Wednesday 23 March 2011

A Serious Bakers World

A Serious Baker’s World
Most of us particularly Indians , as in our Indian Cuisine baking doesn’t really play any major role get in to baking like a one night stand where they may just try out one or two recipes out of fascination and then forget about it.  This piece of article is for serious bakers one who are committed to baking and those who get in to a committed relation ship then they plan each step, so that they enjoy it for the rest of their life.
There is nothing as satisfying as the Aroma of freshly baked bread coming out of the  kitchen
This Aroma your family may savour in their minds for years to come which any store brought bread no matter however good it would be would not create such an impact.
How Do you Get Serious?
If you want to know how to bake then the first thing which you need to begin is by making your life as simple possible and this means giving a little time and investment to, first getting the right utensils and cooking equipment and also you need to have a well stocked kitchen cupboard.  These equipments are a kind of one time investment but having them handy at your disposal will make your life much more simple and baking a joy rather then a tedious task.  So for all you serious bakers Below I have given a list of basic equipments required in your kitchen
OVENS
Generally in most Indian homes there are two types of ovens that is the OTG that is the Oven Toaster Griller which was the type of oven used in our homes for quite some time now this type of oven is very easy to follow and can do a decent job of baking on any given day .

Convection Oven: To save space of having microwave and a separate OTG now a days we get this convection ovens this type of oven have a dual job of microwave cum oven however I have always been asked by quiet a few people a very  similar question as to “ I have a very good oven but my cakes always come out as a disaster”. The fault generally is not with the oven but many of us do not  read the instruction manual properly , though this type of ovens have dual function they have different mode one is the Micro wave mode and the other is Oven mode which is used for baking and you can never make a cake in a microwave so all you people who use the convection oven please read the instruction manual carefully before operating the oven.


Measuring Scales, Measuring Spoons & Measuring Cups;

Baking is something like a science project were each and every ingredient  has  to be measured precisely before being added in a recipe and no matter however experienced you are as a baker its always a good idea to invest in a good weighing scale usually a small electronic weighing scale ideal for home use  can cost you  around Rs 1000 ,you do get a cheaper manual scale as well but I personally find the electronic one much more convenient plus  some scales also have a additional feature of weighing in grams as well as Ounces .  Then there are some recipes which have cup measurements for that there are this cup measures and measuring spoons which are also easily available.


SPATULA


Now this piece of equipment is small but an absolute whizz as it can miraculously clean up every bit of mixture from any shape of a bowl ,here in Mumbai we get a one made with silicone as well as a rubber one but buying the one made of silicone would be ideal as it is heat resistant and can also be used for stirring directly on the flame plus a great help when it comes to folding batters etc. A good quality silicone spatula should cost you around 200-250 Rupees.

Whisk
There are different types of whicks you get in the market but these two are the most common variety which I use
Wonder Whisk :
which I recently purchased after watching my favorite Cookery authours Delia Smith and Nigella Lawson rave about it  if has flat handle with a coil on top which is especially handy when making batter  in small quantities and due to its flat handle its easier to reach the corners which becomes difficult when it comes to balloon whisk. This Whisk should cost around Rs 75.

Balloon Whisk:


A balloon whisk is used for spontaneous whisking especially useful to mix beverages and to generate volume while beating egg and sugar batter for manually whisking sponge cake.

Brushes:
This is another piece of small equipment which is extremely useful for brushing glaze on to a product; greasing cake tins etc pastry brushes have multi uses pastry brushes are easily available in the markets for the lowest range starting from Rs 15-20.


Miscellaneous Baking Tins
Having a small collection of different sized baking tins are good to provide variety to a product these can be brought as a one time investment and used according to need in India we usually get it in aluminum but nowadays Non stick variety and Silicone tins are also available in the market.




Rolling Pin
Rolling pins are used for rolling out bread dough's  pizza dough etc I Use a metal rolling pin but there is wide variety of rolling pins available in different sizes, wooden ones are easily available plus easy to maintain.

Plastic Bowls
This is a very silly equipment according to most people but I consider it really handy when it comes to weighing different ingredients and keeping it separately which in turn assists in easy mixing without running around leaving things half way done to weigh a certain ingredient.
Wooden Spoon


This wooden spoon makes creaming butter or margarine very easier though some people prefer using a whisk but I find using a wooden spoon very convenient especially if I am manually creaming a cake because at home we usually make in small quantities and using a electronic mixer for small quantities is very tedious.

Electronic Mixer/Kitchen Aid


This is really a boon to use and worth while investment to make but unfortunately it’s a little expensive and rather difficult to get it make whisking, creaming kneading a child’s play . This would cost any were between Rs 40,000-50,000

 In India we do get a cheaper variety though its not of a very good quality but just about solves the purpose , rather then whisking with hand that is very strenuous work which would discourage even enthusiastic bakers so if you cannot get the real one you sure can use the electronic egg beater you get in any mall for around Rs 1500.

Palette Knife
This equipment is used for level a cake or even icing a cake you get them in various sizes also step palette knives are available for convenience.

Ice-cream Scoop
Not only they scoop out ice cream I find them very convenient to scoop out drop cookies , muffin batters etc as they can get very messy other wise..


There are about hundreds of fascinating equipment for baking which can be collected as an when it catches your fancy but the above equipment is just about enough to do a  wide variety of serious baking


 
 
    

3 comments:

  1. Veena, I enjoy reading your posts. I have been eyeing the wonder whisk for some time now. All the TV cookery hosts seem to be using it. That is next on my to-buy list.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have enjoyed reading your articles. It is well written. It looks like you spend a large amount of time and effort in writing the blog. I am appreciating your effort and pictures are really helpfull for us..........
    Bakery Equipment

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks so much glad you like my blog

    ReplyDelete