Baking bits and bobs
Although I’ve always loved baking, it was only when it became my main hobby, along with most of the world during the Panny19D lockdown, that I started to really think about what equipment and tools I should actually be using.
I found it really challenging to sift through the overabundance of recommendations on Instagram/YouTube/Facebook and other places I was watching baking/cooking videos and reading recipes. It was so overwhelming to have every new person whose videos I watched, say that the thing they were using was the absolute best and the only possible option I should even consider.
All I wanted was a little guidance on what was good, what maybe wasn’t the best idea, and alternatives that I could make work for me. And that is what I have tried to do with this post. None of what I show here is essential or mandatory, these are just the things I use and like.
I hope you find this helpful!
General baking stuff
Probably the only thing you really need for home baking are a few good mixing bowls, a decent digital scale, one or two spatulas/mixing utensils, an electric handmixer (somewhat optional depending on what you want to bake), some measuring spoons, and a measuring jug. Everything else, you can make do or make a plan! Of course, when you start getting into cakes or macarons, you might want to start thinking about getting some decent cake tins, a piping set and maybe a silicone baking mat, but that’s up to you!
I am rather partial to Pyrex bowls - just the ones you can get from any supermarket with a kitchen aisle (mine are a mix of Sainsbury’s and John Lewis) - mostly because they are dishwasher- and microwave safe, and they don’t absorb smells and colours. I also have one large metal mixing bowl and I can’t remember where I got it, but it looks a bit like this one. Having at least one metal bowl is a good idea especially if you are going to be making meringue - egg whites tend to whip up a bit better in a metal bowl.
It’s also a good idea to have a few decent baking trays lying around - they come in handy all the time! Mine are a mish-mash of Sainsbury’s, John Lewis, Ikea and Amazon, so just get what works for you! Try have a slight variation in size.
Most big supermarkets or stores with a kitchen-good aisle have a decent selection of pretty good cake tins, tart tins, spatulas, etc. Here is Sainsbury’s, John Lewis and Ikea to give you an idea. The items you can get from shops like this are more than sufficient, there’s no need to go off and buy specialist items from expensive shops!
A note on stand mixers
I do have a stand mixer and I do love it very much. Mine is a Breville and it was a gift from my parents on my 21st birthday. It took a few years, but I finally managed to get it to the UK from South Africa.
It lives on the side of my kitchen counter and I mostly use it for large batches of meringue and buttercream. Occasionally I use it for kneading enriched dough or pizza dough if I’m feeling lazy, but for the most part, I prefer to work my dough by hand, and unless I’m whipping a big batch of something, I’ll generally just use my trusty little handmixer.
Long story short, you don’t need a stand mixer. I love mine and it is very useful at times, but they are expensive and take up a lot of space that not everyone has in their kitchen.
That being said, if you want to treat yourself, or strongly hint to a loved one that they treat you, consider this your official permission slip and rationale to yourself and/or anyone else who may query it!
This is my trusty stand mixer!
Turning up the heat
There are two more things that I have and use all the time, but neither are essential:
a digital probe thermometer,
an oven thermometer
1. A digital probe or candy thermometer is very useful if you’re making jam or sugar syrup because they allow you to quickly and reliably check the temperature of hot liquids to ensure they are the right temperture for your recipe. However, there are ways you can get around this. For example, if you’re making jam, the ideal setting temperature is 105C, but you can also check this by putting a spoon in the freezer for ~5mins and then dropping a small blob of jam onto the cold spoon. If after about 20s the jam doesn’t run off the spoon, it’s probably good to go! You can also check that sugar syrup for Italian meringue is at the soft-ball stage (120C) without a thermometer: drop a small blob into a bowl of cold water, and if it forms a soft, pliable ball that quickly flattens when picked up, you’ve done it!
The only problem with these methods is they do use up (albeit small) quantities of your mixture which can change the final consistency of your recipe.
I also use my digital probe thermometer to check the temperature of wet ingredients when I’m making enriched dough. The ideal temperature for these is ~25-30C. Any hotter and your yeast will start dying - yeast is rather sensitive to temperatures!
I have both an old-school mercury-riser sugar thermometer and a more modern digital probe.
Both are great, the digital one is quicker and easier to read and clean.
Probe thermometers can also be useful if you’re not quite sure if something is fully done. Here is a useful table of what temperature various items should be inside when fully baked/cooked:
2. An oven thermometer can be very useful depending on your oven. Different types of oven heat up differently and to different temperatures. Some ovens have a hotspot, others never really reach the temperatures that they external dials say they can, and others run very hot! As an example, if you set a top-bottom element oven to 180C and measure the internal temperature, it will be around 180C. If you set a fan oven to 180C and measure the temperature, it will oven read 190-200C! This is because the fan circulates hot air around the oven, which means more even heat distribution and higher temperatures. Great if you’re trying to speed-roast veggies, not so great if you’re trying not to burn pastries!
