Baking tools and ingredients

• Baking involves cooking using dry heat and is applicable to different kinds of food products like fruits or meat dishes, breads, cakes and pastries.

Classification Of Major Ingredients in Baking

• Flour provides the structure of baked goods and is the primary baking ingredient
• Wheat grain commonly produces flour.
• Flour is unique as it contains enough gluten-forming protein to provide the essential characteristics of baked goods
• Some flour varieties are made from rye, rice, corn, millet, barley and oats.
• Varieties in flour produce distinctive flavors and textures in baked goods.

Types of Flour

• Bread Flour, also known as patent flour, is hard wheat flour used for bread and soft rolls with 11-13% protein content
• All-purpose Flour is a mixture of hard and soft wheat flours, which is milled from wheat kernel endosperm, contains between 8-12% protein
• Cake Flour is soft wheat flour with 6-9% protein content and is good for baking cakes and cookies
• Clear Flour is hard wheat flour and has a darker color than bread or high-gluten flour, and is used in rye breads with 13-15% protein
• Durum Flour is made from the endosperm of the durum wheat kernel; this hard wheat flour used in breadmaking contains between 12-14% protein
• High-gluten Flour is milled from the entire endosperm and used for bagels and hard rolls, and its protein is typically 13-14%
• Pastry Flour is used for pie crust, dough, muffins and biscuits as well as pastries
• Semolina is a coarser ground durum wheat flour commonly in pasta
• Whole Wheat Flour, milled from the entire wheat kernel, including bran/germ, contains high lipids (fats) in germ; the flour becomes rancid easily and counts 14-16% protein

Liquids

• Attributes of liquids: moistness and texture in baked products
• Liquids are important in hydrating protein/starch, and assists leavening agents
• Liquid also leavens the baked product, because it turns to steam and expands during the baking process.

Kinds of Liquid Ingredients

• Milk and creams are the most comment ingredient referred to in most recipes, evaporated milk is the kind of milk where 60% of water content has been removed, when used in baking, this can be diluted with equal amount of water.
• Juice is a fresh fruit liquid generally used in baking and adds flavor/color.
• Juice is best in recipes using baking soda as leavening agent
• Water includes gluten-forming attributes: Serves as a solvent and as dispersing agent for salt, yeast, and sugar. Necessary for yeast fermentation and reproduction. Responsible for the consistency of bread-dough, varies in temperature to obtain dough texture.

Fats

• This can be in liquid or solid form, and is derived from animals or vegetables.
• Fats tenderize baked goods, soften the structure, add moistness/richness, increase keeping quality, add flavor, also assist in leavening when creaming agents.

Kinds of Fat

• Butter can be either salted or unsalted, and is derived from fatty milk protein; its flavor and melting quality are assets for pastries and cakes; good butter quality needs wrapping/refrigeration, because it melts at room temperature.
• Margarine is manufactured from hydrogenated vegetable/animal fats, with added flavoring emulsifiers, and coloring agents
• Oil is a liquid fat derived from vegetables, nuts, or seeds
• Oil prevents the cake from shortening/affecting cakes when used, due to mixture spreading.
• Lard comes the hog side; rarely used presently
• Shortening comprises a group of solid baking fats, generally white colored/tasteless; pie crusts and biscuits use shortening.

Sugar

• Sugar is also known as sweetener; its various forms range from powder to crystal/syrups, come in different degrees of sweetness, and:
• Provides tenderness
• Gives color to baked goods during the caramelization process
• Absorbs moisture from the air to provide moistness
• Aids fats in absorbing air
• Stabilizes meringue and whipped cream
• Provides yeast with food to encourage fermentation
• Caramelizes and recrystallizes to confections, frostings, and sauces; and
• Prevents water from freezing into a solid state.

Kinds of Sugar

• Granulated or refined cane sugar, also known as table sugar, has various types of granules; caster sugar's granules are finer than regular white sugar
• Confectioner or powdered sugar features fine ground texture in a powder mixed with small amount of starch; it is also known as icing sugar and used in icing cake, toppings, cream fillings, and dusting
• Brown sugar comes in light, medium, and raw color, has small amoutns of fructose and glucose while the darker varieties contain more impurities, with low content of molasses and the natural fibers of sugar cane.

