This post was originally going to be a few different TikToks, but since I can't figure out how make and edit a video, I figured I'd just post it here! These are common tools I use in my day to day baking. I hope you can utilize some of them in your projects!
Key Terms:
*Tablespoon: T
*Teaspoon: t
*Cup: c
*All Purpose Flour: APF
*Ounce: oz
*Pound: lb, LB, or #
*Quart: qt
*Pint: pt
*Gallon: G
*Gram: g
*Kilogram: kg
*Fluid ounce: fl. oz.
General Tips
-If a recipe you're using calls for cake flour and you have none available, replace 2T from every even 1c measure of APF with cornstarch
-An average stand mixer is approximately 5qts, so you can comfortably fit about 2 1/2# (1134g, 1.13kg) of ingredients inside
*when baking, especially breads, it's important to measure in grams (and the metric system as a whole) to get the most accurate reading. A lot of American cookbooks and websites use the imperial system (cups and teaspoon measurements). It's smart to have a kitchen scale on hand. With it you'll be able to further expand your recipe repertoire and become more comfortable working with a metric scale to slowly work away from an imperial scale
-When working with egg whites that need to be whipped, such as what you would do to make a meringue or a chiffon, wiping down your mixing bowl with distilled white vinegar helps retain your stiff peaks. Egg whites whip better when there is a slight acidic interaction involved
Conversions
-When using yeast* in a recipe:
1oz fresh (cake) yeast= 1/2oz active dry yeast
1oz fresh (cake) yeast= 1/3oz instant yeast
*whenever I bake breads I prefer to use fresh cake yeast, simply since it's what I've used since I was in school. When quarantine went into effect and everyone decided to become a bread baker, dry yeast was rare to come by. This wasn't an issue for me since I already used fresh yeast. I was able to hit up my local bakeries to pick up yeast anywhere from $3-$7. Lots of friends were asking me for places they could get yeast, so I directed them to bakeries in the area that I knew were selling and showed them these conversions to help them with their home baking projects
-3t= 1T
-6t= 2T= 1 fl. oz.
-1c= 8 fl. oz.
-1pt= 16oz
-16oz= 2c
-1qt= 32oz
-1G= 4qt= 8pt= 16c= 128oz
Bread Bakers Math
When developing a sourdough recipe:
-60%-69% hydration is considered to be a low hydrated bread
-70%-100% hydration is considered to be a high hydrated bread
-Your salt measurement should be at 2%
-Levain measurement should be about 20%
-Total flour amount should be 100%
Example
100g APF
69g H2O
2g salt
20g levain
Bread is a fickle creature to work with. Experimenting with recipes and ingredients is encouraged to see what works well together. Try making the same bread recipe with different percentages of water to see how the crumb structure (the internal chewy part of the bread) comes out. See if the crust (the darker and crunchier exterior) has any drastic changes.
Working in a kitchen can be intimidating, but have fun with it and see what great creations you could make!
Comments