Every baking project is a beast of its own. Over the years, I’ve come up with some baking best practices. This list is an ongoing project so anticipate changes, updates, and other adjustments as things progress.

The Woo-Woo List

I call this the Woo-Woo List because these are not necessarily going to be ideas that work for everyone but they are a part of my method so I am going to share them.

  1. Bake for yourself first. A wise woman once told me that art should always be for the artist at first. This allows the baker/artist license to play around, experiment, and make an adventure of it all. Imagine yourself as a toddler discovering play dough for the first time. (No, do NOT put that in your mouth it doesn’t go there, whatever it is!) There is no pressure other than that which you place upon yourself, at this point. (Not that I have ever imposed crushing standards upon myself, really, ask anyone!)
  2. Before baking, get comfortable. I do not look great mid-production. None of us, at least as far as I know, are hosting a cooking show with an audience so make sure the clothing you’re wearing provides a wide range of movement. Soft fabrics and elastic are your friends so love them, use them, and be comfy! Also, ah, you are running the risk of staining and otherwise damaging what you are wearing so dress with that in mind.
  3. In that spirit: Pull your hair back and take off your finger and wrist jewelry – anything that can impede or be damaged by the processes. If you’re an absolute klutz such as myself, don’t wear anything that can dangle/drop over the food you’re making. It, whatever it is, could wind up in the mix with very unpleasant results for everyone.
  4. Make yourself a cup of something lovely and a glass of water. Baking can be hot and sweaty work. You’re going to need to stay hydrated lest you wind up face first in a pile of flour gasping for water. Your body needs fluids but please, take care to place the beverage(s) in question away from your food prep area.
  5. Bake like no one is watching. True story, I bake with the television on or at the very least, music. I prefer the television, especially episodic murder mysteries straight out of the BBC. I find that murder puts extra vigor in my baking but I admit, mileage may vary. To any event, give your ears something to do while your eyes, nose, and the rest of your body is busy.

Practical Preparation

Some bakers have never worked in food service or been ServeSafe Certified and it shows. I am not here to shame you – quite the opposite. I am here to save you from yourself. These are basic guidelines to help you get the best end product for all of your money and efforts. Self-sabotage is the worst sabotage.

  1. You must have a clean kitchen. I am not kidding. (I’m also not your parent or guardian but bare with me here.) Any surface you anticipate using for food preparation must be washed with soap and water or by some other method and dry right before you begin to work. This prevents particles from entering your food that really do not belong there. Those particles can cause harm to anyone consuming the food you make. The dangers range from the embarrassment of fido’s hair making an appearance to a bacteria or chemical that can sicken someone or kill them. So, clean that kitchen!
  2. Wash your hands. You must have clean hands. Wash them with warm water and soap for at least twenty seconds. You do not want to clean your kitchen only to contaminate your masterpiece with stuff that has collected under your nails or smeared on your palm. If you have long nails, do your diligence and get a nail brush and scrub underneath them.
  3. Have an owie on your hands? You need to wear gloves, end of. Sure, a bandage would technically work but honestly, glove those hands. Food service gloves are cheap and available from a ton of places. You do not want to contaminate your food with body fluids, ever.
  4. Read the recipe a few times. Boring, right? You want to bake. You’re in it to win it! Get the show on the road! Okay, I hear you, I do, but you need to know how to make the thing you are going to make as well as the stuff you need to make it. In the age of grocery delivery this may seem inconsequential but trust me, you’ll save yourself a lot of aggravation when elbows deep in a dough for rye bread, you realize you forgot the caraway seeds and your bench scraper has ghosted you for greener patches.
  5. Prep your Ingredients. You need to gather your ingredients and pre-measure them. There is nothing worse than being at a crucial point in the process only to realize you just don’t have enough that thing(s) that you desperately need.
    1. Check your dates – make sure nothing is expired or dodgy looking.
    2. Measure out what you need and set it aside in a clean bowl or on a plate. You do not need anything fancy! Just something that will hold the quantity required by the recipe. This is baking, not cooking, so be exact in your measurements. Seriously, you cannot fudge this stuff without things exploding in your oven. (Christmas 2020 was a nightmare of explosive ginger cake, although my dad still ate it…while laughing.)
    3. As a part of the previous point, chop all that needs chopped and so on; get it in proper condition to be used as the recipe requires.
    4. Make sure everything is at the proper temperature as demanded by the recipe. Some recipes require things be room temperature, frozen, hot, or refrigerator temp.
    5. Substitutions, if they need to be made, must be done so with care. Search around on the internet, get a consensus on what works and what does not or seek the advice of an experienced baker to help.
  6. Prep your tools. Gather and review your equipment. Make sure everything is in good shape and clean. It is amazing the stuff that can miss both the dishwasher and the person putting things away. Also, things break. (I know, the audacity!) You may need to fix, replace a tool, or substitute something else for it and that is vital to know ahead of time.
  7. Consider the oven. Some recipes ask you to preheat that oven of yours and some do not. Take a moment to see if you really need to get the oven going first thing or with like many cookie or scone recipes, you will not bake them until the next day or what have you. Don’t waste the energy or overheat your kitchen unnecessarily.
  8. Time matters. If it is summer, do not set yourself to bake during the day when the heat is at its height if you live in a climate that requires air conditioning. Your energy bill will show the results. Instead, wait until evening or later in the day to get it done. You’ll be a lot more comfortable and the end product will actually be better.