Baking is one of the best stress-relievers out there. Nothing beats the feeling of sharing your homemade cake with friends and family. Plus, it can be very satisfying to see the smiles on people’s faces after they take a bite of your delicious creation. However, before baking that cake, you need to have the oven ready for baking first.
While ovens are simple machines, they can be easily overtaxed. That’s why you should schedule a regular oven repair to help keep it running smoothly and to avoid it from breaking down when you need it the most. Aside from your oven, you’ll also need equipment in your baker’s kitchen to help you in your baking.
If you have yet to fill your kitchen with the right baking tools and equipment, don’t worry because every baker has to start somewhere. Here are some things you’re going to need to officiate your first time as a baker:
1. A mixer
A mixer is essential to making baked goods because it evenly combines ingredients and kneads dough. Its ease of use prevents the risk of over-mixing, which can increase gluten formation, resulting in a tough product. You will need a stand mixer or hand mixer, depending on what your kitchen setup is like.
Stand mixers are the most common mixer to bake with because they are stationary and hold multiple attachments. This allows you to use the same mixer for many purposes, including kneading dough, whipping up fresh whipped cream, or mixing cake batter.
2. Baking pans
Baking pans are used for baking bread, cookies, cakes, and other baked goods. You must have a variety of baking sheets, such as half-size or quarter-size (for smaller quantities), cake pans for layer cakes, and cupcake tins.
And these pans can also be helpful for baking food other than bread or pastries. For instance, you can use them to roast vegetables in your oven or bake a whole chicken. That’s why it’s good to have a set of both heavy and light-weight pans so that you can use them interchangeably.
3. Cake decorating supplies
Baker’s decorating equipment includes cake pans and boards for frosting cakes. It also includes piping bags, tips, and pastry brushes. To create a well-decorated cake, you will need many types of piping tips that have distinct designs to achieve your desired look.
Many people don’t invest in expensive bags because they only use them once in a while. These reusable bags come with couplers and tips so you can change the tips to get different designs or turn your bag into a pastry bag quickly.
4. Bowls, whisks, and measuring cups
Invest in a set of measuring cups and spoons that will last you many years. If you’re starting, it can be helpful to buy a bowl or two because they are used frequently when baking. A good baking tip is to have a bowl to mix wet and dry ingredients and another one for melting butter.
You will need whisks when you are making certain types of batters or dough because they help you achieve the desired consistency by thoroughly combining ingredients in a single bowl without leaving any unmixed portions behind.
5. Rolling pin
A rolling pin is an essential tool for flattening the dough to make the perfect pie crust or cake base when making cakes, pies, and other baked goods. It can also help you when making delicate pastries like croissants and Danish pastries because it helps those pastries maintain their round shape that would be lost if you were to use your hands.
6. Cooling rack
A cooling rack is extremely important for baking cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and other baked goods, so they can cool before being served or decorated. It doesn’t matter how long it takes for your baked goods to cool but what matters most is that they are completely cool before you decorate them or serve them.
If your baked goods are still warm when you’re trying to decorate them, the heat will affect the consistency of the frosting, which could ruin your decoration effort. You can purchase cooling racks in stacks so storing them is easy because it allows you to store several on top of each other and save space.
Bread, cakes, and other baked goods need a special set of equipment to create the perfect dish. If you don’t have the right tools and equipment, it can be challenging to achieve the results you want. Additionally, certain equipment has many uses, making it especially important to invest in good-quality baking equipment that will last you for years.