|
Home / Food and Drink
Baking Tips - 21 Extraordinary Tips For Beginners!
By:Abhishek Agarwal
Are you a beginner at baking? Getting cold feet about never having tried your hand at the culinary arts? Fear not, cooking is not as complicated as it sounds. It is only complicated when you have no idea about what you're doing. If you happen to be one of those people that needs help with cooking, here are some special cooking tips for you and voila! Before you know it, you'll be busy in the kitchen, rustling up a storm!
Tips for beginners
Here are a few cooking tips that'll help you prevent any kind of disaster in the kitchen.
Disaster Management
1. Always read the recipe thoroughly before embarking on the Herculean task of baking. This is of vital importance because it ensures that you have all the ingredients of your recipes up your sleeves before embarking on the task of actually cooking.
2. Check Expiry Dates. You don't want your cooking to be spoilt because of sheer carelessness.
3. Preheat the Oven with an oven thermometer. This should range from twenty-five degrees cooler to twenty five degrees warmer.
4. Make sure that the optimum temperature is obtained for the recipe.
5. Follow directions on adjusting oven racks and prepping baking sheets.
6. Measure ingredients accurately. In case of liquids, hold them up to the eye level.
7. Use the right Baking Pan. All your efforts will come to nought if you are using a bad baking pan.
8. To measure dry ingredients, over fill the container or baking pan that you are using and then level off with the flat edge of a knife.
9. Measure ingredients accurately. In case of liquids, hold them up to the eye level.
10. And last, but most certainly not the least, bake with love. If you pour your heart and soul into the baking, you're sure to come up with a winner.
Ingredients for Baking
1. When baking different things, different kinds of flour are used. For instance, wheat flour is important for all yeast bread but if you use wheat flour in yeast bread, it'll turn into a heavy cake and you sure don't want that.
2. Cake flour is also a good deal if you're baking a cake while the "all-purpose-flour", true to its name, can be used for almost anything and everything. It is a boon in disguise for all you Bakers out there!
3. Bleached and unbleached flours can be used interchangeably. You can put your brains aside for once because this time, you don't have to use your discretion and pick and choose what you have to use.
4. Always store flour in an airtight container, and keep it in a spot that is cool and dry for up to six months.
5. If you think baking powder and baking soda are interchangeable, get rid of this misconception immediately. They are not. Baking powder is a combination of baking soda and an acid. Its leavening power works only when it is mixed with wet ingredients and put into the oven.
6. In contrast, Baking Soda is nothing but Sodium Bicarbonate. When mixed with an acid like buttermilk, it produces carbon dioxide bubbles, making the baked goods light, airy and delicious.
Now handling chocolate is a different ball game altogether so an entire section has been dedicated on how to handle chocolate. Chocolate, as we all know is wonderful and melts in the mouth. But let us not forget that when we are baking something with chocolate in it, it can turn out to be an utter disaster if we are not aware of what we are doing.
Handling Chocolate
For handling chocolate, we have to first understand that there are different kinds of chocolate.
1. Various amounts of sugar are added to create bitter-sweet, semi-sweet and dark chocolate.
2. Milk Chocolate is dried milk powder, cocoa butter and added sugar.
3. Unsweetened cocoa is made from chocolate liquor with seventy five percent cocoa butter removed, then dried and ground into a paste.
4. When you melt chocolate, remember that it is easy to burn. So, always burn it over very low heat.
5. Depending on your convenience, you can choose to use the double boiler method, the microwave oven method or even the direct heat method.
By now, I think you're equipped to handle baking quite well. Follow these simple, easy to follow steps and before you know it, you'll have turned into a master baker. Good Luck with that!
Digg
del.icio.us
Blink
Stumble
Spurl
Reddit
Netscape
Furl
Article keywords: cook, cooking tips, kitchen, recipe, cooking, baking, new to baking, baking a cake
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com
Abhishek is a cooking enthusiast! Visit his website http://www.Cooking-Guru.com and download his FREE Cooking Report "Master Chef Secrets" and learn some amazing Cooking tips and tricks for FREE! Learn how to create the perfect meal on a shoe-string budget. And yes, you get to keep all the accolades! But hurry, only limited Free copies available!
http://www.Cooking-Guru.com
|
|
| Top Food and Drink Articles |
- 1). Convection vs. Conventional Ovens... What's The Difference? By : Debbie Dragon
If you are in the market for a new oven and you’ve already begun shopping for one, you’ve probably noticed that there are a few different types. Two of the most popular oven types are conventional and convection, and many newer ovens have the option of cooking food in either fashion depending on the set mode. The difference in these two types of ovens is the way in which the heat in the oven is dispersed during the cooking process.
|
- 2). Fish Oil - It’s Health Benefits & Risks By : John H. Rogers
As the name implies, fish oil is oil that is removed from the tissues of oily fish and is often recommended as part of a healthy diet program. Many nutritionists recommend that individuals each fish at least once a week, but emphasis must be placed on the importance of avoiding fish that contain certain harmful contaminants. In avoiding predatory fish, such as sharks and others, individuals will prevent the consumption of unhealthy substances which can accumulate due to the fish’s predatory lifestyle.
|
|
|
- 4). Let's NOT Talk Turkey By : Kristin Johnson
The carving. The leftovers. The endless stuffing. Actually, you love the stuffing, cranberries and turkey trimmings. However, it's been se
|
|
|
- 6). Honey – Important Health Facts! By : Anita Morris
Honey is the most known apicultural product, it is a substance that the bees produce through a complicated process of elaboration, where they absorb the nectar and deposit it in their stomach, then go back to the beehive to deliver it, throwing up repeated times; this way ferments, acid and albumen are added to the nectar. It contains most of the essential mineral elements that our system needs.
|
- 7). Homemade Ice Cream - Easier Than You think! By : Scott Byers
If you are looking for some great fun and a delicious treat any time of year, you will want to know about making homemade ice cream. This is a fun thing to do alone or with someone else. No matter what you are doing or what the temperature is outside, you will want to have some homemade ice cream for a great snack or treat. You will love making it along with eating it as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| New Food and Drink Articles |
- 1). Do Aphrodisiac Foods Exist By : Kadence Buchanan
Many of us have heard that sea-food excite the human senses or that walnuts and honey are the best aphrodisiac. But do certain types of food affect the human erotic impulse?
|
|
|
|
|
- 4). How To Eat Good Quality Food While Traveling By : Gregg Hall
When you are traveling whether on the road or airport hopping finding good food to eat at a reasonable price is an important consideration. When you are traveling eating out at fancy restaurants can take you over your budget in a hurry.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- 9). Cooking Tips For Outdoor Chefs By : Bob Alexander
Tips on how to light charcoal for barbeque cookouts and live to tell about it! Safety tips for the novice and experienced griller both. Delicious cooking ideas for smoking meats.
|
- 10). Fish Oil - It’s Health Benefits & Risks By : John H. Rogers
As the name implies, fish oil is oil that is removed from the tissues of oily fish and is often recommended as part of a healthy diet program. Many nutritionists recommend that individuals each fish at least once a week, but emphasis must be placed on the importance of avoiding fish that contain certain harmful contaminants. In avoiding predatory fish, such as sharks and others, individuals will prevent the consumption of unhealthy substances which can accumulate due to the fish’s predatory lifestyle.
|
|
|
