Baking can help you deal with stress in a lot of different ways. Measuring, mixing, and then watching the food change in the oven are all things that can be relaxing. Using your hands to make dough or spread frosting can be calming. Also, the smell of hot, freshly baked bread or pastries can make you feel better right away.
Baking has many benefits, even if you don’t do it every day. When you bake for someone, you can make their day and make them feel like you care about them. Also, when you give away your baked goods, you get to meet new people and make new friends. There’s no doubt that baking can be therapeutic, whether you’re doing it for yourself or for someone else.
Whether you’ve baked before or not, you’ll need some tools in your kitchen to do it right. These tools are well worth the money because they make baking easier, faster, and more accurate. Here are the best tools for baking that you should have in your kitchen.
Measuring Tools
Okay, this one is obvious, but it’s still important to point out! When baking, you need to be very careful. Whether making muffin mix or a cake from scratch, it’s important to measure the ingredients correctly to get the desired results. Baking is a science that requires exact measurements to get the results you want. This is different from cooking, where the amounts of ingredients can vary a bit. A nice measuring cup and spoon set is a must-have in any kitchen.
Measuring cups come in sizes ranging from one tablespoon to four cups. They help you make sure that your dish has the right amount of each ingredient. On the other hand, measuring spoons are used for small amounts like a teaspoon or a half teaspoon. If you have both sets of measurements, you can easily make cookies, cakes, and other baked goods.
KitchenAid Stand Mixer
Every kitchen needs a KitchenAid stand mixer. This is something that every baker needs. The mixer comes with different attachments that let you use it in different ways. The mixer can do everything from kneading dough to whipping cream to chopping vegetables. Stand mixers from KitchenAid are reliable and last a long time. The mixer’s powerful motor can handle any job, no matter how hard it is. A KitchenAid stand mixer is a great addition to any kitchen, and any baker would be lucky to have one.
Use a Pastry Brush
A pastry brush is something every baker should have on hand. It works great for brushing on butter, egg wash, other liquids, and flouring or sugaring surfaces. Natural bristles, like those in a pastry brush, are great for things that need to soak up a lot of liquid, like basting a bird. On the other hand, synthetic brushes can be just as good as natural ones and are often easier to clean.
Pastry brushes come in many sizes, from small to huge, so it’s important to choose the right one for the job. For instance, a wide pastry brush can be used to flour a sheet of dough, while a small pastry brush can be used to brush crumbs out of a crack. No matter what size or shape you choose, a pastry brush will be useful in the kitchen.
A Temperature Gauge for the Oven
Everyone has made cookies or cakes that were too done or too sticky. Using an oven thermometer takes the guesswork out of baking and makes sure that your food is always cooked just right. This handy cooking tool can be put in the oven while it’s preheating to get an accurate temperature reading. This gives you a chance to make any necessary changes before you put the dish in the oven. A thermometer can also help you find the hot and cold spots in your oven.
By moving the thermometer around while cooking, you can find out which parts of the oven are hotter or cooler than others. So, changes can be made to make sure the food cooks evenly. No matter how long you’ve been baking or how good you are at it, an oven thermometer is a useful thing to have in your kitchen.
Wire Organizer
Any baker knows that a wire rack is a great way to cool baked goods. A wire rack keeps food from getting soggy by letting air flow over the whole surface. This keeps moisture from getting trapped and making the food soggy. It makes sure that the heat is spread evenly throughout the dish and keeps the bottom from getting too done. Because wire racks are often nonstick, it’s easy to remove delicate baked goods like cookies and cakes without them falling apart. Whether you’ve been baking for years or are just starting out, you need a wire rack to make sure that your baked goods always turn out the same way.
These are the five tools that every baker needs the most. Once you know the basics, you can start to really change up your recipes. Every baker will tell you that you have to try new things if you want to be successful in the kitchen. Even though it’s important to follow the directions and use good ingredients, the best bakers are always trying out new ways to combine flavors. After all, you can only learn so much from a cookbook.
The only way to get better is to try things out in the kitchen. You might find that a small amount of orange zest makes your chocolate cake taste better. Or, you might find that a little bit of cayenne pepper is the perfect balance for a sweet cupcake. You should never be afraid to try different tastes. It is the most effective way to get better at baking. Good kitchen tools, like attachments for your stand mixer, can make your recipes so much better!
Do you have any of these things to help you cook? If you don’t already have them, put them on your shopping list because they’ll make baking a lot easier and more fun! Looking for good ingredients to use in your cooking? Click here to see the flours we have at Lehi Mills. We have cake flour, whole wheat flour, artisan flour, and more. We think that the best recipes start with the best ingredients.