The type, age and size of your oven can also play a big role in the reliability of the internal thermistor and this can seriously impact the success of your bakes - especially finicky things like macarons and sponge cakes. A back-up oven thermometer can reassure you of the true temperature inside your oven.
I have this one from KitchenCraft
Chill out
Cooling racks are really useful and if you’re going to be baking a lot, I’d highly recommend getting a few. Leaving freshly baked items on a baking tray or in the tin while they cool down can do one of two things, or in the worst case, both:
give it a soggy bottom due to steam condensing while it cools
make your beautiful bake overbaked due to residual heat
I got this set of two wire cooling racks from Lakeland.
If you’re not planning on baking loads or very often and don’t feel like buying some cooling racks, there is a workaround.
Before popping your bake in the oven, grab one of your oven racks that won’t be used or even the slatted metal drip rack that comes with most ovens. While your creation is baking, give your rack a wipe so it’s clean, and then it will make the perfect cheat’s cooling rack!
Just be careful with smaller or more delicate bakes as the metal rods that make up oven racks are thicker than most cooling racks and spaced further apart. If you’re not careful, things can fall through the gaps.
I’ve got gadgets and gizmos aplenty…
“I’ve got whosits and whatsits galore…”
I’m just going to come right out and say it: I love a good gadget and I like my nice things. There are a lot of baking things in my kitchen that you don’t need but they’re fun to have.
Here are a couple examples:
I have tried to include links to the ones I have, or very similar
silicone macaron mats (link)
silicone surface mat (link)
ceramic baking beans (link)
forcep-style tweezers (link)
rolling pin with thickness rings (link)
wire cake slicer (link)
mini blowtorch (link)
cake transport box (link)
cake umbrella (I bought this at a robot in SA so…no link)
spinning cake stand (link)
many many many tiny bowls (link)
SO. MANY. SPRINKLES…
This is approximately how I bought my cake umbrella! In South Africa, informal vendors sell things at robots (what we call traffic lights) in traffic.
Thank you muchly to my friend, James for managing to send me this photo!!
While none of the above are necessary, I do specifically love a few of them! In no particular order, my silicone mats (surface and macaron), rolling pin, spinning cake stand, wire cake slicer, and my decorating tweezers.
Note on silicone mats: non-slip silicone baking mats like the one I use are great! They protect your countertops, reduce the amount of extra flour you add while rolling and even help speed up clean up later! That being said, many contain fibreglass within the outer silicone. While this means these mats are really strong, non-stick, and heatproof, it also means that if you accidentally rupture the outer silicone layers (often by using a knife!) and expose the fibreglass, you can give yourself a severe case of contact dermatitis if you get the escaped fibres on your hands!
Alright, pipe down
I also have a decent collection of assorted piping bags and piping tips. I prefer the metal tips as they’re more durable and clean easier without holding onto smells/tastes but for the most part, all piping sets are largely the same. You can choose whether you want to get reusable silicone piping bags that you can wash and reuse - probably better if you’re going to do a lot of decorating - or you can get a roll of disposable ones - which might be better if you’re only going to pipe once in a while.
I have both the reusable and disposable piping bags and so many piping tips I haven’t counted them…
Gotta be said
I’ve left this to the end because as important as it is, I’m 90% sure you all have these already. But to cover my butt, here we go.
Remember how when you were 3 or 4 years old and someone taught you how to wash your hands? Soap, water, rub and sing happy birthday, rinse, dry and you’re good to go? Remember how we all had to relearn this essential skill as adults to stop a virus from spreading just a couple years ago?
I’m sure you, dear reader, are a skilled and diligent handwasher, but I’ll say it anyway: make sure that you have a nice handsoap and a clean dry towel handy at all times and wash your dang hands!
Cover up
Please also do as I say and not as I have done, and protect your clothes with an apron. Don’t be like me: “Oh, I don’t need to wear an apron while making this *insert incredibly messy recipe here*, I’ll be really careful while wearing my lovely new white jumper.” Need I say more?
It’s not that I don’t have an apron…I have many. I’m just a lazy weirdo.
Health and safety
First aid kit
Perhaps not as obvious, do make sure that you have an easily accessible first-aid kit of the basics: gauze, plasters, burn dressings, eye drops, alcohol swabs, and anti-histamine tablets. If not in your kitchen, then somewhere close-by and easy to find.
Fire extinguisher
I’m not sure what the official recommendations are on fire extinguishers in domestic kitchens. I have a small fire extinguisher in my kitchen just in case, but at the very least a fire blanket is a good idea!
