How to use baking tools to see how beginners can play with baking techniques
Recently, more and more people around me tend to be led by me. Many people In private, they would ask me, “Who is that, I’m so bored, and I want to play baking, what do I need?” “Some people say, what tools do I need to do this, I want to do it to please my girlfriend. Ah”… In short, there are various reasons, and there is a gratifying statistic, it seems that there are more boys’ requests for baking now, and sisters have a good time.
Desserts are no strangers to us, but to make all kinds of wonderful desserts by ourselves, who doesn’t yearn for us who love life? Different from the Chinese food that “one pot, one shovel” goes all over the world, the tools needed to make desserts are simply a bottomless pit, so let me take a small inventory first.
1. Necessary for beginners Tools
Oven: It is recommended to choose an oven with a volume of more than 25L, the temperature can be adjusted, and it is best to have a fermentation function.
Reason: When it comes to baking tools, of course, the first thing that comes to mind is the oven. Regarding the choice of the oven, you can mainly choose from the aspects of practicality, volume and function.
First of all, we need to clarify what the oven is going to do. For home baking enthusiasts, there are about two uses for the oven: one is oven cooking, such as roasted meat, roasted chicken wings, roasted fish and other oven dishes ; Another point is to make cookies, cakes, breads and other kinds of desserts. However, many people prefer the second use.
Due to the limitation of the internal space, many molds cannot be placed in the oven with small volume, or the food cannot be baked normally after being placed too close to the top heating pipe. This defect is in baking cakes. , Bread is especially obvious; in addition, you will find that even if you can bake chicken wings, roast meat, and bake cookies, the amount of each plate is really unbelievable. So buy a large oven, as long as 25L or more can basically kill all oven food in seconds.
Regarding the function, the oven cannot be replaced by a microwave oven, even a microwave oven with a barbecue function cannot be used~~ Because the heating principles of the two appliances are different. A satisfactory oven should be adjustable for any temperature, not a menu with the words “bake cake” and “bake bread” on the electronic panel, not to mention that it is unreasonable to unify the baking temperature of cakes. Even the same food sometimes needs to adjust different temperatures according to the amount of food and the size of the mold. As far as the brand is concerned, in fact, the price-performance ratio of domestic ovens is actually quite good. They are very popular online. The most important thing is that many recipes on the Internet are made from these domestic ovens. There is really nothing to worry about. It depends on your economic strength. , if you want to buy a good one, no one will stop you~~ Another point worth mentioning is that it is best to buy an oven with a fermentation function. When you are promoted to the point where you want to make bread, you will know how good this is. It’s important, it’s a function that can be moved to tears.
When you buy an oven, it will be equipped with a baking tray, a baking net, and generally, you may also send heat insulation gloves. If you don’t send it, you will have to buy one yourself. If you don’t want to take out the baking tray that was just baked at 200°C with your bare hands .
Kitchen scale: It is recommended to choose an electronic scale for kitchen.
Reason: Do you think making cakes is to mix noodles? More noodles, add water, more water, more noodles? ? No no no! Absolutely not. Baking is sometimes like a chemistry experiment, with precise amounts of every ingredient. The ratio of each kind of pastry is fixed, and each material has its own important function in it. Arbitrary placement of raw materials will directly become the reason for the failure of desserts, even star chefs will not use their senses. As for the weight, this step really can’t be saved.
Electric egg beater
Mainly used to beat butter and eggs, the principle is to keep the air constantly through rapid whisking the package into the food. For example, cookies contain a lot of butter. We need to beat the softened butter with an electric egg beater until the tissue is fluffy and the volume increases. The whipped butter can make the texture of the cookies crisp when baking the cookies. . Another example is the chiffon cake (cake blank), which has a soft and fluffy texture. If the egg whites are not well-whipped, then it can only be baked as an egg cake! Egg pie! Do you understand. Don’t expect to use a manual egg beater to beat eggs and butter. It takes a long time and physical strength, and we may not be able to beat them well. I’ve tried using a hand whisk to beat egg whites with several people taking turns, but I still can’t get a creamy and fluffy egg white.
