What Every Home Baker Must Do Before Baking

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Part two of the Basic’s of Baking is here and I am sharing the best secrets to becoming a better home baker. In this part of the series, I am sharing what every home baker needs to do before baking. Sometimes the secret to baking success is in the preparation you do beforehand. Let’s dive into the two most crucial tips.

1. Read the Recipe First

Week of Recipes

One of the most important things you need to do before baking is to read the recipe! So many of use are in a hurry that we don’t stop to read the recipe before we dive in. When reading the recipe you want to look at two things: 1. the ingredients, and 2. the directions.

The ingredients are very important because if you do not have all the ingredients you won’t be able to make the recipe exactly as it was meant to be. Nothing is worse than being in the middle of baking something and you realize you don’t have all the ingredients.

Next, you want to look at the directions. I know I am bad for not reading the directions beforehand too, but it really will help you to know what you are getting into before you start so there are no surprises. Reading the directions also lets you know if you have all the equipment needed to make the recipe as well. In the first part of this series, I wrote about all the essential kitchen equipment every home baker needs which also includes a checklist.

2. Prepare the Ingredients

Wooden ladle and spatula on top of table
Photo by Calum Lewis on Unsplash

Now that you have all the ingredients and you know what you’re getting into, you can prepare! You want to get out all the ingredients necessary for your recipe out where you are baking. This ensures you have all the ingredients and that you don’t forget anything.

Some ingredients you will need to prepare in advance. For example if the recipe says eggs at room temperature you will need to take the eggs out of the fridge about two hours beforehand to ensure they are room temperature. Same goes with softened butter to make sure it is soft.

Tidbits: if you forget to take the eggs out beforehand you can place the whole eggs into a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes instead. Also, for quickly softening butter Sallys Baking Addiction has a great blog post on this!

And that’s the two things every baker must do before baking! Simple and easy tips that make a big difference in your baking experience. Do you have any other tips you do before you start baking? Answer in the comments below!

Easy Recipes to Start With

Continue to Part three: 7 Useful Baking Tips

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