Leavening Agents

• An ingredient in baking that makes the baked product rise.
• It is responsible for the production and incorporation of gases during the baking process.

Types of Leavening Agents

• Yeast is available in two types: Active dry yeast/instant yeast-which feature coarse oblong granules; instant or rapid-rise yeast has smaller granules and dissolves faster
• Yeast is used for breads due to its gluten-formation and stabilization in the fermentation process
• Baking soda, or sodim bicarbonate, features fine white texture, and also a slightly salty and alkaline taste.
• Baking soda is well-suited for muffins, cakes, cookies, and pastries due to its rapid chemical leavening action
• Baking powder combines baking soda plus an acid reactant, and features starch to prevent lumping, available in types:
  • Single-acting Baking Powder: Requires only moisture to release gas.
  • Double-acting Baking Powder: Releases gas across two stages: during mixing, and following the chemical addition of heat during baking.

Eggs

• Eggs perform many functions in the production of baked products.
• The best kind of egg in baking is the fresh-white chicken egg
• Ideal eggs should be clean, fresh, free from bad odors and taste
• Functions of egg, its protein contributes to structure of baked product
• It serves as emulsifier, in the contribution of volume and texture
• They act as leavening agents as well; when egg whites are beaten, air is trapped in the foam bubbles and expands in baking.
• Eggs contribute also to moisture value/texture/color/flavor

Salt and other Flavorings

• Salt enhances the color and sweetness of ingredients, slows yeast fermentation, and stretches gluten structure.
• Spice flavorings include vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; and other flavor extracts.

Tools and Equipment in Baking

• Equipped kitchens allows baking tasks and processes to occur with greater ease
• Proper matching tools and equipment for successful baking, improves accuracy in output/results

Tools and Equipment

• Graduated measuring cups mark different measurement on each of its sides with transparent plastic and glass bodies, used to measures dry liquid ingriedients
• Measuring spoons are to measure small quantities and consist of a set of spoons with different amounts
• Flour sifters sift flour
• Mixing Bowls mix ingredients within; they cone in different sizes/sloping sides
• Spatulas assist with baking; small spatulas remove cookies, and larger versions spread cake icings
• Rubber scrapers remove small food bits from sides of bowls
• Weighing scales assists with the measurement of ingredients in baking
• Utility trays help with the organization of containers
• Wire whisks for egg whites/cream beating action

Baking wares

• Containers hold batter via the baking process

• Varieties:

  • Tube center pan
  • Muffin pan
  • Jelly roll pan
  • Loaf pan

• Pastry bags features icing/whipped-cream placement on desserts

• Pastry brushes helps in covering greased/glazed surfaces

• Cutting tools (i.e. knives/chopping boards) enable chefs to cut various ingredients

• Kitchen Shears helps with various cutting tasks in procedures

• Graters make cheese/veggie processes easier

• Timers keeps on time while processes like cooking/proofing occurs

Ovens

• Ovens are essential to bakeshops for producing baked products, completed via heating the oven
  • Deck Oven, or Stack Oven, stacks on top of another; bakes breads directly on the oven floor
  • Rack Oven, with racks full of sheet pans, bakes entire batches at once
  • Mechanical Oven's wheel assists heating, eliminating differences in baking due to overall rotation from oven.
  • Convection Oven contains fans assisting circulation of the air/heat rapidly throughout baking

Basic Principles in Baking

• Principles for success in backing include quality products, proper ingredient measurement, specific specifications of ingredients, and correct methods/baking processes.

Measuring Ingredients Correctly:

• Use of rice and flour require spoon/similar tool, level-off via straight edges
• Sift Sifted Flour before measurement
• Sugar Refined sugar is to be sifted, and spooned, without tapping the mixture
• Shape and level off brown sugar; avoid any possible tapping
• Level all ingredients, and avoid any shaking motion with volume control of measurement with baking.

Safety and Sanitation in Baking

• Maintain personal hygiene as well as the cleanliness surrounding the environment for tasks
• Keep and maintain the cleanliness while working with food along with laboratory equipment.

Covers baking tools such as spatulas, weighing scales, and whisks, essential for precise baking. Explores ingredients like sugar and flour and their specific roles. Looks at the function of leavening agents in baking.