Top 6 Baking tips for absolute beginners

1. Know your oven

Every Oven is different, professional kitchen demands big ovens while we usually own small ovens at our homes. All of them heat up and cool down differently. Even a cake bakes differently in different racks of our oven. It is very important to know our oven, how much time it takes to pre-heat and to bake different things. For example, my oven is a small one and bakes everything in half the time because it gets heated up so quickly and the environment of the oven can bake the whole thing. Don’t worry! You might fail once or twice after just having bought the oven but learn from your mistakes and you’ll become a pro at baking in no time!

2. Read your recipe twice before starting 

Sometimes the recipe tells you to do something you should’ve done in the first place. It is always better to read the recipe and mentally prepare yourself for each and every step you got to follow. Also, arrange all your ingredients so you don’t miss out on any ingredients.

3. Follow every single step of the recipe

Cooking may be an art, but baking is a calculated science that has no room for improvisations. If the recipe calls for dusting the baking pan with flour and you don’t follow it, your perfectly baked cake won’t come out. The best way to avoid baking fails is to religiously follow all the recipes.

4. Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature

Before starting to actually mix all the ingredients, everything should be at room temperature. Only If the recipe calls for chilled ingredients or ingredients at a certain temperature, like a Pie Crust Recipe, you can follow it accordingly. Otherwise, room temperature will ensure even baking.

5. Weigh correctly

Weight the ingredients correctly because nothing can be added later like in gas cooking. Invest in both a kitchen weighing scale and measuring cups & spoons. This investment will help you save your time and money from baking fails. Also, a little extra of something like baking powder can ruin your dish completely. 

6. Bake when you have time

Baking takes time and patience, do it on a day when you have plenty of time. Do not rush with the ingredients and with the baking. Baking something for 30 minutes at 425 degrees will give you a different result than baking it for 60 minutes at 200 degrees. Stick to the recipe and trust the wait.