Whether holidays are coming or you are going to host a home party, the exciting part is preparing for this day by decorating houses, making food, and baking a variety of cakes. However, baking at home is not as simple as some people think. There are many reasons that can cause baking failure. In this post, four ways of how to improve home baking will be discussed.
Ensure correct temperature of ingredients
Follow the term Mise En Place
Take ingredient measurement seriously
Understand oven
1. Ensure Correct Temperature of Ingredients
When the recipe emphasizes temperature, it is very important to ensure correct temperature of ingredients. For instance, when bread recipe says that it needs warm water (37C), do not use very hot water or very cold water. It requires 37C warm water because that is perfect temperature to activate yeast. Too cold or too hot water cause yeast to be inactive. As a result, bread cannot be leaven.
2. Follow the Term Mise En Place
“In professional kitchen, 'Mise En Place' means having everything in place necessary for the successful preparation of a meal” (Labensky, Martel, & Damme, 2013, p.120). People who bake at home should follow this for better results. Mise En Place is very important because time is crucial especially when working with chocolates or egg whites. For example, when the recipe requires folding in flour after whisking egg whites to medium peak, it means flour should be ready to use. Letting egg whites sit for a while to scale flour will make egg whites lose volume and effect batter. Another example is working with chocolate. Time and temperature are even more sensitive. Depending on the processes, melting chocolate will set very fast at some certain temperatures. Failure to have everything ready may affect the recipe and result in restarting the process.
3. Take Ingredient Measurement Seriously
Ingredient measurement is very important in baking. Failure to ensure proper measurement can cause reactions between ingredients during baking go wrong. There are two measurement systems to use are weight and volume. To get the best accurate result, measuring by weight is a better method and can be accomplished by using electronic scale.
Table 5.2. Common Equivalents.
Copyright 2013, 2009, 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc. Adapted with permission.
4. Understand Oven
No matter what kind of oven is used, understanding the oven is necessary. Every oven has its own hot spot and cold spot. To bake cakes properly and evenly, baker should turn baking tray around at least one time. However, do not open the oven so often otherwise the oven will lose its heat. Besides, real temperature of the oven is not always the same as it shows on the oven thermometer. In order to get the right temperature, use additional oven thermometer that can sit inside the oven.
Temperatures Conversion Table.
Retrieved from http://speigel26.weebly.com/baking-measurement-conversion-chart.html
Summary
Although bakers follow every details in recipes, baking products can turn out unsuccessful. Some common mistakes can happen during the process because not all recipes mention about. To improve home baking, bakers should not only follow all steps in recipes but also make sure to have correct temperatures, proper measurement, and understanding of oven.
References
Holly (2011, December). Temperatures. Retrived from http://speigel26.weebly.com/baking-measurement-conversion-chart.html
Labensky, S.R., Martel, P.A. & Damme, E.V. (2013). On Baking: A Textbook of Baking & Pastry Fundamentals. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
Table 5.2. Common Equivalents. Adapted from On Baking: A Textbook of Baking & Pastry Fundamentals (p. 123), by Labensky, S.R., Martel, P.A. & Damme, E.V, 2013, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Copyright 2013, 2009, 2005 by Pearson Education, Inc. Adapted with permission.
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