Baking is a great hobby to start as it allows you to create delicious and beautiful pastries in the comfort of your own home. And once you acquire baking as a skill, you’ll be able to create pastries you can proudly give to friends and family, bring to a potluck and even create a business around.
But before you start baking, you first need to know the basic things you’ll be needing such as the equipment and ingredients. These 2 main principles of baking essentials are necessary for you to know and understand.
So to help you on your baking journey, we listed down essential things you’ll be needing as a starting baker! Check it all out below:
1 – Measuring equipment
As a starting baker, you should know measurements are a huge part of baking. Most of all receipts require exact measurements to perfectly make a certain pastry. So make sure to have measuring equipment with you before you start baking!
What are measuring tools needed in baking?
There are 7 measuring tools needed when baking and it’s measuring cups, measuring spoons, liquid measuring cups, an oven thermometer, a timer, a digital thermometer and a weighing scale. These are needed to make sure all your ingredients are in correct and accurate amounts.
2 – Baking pans
When baking, you need to know you can’t bake using just any container you have at home. Making sure you use oven-safe containers or baking pans. Baking pans are often used for cakes and other kinds of pastries. And depending on the pan used, your pastry will replicate its form.
What are the kinds of baking pans?
All kinds of pans come in different sizes. So make sure to measure your oven to check if the pan you’re planning to get will fit. To give you an idea of baking pans to get, here’s a list of common baking pans bakers use:
- Sheet pan.
- Loaf pan.
- Baking sheet.
- Bundt pan.
- Muffin pan.
- Cake pan.
- Tube centre pan.
- Jelly roll pan.
- Slice tray.
Apart from pans, you can also use standard oven-safe dishes and deep dishes. For fun-shaped pastries, you can consider using heart-shaped pans, flower-shaped pans and so much more!
3 – Mixing and handling equipment
Now you’ll need something to help you mix and handle your ingredients when baking. These are essential to have since your ingredients will get to a point where it’ll be hard to mix by hand. And handlers are needed for the sanitary and safe handling of the batter, dough, icing and so on.
What are essential mixing and handling baking equipment?
Mixing and handling tools are an efficient way to make baking easier. Plus these are also equipment essential when baking! To efficiently handle and mix your ingredients when baking, make sure you have the items on this list:
- A hand whisk
- An electric mixer.
- Mixing bowls.
- Silicone spatulas.
- Wooden spoons.
- Cutting tools.
- Patry wheels.
- Pastry brush.
- Icing syringe.
- Sifters.
- Rolling pins.
- Grater.
- Cooling racks.
- Parchment paper.
4 – Baking ingredients
Apart from the equipment, you’ll also need baking ingredients to successfully create delicious pastries! As a starting baker, consider getting only the essential ingredients needed when baking. This is to give you an idea of what base or commonly used ingredients are needed when baking.
Plus, if you’re not sure about the amount of a certain ingredient when shopping, always get an extra item just to make sure. Because it’s better to have extra than lacking. For instance, if you don’t know if one bag of chocolate chips will be enough for the amount of batter you’ll be making, just get an extra bag (just to be sure.)
What are common baking ingredients needed?
Base ingredients are components that are almost always part of the recipe. These are some of the most important elements when baking so make sure to not miss an item when shopping. Before baking, make sure to have all the listed ingredients on hand:
- All-purpose flour.
- Bread flour.
- Cake flour.
- Flavouring elements (ex. Vanilla extracts)
- Salt and sugar.
- Baking powder.
- Baking soda.
- Oil.
- Milk.
- Eggs.
- Cocoa powder.
- Spices (ex. cinnamon)
- Butter.
- Shortening.
- Acids (ex. Citrus juice)
- Your choice of added goodness (ex. Chocolate, fruits, nuts, etc.)
Take away
Now you know the necessary things needed when baking, you’ll surely not lack equipment or supply on your first tries in baking! You can use this article as a checklist when heading to the supermarket or grocery store to get your essential items. We hope this helped give you an idea of what you’ll be needing when baking–enjoy!
