helps keep your pans clean and food from sticking. High quality parchment is biodegradable, flat, and can be reused a few times.

2. Use a Dough Whisk

Many people haven't heard of this before, but it's a popular baking tool in baking circles. Unlike a spoon which doesn't mix well because it has no tines, or a whisk which has too many, a dough whisk is a cross between a spoon and a whisk. Makes life easier.

3. Use High Quality Pans

Quality does not mean expensive. A poor pan will provide uneven baking of course. The color and material do matter. Go for thicker matte aluminum pans. Avoid fancy, big brand, or designer pans like silicone, glass, or teflon.

4. Get Inspired by the King Arthur Store.

Check out the King Arthur Flour store website and get on their mailing list. They are very inspiring and often have great gift ideas. Negotiate a shipping discount by chatting on line or over the phone. A super place to buy gifts!

5. Use a Kitchen Aid Mixer

Any high end mixer will do, but if you bake at all regularly or buy baked goods it's worth the investment to bake at home and save money. Mixing is the most time consuming part of baking, and it's worth saving the time and doing it well by using a machine.

6. Buy an Infrared Temperature Gauge

A nice tool for gadget people. When it comes to checking the temperature of your oven or ingredients quickly, just point an infrared thermometer at what you want to measure. This is a great gift in general for guys that can be used in many ways throughout the home and in life, including taking your own temperature. They usually have a laser as well...extra cool!

7. Instant Read Thermometer

The most surefire way to tell when your baked goods are done is an instant read thermometer. Just insert into whatever your baking and the temperature will you tell if you if it's done or not. Take the guesswork out of "Is this toothpick coming out clean? Do we have toothpicks?" These also work great for cooking in general and can help you cook the perfect hamburger, chicken, or Thanksgiving turkey.