baking supply must haves?

[miss djax]

howdy,

i feel like i can get my cook on. now i'm looking to learn how to bake. totally different skill set.

i don't have alot of baking gear. like, a mixer. and a couple of glass baking dishes i use for roasting stuff.

what baking must haves are out there, preferably on the cheap? i covet a kitchenaid but i lack the funds :(

[willynilly]

howdy,

i feel like i can get my cook on. now i'm looking to learn how to bake. totally different skill set.

i don't have alot of baking gear. like, a mixer. and a couple of glass baking dishes i use for roasting stuff.

what baking must haves are out there, preferably on the cheap? i covet a kitchenaid but i lack the funds :(

You can get refurbished one's for 180.00. That's about half a new one. What are you baking? If you are doing bread you need bread pans. Mini loaf pans. Cookie sheets. Muffin tins. If your going to do pumpkin rolls you need a jelly roll pan or small cookie sheet. Spatula. Pie pans. Couple of racks. Flour sifter. I have accumulated pieces here and there from yard sales and just picking things up. Two sets measuring spoon and cups.

[Free in Freeport]

Do NOT buy cheap bakeware! No need to go crazy buy hundred dollar baking pans, but avoid the kmart crap.

For starters, I'd suggest a muffin pan, a couple of round layer cake pans, two insulated baking sheets, a 9x13 pan, several spatulas, a bigass mixing spoon, and a few nonstick loaf pans.

If you've already got those basics, nice branching-out tools would include a cake decorating kit, a cookie press, rolling pin, a deepdish pie pan (unless you're like me and buy frozen crust in aluminum pans), parchment, some shaped baking pans, a good icing knife, a lemon zester, and a sifter.
Oh, food colors, regular and clear vanilla, and other extracts - almond, lemon, orange, mint, etc.

[Anne]

what do you want to bake?

[Cath B]

Unless you spot some good second hand stuff that seems to fit the bill, I suggest you decide want to bake on a fairly regular basis first and then buy what you need. Otherwise you may well end up with a pile of equipment and ingredients you don't use cluttering up your kitchen.

[B Cereus]

what do you want to bake?

Yes, what you want to bake will guide you in what you need.

Also, I bake a lot, and something that has been mentioned here is a flour sifter. Now, I own one, but truthfully, the only time I use it is for making frosting (for sifting powdered sugar and cocoa). I never use the sifter for flour, and nobody's ever complained about my cakes. :D

[His Noodly Appendage]

Ya, flour sifters are of very limited necessity.

And big benchtop mixers are awesome, but I went for years (hell... decades...) without one. A little $20 handheld thing does nearly all you need - it's just less convenient.

Mixer, a few medium-sized bowls, a silicone spatula, a couple of baking trays, an 8" cake tin, two sandwich tins, some muffin/cupcake pans, a roll of greaseproof paper, and maybe a palette knife if you want to get fancy.

[willynilly]

I use my sifter a lot at Thanksgiving/ Christmas for pumpkin rolls and for yorkshire pudding. Other than that you really will not use it much. I prefer the pararchment paper to wax paper but it's a little more expensive.

[Faerie]

Easy Recipes.... start with the hand-me-down-proven-and-trusted recipes from family and friends, they would at the same time be able to tell you which utensils you would require too, build up your collection from there.

[Valheru]

I reckon an oven is absolutely essential.

[Cath B]

I reckon an oven is absolutely essential.

But you could always improvise with a pit of hot stones :D

[Valheru]

So that's how Lucifer keeps himself busy during those long winter nights! :)

[DMB]

A rolling pin is a good idea. I would recommend hunting out the sort that is made of wood with no fancy ends. I.e. one like this: http://thecookskitchen.com/browse_8687
rather than this:
http://thecookskitchen.com/browse_2064

The second sort are OK until you need to roll something quite big, and then you find that the ends make marks in what you are rolling. I have happily used a plain wooden one for many years and prefer them to all the fancy ones.

I second HNA's recommendation of a handheld beater rather than something a lot more expensive, although I do also like my foodprocessor. The latter, however, is a bit of a luxury, whereas the former is an essential (and I speak as someone who started off making cakes entirely by hand -- not to be recommended except for building up arm muscles).

It's a good idea to have a big mixing bowl and a few smaller bowls. Some recipes require that you separate eggs and beat both the yolks and the whites separately before adding them to the main mixture. And if you don't have a double saucepan or bain marie, you need bowls that can be balanced over a saucepan of hot water for some recipes.

[Cath B]

A rolling pin is a good idea. I would recommend hunting out the sort that is made of wood with no fancy ends. I.e. one like this: http://thecookskitchen.com/browse_8687
rather than this:
http://thecookskitchen.com/browse_2064

The second sort are OK until you need to roll something quite big, and then you find that the ends make marks in what you are rolling. I have happily used a plain wooden one for many years and prefer them to all the fancy ones.

My mother was a relaxed cook who was always happy to accept "help" from her own children, nephews and nieces and miscellaneous waifs & strays.

On several occasions the two child-sized rolling pins were insufficient for the number of youngsters and three or four additional youngsters used glass milk bottles to roll out their gingerbread men.


I second HNA's recommendation of a handheld beater rather than something a lot more expensive, although I do also like my foodprocessor. The latter, however, is a bit of a luxury, whereas the former is an essential (and I speak as someone who started off making cakes entirely by hand -- not to be recommended except for building up arm muscles).

One of the items on my "things to do" list is aquire and try out a whisk made from a birch twig whisk. Since my electric whisk broke I just use a manual one. The cream and egg whites take a tad longer but I always was idiosyncratic.

It's a good idea to have a big mixing bowl and a few smaller bowls. Some recipes require that you separate eggs and beat both the yolks and the whites separately before adding them to the main mixture.

It's generally best to have a bowl that allows plenty of room for you to whack the mixture around.

[DMB]

I've used milk bottles when I didn't have anything better, but it really does depend on the size of what you are rolling.

When I started making cakes, I didn't even have a whisk. I used to have to beat the mixture with a wooden spoon. Hard work and time-consuming.

[Sodong]

A smoke detector, but I only say that because I end up burning just about everything I bake :( Savory stuff, no problem but give me flour, butter and sugar and I will invariably turn it into charcoal.

[B Cereus]

DMB: I do agree that a food processor is a bit of a luxury, but man, do I enjoy mine!

Some more things that could be considered luxury, but I really really like using them: Silicone cookie sheet liners, and a silicone sheet for rolling out pastry, biscuits, cookies, etc.

[DMB]

DMB: I do agree that a food processor is a bit of a luxury, but man, do I enjoy mine!

Some more things that could be considered luxury, but I really really like using them: Silicone cookie sheet liners, and a silicone sheet for rolling out pastry, biscuits, cookies, etc.

I love mine. It's really great for shortcrust pastry. But I managed for many years without one, so I couldn't class it as an essential.

I forgot to add as essentials either good kitchen scales (for Europeans) or measuring cups/spoons for Americans. You don't need accurate measurement for everything. For example, I don't bother for pastry or bread, but with cakes it can be important because of the chemistry.

[hecaterin]

I love my silicone muffin pans. Everything else seems to be covered already.

[Anne]

A thermometer is a godsend ;) for not guessing if something is done...

[Free in Freeport]

I've rolled biscuits with a coke bottle and cut them with a drinking glass....