Measuring spoons, measuring cups
You still think it’s cooking? The right amount of salt, the right amount of sugar, and the right amount of chicken essence? No no no no~~~ Even a small amount in desserts cannot be “appropriate”. The function of the measuring spoon and measuring cup has come into play since then, and it is possible to measure small doses of raw materials that cannot be weighed by electronic scales. A complete set of measuring spoons is 1/4 teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon, 1 teaspoon, 1 tablespoon, 1 tablespoon=15ml, and one teaspoon=5ml in descending order. A set of measuring cups are measured accordingly, 1CUP, 1/2CUP, 1/3CUP, 1/4CUP. 1CUP=240ml.
Rubber scraper
The rubber scraper has a flexible silicone head and is used to mix various materials The main tool of the washing point, the mixing of many materials in the washing point needs to be turned over, and the methods of cutting and mixing are impossible to achieve with chopsticks and egg beaters. Another function of the rubber scraper is to easily scrape off the materials attached to the wall of the container, such as batter, egg liquid, cream, etc., so as not to change the ratio of various materials.
Flour Sieve
Mainly used for sifting flour materials. You will find all kinds of flours are used in baking, low-gluten flour, high-gluten flour, cocoa powder, matcha powder, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda powder, cinnamon powder, ginger powder, barbara powder, all kinds of powder, in order to keep the finished product For an even texture, these powders are sifted before mixing with liquid ingredients. Take the chiffon cake (cake blank) as an example, but the sifted flour is added directly, and various agglomerations will appear in the baked cake, and the cornstarch particles will affect the appetite and taste at all.
Tin foil, oil paper
There are many functions, one is used to pad in the mold or on the baking tray, it can prevent sticking , it can avoid the direct contact between the food and the baking pan, not only for health reasons, but also easy to clean the baking pan. In many cases, auxiliary molds are also needed. For example, when baking cheesecake in a water bath, it is necessary to wrap the bottom of the movable bottom mold with tin foil to block water. When baking cake rolls, oil paper is also used to shape directly. In addition, many foods are baked in the later stage, and the outside is easy to be overcooked. You can also cover the tin foil on it to play the role of even heating and prevent the color from being too dark.
Second, recommended tools for purchase
Silicone pads
It can be used as a worktop for dough such as cookies, pizza, bread, etc. The traditional wooden chopping board is easy to breed bacteria, and the silicone pad is not only easy to clean and maintain, but also has a good anti-stick effect. There are scales around it, and the size of a pizza round in the center. Customized, it is worth mentioning that this silicone pad can also withstand high temperatures of 220 ° C.
Glass bowl, stainless steel bowl
It is recommended to prepare at least two glass bowls or stainless steel bowls for beating eggs. Butter, mixes, etc. When whipping egg whites, there are high requirements for the bowl. It must be free of water, oil, impurities, and a trace of egg yolk. Scientific research has found that it is much easier to beat egg whites in stainless steel bowls than bowls made of other materials. As for this kind of complete set of glass bowls, you will find that almost all the master baking books use this kind of thing. Although we are not masters, at least we use the same thing as the masters. It feels great to use. Very organized.
Three, tools you may need
rolling pin
Needless to say about the usage of rolling pin, it is generally used when making biscuits, pizza, pies, etc. Rolling pins are very easy to buy, and you can usually buy them in supermarkets.
Wool brush, silicone brush (wood with texture)
For brushing egg wash, or brushing oily ingredients, now I prefer the silicone brush , the wooden handle of the wool brush is easy to get dirty.
Cake molds
A must for chiffon cakes, it can be used as a cake base for birthday cakes~~Yes 6-inch, 8-inch, and I happily bought a heart-shaped one.
8 inch square pan
This size is sometimes better than a large pan for making cakes Some recipes also use this mold for rolling and baking cakes, etc. The depth is also very suitable for things baked in a water bath, so I bought it and thought it was quite easy to use.
