6 Baking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.
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| Top tier of a Golden Wedding Anniversary cake. |
You tell yourself that you did everything you were supposed to do. you greased the pan and measured out the ingredients as required. You preheated the oven to the right temperature; in short, you followed the directions completely!
What could possibly have gone wrong?
We have all been here. So, let me tell you why sometimes, in spite of following the directions perfectly; things can still go wrong. Here are 6 baking mistakes we all made in the beginning.
Opening the oven door too often?
I know it’s tempting. The temptation to open that oven door just to have a look at how the baking is coming along... Your so excited you can just taste it.
Or if you're not sure the baking time is enough, you might keep opening the oven door to check that it’s all baked trough.
The truth is, every time you open the oven door, hot air escapes and the oven temperature decreases, leaving the cake or bread sitting in a “cool” oven until it heats up again causing the cake to sink in the middle or be heavy in texture. Or both!
How to fix it unfortunately there is no way to fix a cake that’s heavy or sunk in the middle, once it has baked. So, if you really must open the door, it’s best to gaze at it longingly through the oven glass until 95-98% of the baking is done before opening that door.
Inaccurate measurements
Following the measurements in the recipe exactly is a very good habit and I commend you for that. However, there are many other measurements to take into consideration… oven temperature, ingredient temperature, time; and how exact can “exactly” measured ingredients be?
Oven Temperature: oven temperatures can mess up a bake too, and this has nothing to do with you. Different brands of ovens have different temperature readings. Either in Celsius or Fahrenheit, they differ very slightly (nothing to be concerned about) in how hot the scale by degrees (180 degrees etc.) should be.
How to fix it: This is nothing you can change. So, when you buy your oven, choose wisely. Then get to know your oven… bake your best bakes in it and adjust your heat settings with each bake until you are satisfied. Some ovens will shave five to ten minutes of the time (heat by degree is high) while some may add on five to ten minutes (heat by degree is low). And you do this every time you buy a new oven.
Ingredient Temperature: Recipes that say “room temperature” or “tepid water” usually mean something specific. So, using eggs or butter straight from the fridge will only make your batter curdle or water that’s warmer than tepid will kill your yeast.
How to fix it: any ingredients that have to be used at room temperature should be removed from the fridge at least 1 hour and 30 minutes before use. Any ingredient taken of the stove need to cool completely before use. And tepid liquid is liquid that’s heated to between 15 to 38 degrees Celsius (59 to 100F) so use a thermometer (even a temperature gun will do) to gauge your measurements.
Time: your baking time will depend on your oven temperature, the size of your baking pan and the quantity of batter you are baking. A 2lb (1kg) cake in a 2lb pan usually takes 30 to 35 minutes in the oven. A 2lb in a larger pan will take less time in the oven as the surface area of the cake is more and a smaller pan will take more time for the middle to be baked through.
How to fix it: get to know your oven temperatures and use the baking pan required by the recipe.
Measuring Ingredients: Baking requires precision so, if you want to be a baker who doesn’t measure out your ingredients then maybe baking is not for you. While sprinkling in a little-bit-of-this, a little-bit-of-that does well with that mouthwatering, spicy Sri Lankan curry, when baking the ingredients are all about chemical reactions that happen in your oven when the bake is at work.
so, take the time to measure out your ingredients as required by the recipe, and you can't go wrong.
Substituting Ingredients: Remember not all sugars are created equal; as are butters, flours and any other dry or wet ingredients you choose to use. Refined they all may be, but each brand adds their own secret to it.
How to fix it: Find a brand that works well and stick to it. Measure out each ingredient carefully and accurately, according to the recipe.
However, there are certain ingredients that you can't substitute and expect a recipe to work. Avoid substituting ingredients. (Example: real eggs for instant eggs or egg substitute) instead, find a recipe that includes these changes.
Learn about the chemical reactions that take place inside the oven. This will help you when “doubling a recipe” and never bake more than a double quantity of a recipe.
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Over-mixing or Under mixing batters and dough
“Beat the butter and sugar until light in color” means just what it says. So, when the batter lightens in color stop beating it and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
“Knead for ten minutes”. Again, it means exactly that so, use a timer and keep kneading until your ten minutes are up.
Not Preparing the Pan Properly
I think, the most annoying thing about baking is preparing the pan. Most recipes require that you “grease an ovenproof dish”. But how much grease do I use?
Well, experience taught me, “the more grease the better” Often I use a bit of coconut or olive oil to begin and a knob or two of butter over that to end and that usually works well.
Not cleaning your equipment.
Of course, we wash our equipment!... using a dishwasher or the human equivalent (Me!) and I am usually tired or in a hurry at the end of a recipe.
Overlooking that all important final inspection might be tempting. But overlooking this could mean missing a speck of butter or batter, noticing it before you start the next recipe and having to wash and dry before you begin the new recipe. This will leave a certain amount of moisture on the equipment which should be bone dry and may affect the outcome of the recipe.
How to fix it: I always remind myself that in washing up and checking my equipment after one recipe I am in fact preparing the equipment for the next recipe, whether the recipe be today, tomorrow or next week.
Giving your equipment time to air dry after washing, drying and inspecting it is foolproof.
"Baking requires precision. Without precision, it is not possible to produce something that tickles the senses and excites the taste buds."
But don’t feel disheartened. all of the above becomes second nature once you gone through them a few times. Keep a list of reminders taped up in your kitchen and refer to it until you get used to it and pretty soon you will be doing all that's required and more without the list.
Is
all this worth it, you ask?
Yes. For baking is an art just like painting or sketching is an art. Those who perfect their art make it look easy (and it is) and they have a wonderful time creating something special.
So, the next time the family comes together, and you bake a cake or a loaf of home baked bread that everyone enjoys; you can smile because it’s you who took the time to do things right and you created something perfect in every way.
Happy baking everyone!
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