HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR BAKING PERFORMANCE BY APPLYING THE RIGHT MIXING STICKS

With a bakery mixer, I had to learn how to combine all of the ingredients properly in order to obtain the best possible results. Because I’m not very good at baking, I sought help from my friend Chef Jenni, who is also a fantastic baker and an even better teacher.

Before you attempt this, it’s crucial to understand how individual components work in the baking process, so I recommend that you read Bread Making Ingredients and then return here to learn how to mix them all together.

I’m going to split up the Two-Stage Method and the Egg Foam Technique into two separate entries because Chef Jenni explains them in such detail.

INGREDIENT TEMPERATURES

The most essential thing to remember when baking with solid fats and proteins is that all elements must be at or near room temperature (about 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit), or around 68-70 degrees Fahrenheit. If the correct temperature for solid fats and proteins is maintained, they will become “more plastic.”

• When your proteins are too cold, they will take much longer to combine and foam.
• If your fat is too cold, it won’t be stiff enough to allow for maximum air absorption.
• If your fat is too hot, it will become rigid and hard, so make sure it’s soft and flexible, similar to Play-Doh.
• It shouldn’t be as fluffy as a cloud, though it should be soft enough to run your finger through without creating a groove.
• The towel should be resilient, not soft.

CREAMING METHOD

The fat and eggs should be kept cold in order to obtain the maximum creaminess from the mixture. Small holes or pockets in the fat form as a result of the sugar in whipped cream, allowing bubbles to develop and grow. It’s critical to properly cream the fat (a new, technical phrase).

The egg is the final component of our cream mixture. You’ve sweated and strained to ensure that the fat and sugar are smooth or fluffy (depending on the recipe),

Are we the only ones who find it weird that they’re talking about “plastic fat” when all we have is actual fat? Keep liquids below 140°F to avoid crystallization. All we have are real fats; there’s no such thing as plastic fat! The fat in your dough or batter will solidify as it cools down.

THE MIXING TECHNIQUE

Cremation is the process of baking and making cookies. I’m not sure whether you noticed a difference in texture between cookies and cakes, but I do. Cookies have a finer, thinner texture than cakes.

Cookies, on the other hand, are more moist and have more liquid than cakes. The larger amount of liquid ingredients contributes to some of this texture distinction. Differences in creaming account for a portion of the difference.

To make a chewy cookie, start by forming a soft fat/sugar paste on low speed. When the distinct pieces of fat and sugar no longer appear in the mixing basin with the bakery mixer, you’re done. Begin slowly and wind up on medium speed to produce a lighter cookie with a cake-like texture (or to create a cake).

Chewy cookies require light and fluffy dough rather than thick, paste-like dough. The longer the creaming time, the more air pockets are form in the fat, ensuring optimum leavening.

THE MUFFIN METHOD

The muffin technique is a less time-consuming way to mix ingredients than the mixing approach with bakery mixer. You must still make sure that your components are at room temperature, but as long as you combine the wet and dry elements carefully, you should be fine.

It’s rather simple to tell whether you’ve combined enough by breaking down a baked muffin and examining for the crumb. If you discover long tunnels in the crumb, it’s a sign that you went too hard.

Another thing to think about while making use of the muffin approach is that no “pre-leavening” occurs, as with the creaming method. In this case, I’d compare them to little sugar and fat pockets, similar to those created when cranking, albeit in miniature form.

In the muffin method, fat will mix with wet components in a liquid state (usually oil or melted butter).

Spelt flour makes wonderful brownies, cookie dough, or cake pops when compared to wheat flour. This variety of flour is great for low-carb breads since it doesn’t include gluten and absorbs moisture well (unlike wheat flour).

• If you mix baking soda in a food processor, it will distribute chemical leaveners throughout your meal to ensure an equal rise.
• The husks and chaff are removed from the flour, allowing for the chemical leaveners to expand into air pockets over time.
• In a dish without chemical leaveners, the natural growth of air pockets caused by the heat of baking will occur. The end product of this technique is a nice browned crust and crumbling interior.
• You may do this by using your oven’s conventional, rather than a convection, mechanism to cook your food.
• Convection ovens may cause baked products to dry out because there’s no fan. Turn the conventional oven off from time to time to maintain a constant internal temperature and steam moisture levels inside the cooking chamber for a chewy brownie or wet cake.