Piping bag, piping tip
This is how the beautiful pattern of cookies is extruded, and the piping tip is different Shapes have different uses. These are just what I have now. The cookies can be made with 8-tooth flower mouths, and the five-toothed ones are star-shaped cookies. The round mouth is used to make finger biscuits or macarons, and the pointed one is the puff cream mouth. Buy all kinds of piping bags for one-time use, you can buy them one by one, and throw them away without washing. .
Fiberglass Silicone Mat Silicone Mat
This high-end looking silicone mat is a must for macarons Yes, padding under the baking pan can make the bottom of the macaron evenly heated, and a perfect skirt appears. If you don’t make macarons, of course you don’t need to buy it.
Biscuit mold, moon cake mold
This kind of biscuit mold can print cookies of various shapes. I don’t have the cold kind of biscuits, but I bought these when I made gingerbread for Christmas.
The moon cake mold is for making moon cakes. I don’t need to explain, it was purchased during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Small cake molds, tart molds
Small fruit bars can be used to bake many small cakes, similar to small cakes There are also various shapes of molds, and you can purchase them according to your preferences.
The egg tart mold is a must-have when baking egg tarts.
Pudding molds, rice bowls
These molds are generally oven-ready baking bowls, not ours The bowls are generally used for eating. There are many styles and colors. You can choose them according to your needs. I only bought some pudding bowls. The baked rice has been replaced by a cake pan.
Pizza plate, pie plate
I liked making pizza when I first started baking, so I bought a bunch of them There are 8-inch, 9-inch, and 6-inch pizza pans, which allow you to make pizzas that look as good as the ones they sell, and tastier than the ones they sell.
The pie plate is usually corrugated lace, there are metal, porcelain, I have never made a pie, so the pie plate is relatively small, and sometimes the pie plate can be replaced by a pizza plate.
Six moulds for small cakes
This is generally used to make beautiful cup cakes, of course this metal The mold should be used with oil lux (oil paper mold similar to paper cups), and the cake made is very beautiful with a little decoration.
Assortment of cake cups, oil custards
For making cupcakes and muffins in a variety of styles, large and small There are many controllable choices for fancy styles. Some breads also need to be baked in paper cups.
Bread Knife
How can I make nice cuts for cake bread? The answer is that this corrugated bread will make your cake cut to perfection.
Cake spatula, piping table
I use it for my birthday cake, I only used half of it at first The knife is really not very useful. It is difficult to smooth the cream on the cake. The arc-shaped structure of this spatula is great. What about the flower table, it is said that it can be replaced by the base of the microwave oven.
Machine
Since I bought a food processor, I have become very excited, and the dry grinding function can be used Not to mention how much the cost is reduced by grinding powdered sugar, almond flour, and peanut flour, the stirring function is also the perfect assistant for light cheesecakes. And the functions of juicing and ground meat are not only used in baking, but also very useful in life.
Toast Dies
For toast, because baking is from easiest to hardest, biscuits, cakes, breads , toast, so I’ve always been interested in making toast, and I haven’t purchased any so far. Generally, I will choose 450g for home use. There are ones with lids without lids. It is square, and it protrudes if it is not covered.
Bread Maker
Bread artifact! ! It is said that he is an artifact, but the bread made directly from it is really unpalatable, and there is only one shape, so the bread machine we bought only uses its kneading and fermentation functions (only for the first time fermentation). After the first fermentation, we can basically abandon the bread machine. The bread is shaped by hand and then subjected to secondary fermentation. The secondary fermentation requires temperature and 80% humidity. We use the fermentation gear in the oven. The humidity is usually a bowl of boiling water in the oven.
However, some comrades still enjoy the process of kneading dough by hand. It is not only manual work but also technical work. Such comrades do not need a bread machine.
There are actually many more molds that may be needed above, such as square cake molds, cake roll molds, mousse rings of various shapes, mousse molds, pudding bottles, molds of various patterns, and the list goes on and on. , depending on your own preferences to see the situation to buy it, in short, it is a road of no return.
