Basic baking equipment for a home kitchen

I have been procrastinating with this post , and I'm not a natural procrastinator.

I love writing posts about the amazing bakes that we have all been learning together, but this post just feels a necessary , but totally boring subject to write about .

At least I have made a start , so it can only be onwards and upwards from here .

If you are new to baking , then please don't feel that you have to rush out and buy all the equipment I'm going to talk about . Just build it up slowly as you need it , and you can always beg , borrow or steal (forget that last one) needed items from family and friends .

Also remember , you can start cheap and then upgrade your most used items as you hone your skills .

Later posts on cake decorating and making your own chocolates will require more specialised equipment , but let's cross that bridge when we get there .

So in this post , I am going to write a paragraph or two about each of the pieces of equipment that I use again and again in the recipes I love . They are in no particular order because they are all equally needed for most of my home baking .

Mixing Bowls

I don't think baking would be possible without a few different sized pyrex mixing bowls . Though people did manage before pyrex was invented but they must have had it way harder than us lucky lot have now . In the future someone will probably invent a mixing bowl that has the heat transfer properties of a metal cake tin and the easy mixing properties of pyrex . So mixing , beating and cooking can all be done in one dish . Then that generation will look back on us with pity . But we're not that advanced yet so I still love my range of pyrex mixing bowls and will continue to shout their praises .

You will need at least one large pyrex bowl (23cm / 9 inch diameter) to allow more effective incorporation of air into a mixture .

Also a couple of medium bowls for beating eggs , cream or melting chocolate (20cm / 8inch diameter)

And a few smaller bowls for holding unused egg yolks or any other left overs (14cm / 5inch diameter)

Cooling Rack

Again this item is indispensable for turning out and cooling your cakes and bakes after they have initially cooled and hardened a little in their tins . The cooling rack allows the base of the cake or bake to cool fully and prevents a soggy bottom - and no one wants one of those .

It is handy to have at least two of these wire racks usually around 31cm (12inch) width and 38cm (15inch) length.

Measuring Jug

Honestly , Mr or Ms Pyrex were a huge asset to the world of cooking and baking . It's people like these that we need to run the Country .

A couple of pyrex liquid measuring jugs are fantastic . I have a medium and small one. The medium one measures up to 1/2 L (1 pint) and the smaller one (about half the size) is great for smaller , more precise liquid measurements .

They are also very useful for making custard or gravy and can just be covered with clingfilm , kept in the fridge and reheated when needed in the microwave.

Sieve

A sieve is essential (sorry about all of the essentials and indispensables) for allowing air to be incorporated into dry ingredients . It also helps mix the dry ingredients evenly and breaks up any lumps . A cake without a sieve would be a flat disaster (though would probably still get eaten in our house).

Kitchen Scales

I have always thought that savoury chefs have it way easier than pastry chefs . If you make any savoury recipe , you can pretty much add what you like and play around with the amounts of each ingredient until you reach your preferred flavour . Pastry chefs , on the other hand , have to be much more precise . Everything needs to be measured and weighed accurately in order that the final product is a high enough standard to meet the restaurant requirements .

That is why a reasonably good quality digital kitchen scale is another necessary item in your arsenal . There are so many brands and it depends on how much you want to spend , but look at reviews that mention good precision , sensitivity and reliablility (a bit like you would maybe look for in a potential partner).

A Measuring Cup Nest

You will be relieved to know that this is not vital (unless you live in New Zealand, Australia, America and any other country where recipes are given in cup measurements ) But a measuring cup nest is still useful for adding an accurate measurement for a teaspoon or tablespoon ingredient . The cup containing the ingredient , can be levelled off flat with a knife , added to the mixture and will provide the precise quantity of ingredient required .

Electric Hand Whisk

If you have ever tried to beat cream with a basic hand held whisk , you will understand the beauty and relief that an electric hand whisk provides . Luckily they are not an expensive item , so any cost is far outweighed by the the huge difference they make to the ease and speed of home baking .

They are also easy to clean , store and can be used for everything from beating egg whites or cream , to whisking together butter and sugar in a light and fluffy mix , then incorporating the eggs for your perfect cake mixture .

If you are only going to bake for family and friends , I would say that an electric hand whisk is the only piece of electrical equipment you will ever need . However , if you start to become ambitious and want to produce enough product to sell, you may need to eventually invest in a Standmixer .

Hooray , that's the first part of kitchen equipment done .

In the end , I realised that this post was going to be a little bigger than I had planned (probably because I had wanted to keep it short and get it over with) . But life often doesn't go exactly as you plan or prefer it to , so I ended up dividing the post into two parts . That way , both you and I can have a break from "equipment" and either get back to baking or else chill for the weekend .

Enjoy yourself , and I'll be back next Sunday xxx