Kitchen Tools for Baking - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. My favorite basic kitchen tools for baking starts with pans. You always want to make sure you get a nice quality 8 or 9 inch round and square pan. These are great for brownies, these are great for cakes, and make sure you get two of each. That way you can make a double layer cake, or a double layer square cake. Those are really important. They should be nice and heavy, good materials, and you do not want to get something that is very thin. That way they will have even cooking temperature and your cake will turn out right every time. Another important tool for your kitchen is a cupcake pan, or a muffin tin. Now, cupcakes could not be more popular these days, so it is really important to have a cupcake tin on hand. Obviously these are also really great for muffins, they are original concept. But, you want to make sure that it is nice and non-stick, scratch free, and, again a good quality metal, so you get even heat distribution and everything turns out the same every time. And make sure you get at least two, that way you can use the whole package and make twenty four-cupcakes or twenty four-muffins. Another really important tool in the kitchen is a sheet tray. Now this is considered in restaurant cooking a half sheet tray and it is really important. These fit really nicely in your oven. Good construction, they are made of solid aluminum, and you can keep them nice and clean because of that. They have excellent heat retention, so everything bakes evenly every time, and they are very professional. Now, to make it easier to cook, you can use what is called a sil pad, a silicone pad. See how this one fits perfectly inside my half sheet tray? It is made for that, so make sure you buy the right size. Now, a silicone pad is awesome, because it is always nonstick, it rolls up and takes up really small space in your cabinet and it keeps everything from sticking, from chicken wings to brownies. Now lets talk about some utensils for baking. Of course a really good whisk is important. I like to have a nice metal whisk with an easy handle to hold, because sometimes with baking you are whisking for a long time, and you want to make sure it is a nice, comfortable utensil. Also, a pastry brush, make sure you get a nice quality pastry brush. That way you can brush on butter on phyllo dough or chocolate on cookies and it will turn out great every time. Now something that is really important for baking is understanding the difference between a wet measuring cup and your dry measuring cups. When you are measuring water, oil, or honey you want to make sure you use a wet measuring cup. It has a spout, it has a handle, and it looks like a pitcher. It also has the measurements right on the side. When you are measuring flour, cornmeal, or sugar you should use a dry measuring cup. This makes a big difference, especially in baking. Baking is a science, so if your ingredients are off a little bit thing may not go as planned. So you want to make sure that liquids go in here and dry ingredients go in here. If you measure a half a cup of flour in here and you pour it in here, it will not measure a half a cup. Go ahead, test it, if you do not believe me. But make sure that this is for dry stuff and this is for wet stuff, and your baking goods will turn out awesome every time. And those are my favorite equipment and utensils you need for baking in your kitchen.
