Are you one of the many Americans who has found solace in baking while stuck at home? Cookies, cake, bread and pie have long been considered comfort foods. Even the DoubleTree chain has released the recipe for its popular chocolate chip cookies to the public. While you can't check into a hotel for these gooey treats during the pandemic, at least you can now check out its website for how to make them in your own kitchen.
If you're new to baking – and you've found your own pandemic-scarce flour source – these pro tips can help you create a baking center in your kitchen now. If you find that you love it, and want to continue even after your favorite bakery reopens, consider the tips for designing a complete baking center into your next kitchen project.
Getting Started
James Beard Foundation Awards nominee, judge, and longtime food writer Lisa Chernick's new book, Your Starter Kitchen (Tiller Press, August 2020), shares insights on what you need, what you don't, and when to save or splurge for those setting up their own kitchen. She offers her advice to Forbes.com readers for getting equipped for baking. "Beginner bakers should keep it simple! Be realistic about the projects you want to tackle and buy gear for those; don't go nuts," she cautions.
"Start with a loaf pan for tea cakes or banana bread, an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan for brownies, a 9- by 13-inch rectangular pan for sheet cakes and fruit crumbles, a rimmed baking sheet for cookies (and to make granola!), and round 8- or 9-inch pan(s) for layer cakes. It's also good to have a pie plate and a muffin tin. You can wait on more esoteric stuff like springform pans for cheesecake, tart pans, and madeleine forms, to name a few."
Chernick adds, "You'll also need a whisk, rubber scraper, mixing bowls, two sets of dry measuring cups/spoons (having two means not having to stop and wash midway through a recipe), liquid measuring cup(s), parchment paper for lining pans, an electric mixer (handheld is fine), and at least one cooling rack."
Professional chef and trainer Bridget Bueche of Cooks Perspective agrees: "I am not a fan of buying small appliances as a trendy whim. If someone is going to start baking, invest in quality equipment for the long term. Buy one piece at a time and build as you go," she advises. "A stand mixer is a better investment than a cumbersome one-size-fits all bread maker," Bueche observes. "For artisan bread baking, proofing baskets and a quality cast iron pot with a lid is the best investment that allows you to use a standard oven." Baking steels and pizza stones turn a conventional oven into a baker's oven by distributing heat more evenly & efficiently, she notes.
Organizing Tips
Creating a baking center in your kitchen isn't just about the gear itself. It's also about how and where you store it. Your goal is convenience, so that baking continues to be more of a pleasure than a chore. "Store your baking sheets, cooling racks, and muffin tins vertically for easy access and to save space," Chernick recommends. It's not uncommon for a kitchen to have base cabinets that are too narrow for storing pots and pans. If yours does, and it's located close to the oven or your preferred prep space, it can be repurposed by removing the center shelf and installing a DIY-friendly tray divider. If yours doesn't have such a cabinet, the otherwise hard-to-use space above a wall oven or over-the-range microwave can make a good home for a divider and vertical storage.
To save additional space, the author suggests, "Buy stackable mixing bowls and measuring gear. And know that two baking sheets take up nearly the same space as one, so keep two on hand and you'll be glad whenever you're baking cookies." You'll want to keep those, along with your non-refrigerated baking ingredients, in close proximity to each other to make the prep process as efficient as possible.
Saves and Splurges
"The best way to save on baking gear is to not over-buy!" Chernick declares. That means no fancy pans or decorating equipment until you actually need it, she notes. "Instead, splurge on high-quality basics and you'll only need to buy them once; well-constructed gear can last a lifetime. If you're looking for a super big splurge, go for a stand mixer – it's like a Rolls Royce for your kitchen," she shares.
"Vermicular is my hands-down favorite small appliance at this time," shares Bueche. "It's a portable induction unit with an incredible Japanese-crafted enameled cast iron vessel. I use it for everything from baking bread in my oven to melting butter or coconut oil, tempering chocolate, making yogurt, cooking grains or searing then slow-cooking proteins." The chef-trainer adds, "Baking steels and pizza stones turn a conventional oven into a baker's oven by distributing heat more evenly and efficiently."
Revealing one of her trade sources, Bueche suggests, "Chefs' Toys is a great place to buy online pro-style baking equipment and tools at a great value. Beginners and seasoned bakers alike want easy to clean and reliable equipment."
Post-Pandemic Baking Center
All of the tools Chernick recommends should earn a place in a long-term baking center, if this hobby becomes a lifelong passion. Many serious home bakers have gone beyond the basics, asking their builder or remodeler to create a baking center in their new kitchens.
When creating a plan from scratch, you can determine where your storage, prep space and appliances should go in relation to each other. A baking center should be designed around your oven (or ovens) with the following essentials:
If your budget allows for a larger investment, these additions can make your baking center work even better:
Pro Appliance Advice
Bueche works has decades of experience helping appliance retailers train non-chefs on using the cooking and baking models they sell. (She was one of the founding executives of the luxurious, experiential Pirch showrooms.) When it comes to appliances you should consider for your future kitchen's baking center, she recommends, "A new or remodeled kitchen should not be without a convection steam oven! It's a baker's best friend!" This oven will also perfectly reheat foods, including day-old bread, she says. "It's the best clean food reheating technology out there, none-the-less a super sanitizer!"
Another feature these convection steam ovens — also called combi-steam ovens — offer is the ability to combine dishes in the same cooking cycle without odor transfer. In other words, if you're making sole almondine, baked asparagus with parmesan, fresh bread, and strawberry tarts for dessert, you can make them all at the same time in the same oven. That's a tremendous convenience and energy saver.
If you're working with a limited footprint, Bueche notes that "There are several major brands that inject bursts of steam in their ranges for bread-baking specifically. Convection baking modes have become a standard in almost every oven on the market."
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