BASIC BAKING EQUIPMENTS: A BEGINNERS GUIDE

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BASIC BAKING EQUIPMENTS
When you are just testing the waters or just starting out, you do not want to invest in expensive and/or many equipments that might only be used for a few times. Below is a list of basic but important equipments that you will need when you want to turn your cake baking hobby into a 'serious' business. Most of the items listed here you might already own. If not, then you might consider investing in them to make your workload easier that gives a professional finish. However, remember that cake baking is a whole big world of its own and there are a 1001 (literally!) different cakes so buy only what you will initially need and build your stock up on a need to need basis (otherwise you might a fortune on items that you will never use!).

For ease of a quick check we have divided the equipments into different categories and you might need to buy at least one/set in each category..

LIST OF KITCHEN BAKING ESSENTIALS

1 MEASURING EQUIPMENTs: Measuring cake ingredients needs to be precise, whether by volume or weight, solids or liquids, hence it is important that you have
  • Measuring cups  : These might be plastic or metal (stainless steel) and can be used to measure both, dry and wet ingredients. A standard measuring cups set                  includes a ¼ cup, ½ cup and 1 cup measures.  
  • Measuring spoons (for smaller quantities of dry or liquids) : These too can be used to measure both, wet and dry ingredients. Useful for measuring in smaller quantities. A standard measuring spoon set includes ¼ tsp, ½ tsp, 1 tsp and 1 tbs.
  • Graduating measuring cup or a measuring jug: These are used to measure liquids (or liquid state) ingredients. These are marked with graduating lines to show how much liquid is left as it is being poured/used.
  • Measuring scale (for solids weights).

2 FLOUR SIFTERS: These are useful in sifting flour as well as other dry ingredients. Used to incorporate air as the ingredients are sifted, as well as useful in combining dry ingredients together. They are available in different sizes and materials like plastic or metal.

3 MIXERs: Essential for incorporating air in cake batters. Mixers can be manual or electric, hand-held or free standing, depending on their mode of operation.
  • WHISK: A whisk is a manual hand held mixer. These will come in handy when you are not yet ready to buy an electric mixer. Manual hand mixers are cheaper to purchase but are very time consuming. They can be use for starting out in testing the waters, but they will also be an additional useful equipment to any baker as they can be used to tackle smaller jobs even if you eventually own the electric mixers.
  • ELECTRIC MIXERs; These are electric operated (non manual) mixers. They can be hand held or free standing. They are not essentials in cake making but they do save time and effort! I personally prefer free standing electric mixers. Their greatest advantage is that you can get along doing other jobs while your batter is being whisked. They are a great addition of hands in the kitchen and in the cake making process! There are so many different brands available.

4 MIXING BOWLS: A set of mixing bowls (at least 1 medium and large) would be necessary for preparing ingredients or actually used in making the cake batter. 

5 SPATULAS: Spatulas come in different shapes and sizes and in different materials too. 
  • RUBBER SPATULAS: Spatulas with a wide rubber head are useful for folding flour into batter or for stirring. A narrow one is usually used to scrap batter off the mixing bowls. Buy silicone head spatulas as they can withstand high temperatures.
  • METAL SPATULAS; These are also known as decorating spatulas. Also available in different sizes and shapes. Some are flat while others are angled. They can be used to remove cakes from their cake tins after baking. But mainly used for decorating cakes.
(Personal tip: the smaller the spatula, the easier to handle and work with).

6 PASTRY BRUSH: These also come in different shapes and made of different materials. Some are made of hog bristles, nylon or silicone. Useful for applying egg wash, syrup, etc. 

7 BAKING UTENSILS: These also come in different shapes (round, square), sizes (small, large etc)  and materials (steel, aluminium,silicone, glass etc).
  • Baking sheets: These are shallow trays useful for baking biscuits/cookies or sponge cakes. 
  • Baking pans; Unlike baking sheets, these have a bigger height and used to make cakes. It is essential to use the correct tin size and/or shape as stipulated in the recipe to avoid adjusting baking times.

8 OVEN/SOURCE OF FIRE: This is an essential baking equipment! You might already own an oven in your kitchen so you need to understand it! (Or if planning to buy one, you might need to consider this):
  • Conventional ovens: These ones work by use of an electric element (also referred as a thermal or radiant oven). In this type of oven, as heat radiates up, cold air is pushed down which can lead to uneven cooking or baking.
  • Convention oven: These oven are fitten with a fan at the back which circulates dry hot air throughout the oven. Hence food cooks evenly and faster. Because of its efficiency, the cooking times will differ from a conventional oven. Adjust the cooking times accordingly.

P/S:  All ovens do not work the same (even if they are from the same brand!!!) hence you need to understand your individual oven by experimenting and adjusting as you bake. (and with your oven do not forget OVEN MITTS!)

9 KITCHEN TIMER: This is something that you might need to invest in especially if your oven is not digitally controlled.

10 COOLING RACK: Used to cool down cakes (or biscuits) when removed from the oven. They allow air to circulate round the cake hence cools down faster and prevents a soggy bottom.

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