Basic Baking Tools Needed

Summary: So you are ready to take up baking. You are all excited to skim through that recipe book and find yourself the ideal recipe to guide you into making scrumptious cookies that you can impress your family and friends with. But hold on. Are you armed with the appropriate baking tools for your cookie mission? Let us look into the list and check your gear. Measuring cups One cannot possibly assume that a regular cup or mug can be used in measuring the amount of flour or sugar...

So you are ready to take up baking. You are all excited to skim through that recipe book and find yourself the ideal recipe to guide you into making scrumptious cookies that you can impress your family and friends with. But hold on. Are you armed with the appropriate baking tools for your cookie mission? Let us look into the list and check your gear. Measuring cups One cannot possibly assume that a regular cup or mug can be used in measuring the amount of flour or sugar that you will use for your batter. In baking, one needs to be precise. This means using accurate well defined measurements in sorting your ingredients. These cups aid in measuring liquid components like water, milk, juice in milliliters, ounces, pints or fractions of a liter. Measuring cups also offer level measures for dry ingredients such as sugar and flour. Sifter It essential that your ingredients especially flour is devoid of any foreign matter. You simply cannot rake through your flour to do this. That would be like finding a needle in a haystack. You go get a sifter. The sifting process not only would break up the clumps but it aerates your flour thus giving it more volume. For best results, sift only small quantities at a time. This does not only prevent spills but it makes sifting easier and faster. Spatula A spatula appears to be a combination of a spoon and a knife. It takes on the shape of a spoon but it has a blade which is blunt and far from being sharp. This kitchen utensil is indispensable in baking as it is used for mixing batter, dough and applying frosting. Spatulas are popularly made of silicone, rubber or bamboo. Rolling pins In shaping and flattening your dough, using a rolling pin is more practical so you might as well forget about the ides of kneading or molding it with your bare hands. Rolling pins are usually made up of wood, glass, marble, stainless steel or plastic. It is thick, cylindrical and has two handles on each end. There are basically two types of rolling pins: the rod and the roller. Cookie cutters You're done with your dough and are now ready to shape your cookies. Go artistic and use cookie cutters! Cookie cutters which are typically made up of tin, stainless steel, aluminum, plastic or copper are designed to cut cookie dough in specific distinctive shapes. Designs include stars, hearts, moon shapes, circles and squares to name a few. Kids will surely be enticed to grab one of these cookie characters. Cookie press Cookie press is a known baking tool used to press designs on cookies. It is usually composed of a cylinder which has a plunger on the other end. Designer plates are attached to the press to mark the cookies. Oven mitt Baking means having to work with a hot oven so it is best that your hands are protected from heated surfaces like the stove or baking pans. To avoid getting burns, oven mitts should always be worn in the kitchen. These mitts are often made out of fabric and are usually insulated. Although these oven mitts can offer you protection in the kitchen, they are not invincible from hot liquids which may still seep through the fabric.