Baking Utensils: A Beginner’s Guide

They are usually pocket-friendly but don’t go for cheaper brands as then the muffin liner might not do its job ideally. You must select the size of the muffin liner depending on the size of your baking pan.

Some benefits of using muffin liners:

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• Easy to remove fragile cupcakes.
• The baking pans are not scratched with these liners.
• Greasing the baking pan is not required if you use a muffin liner.
• It is more hygienic to use liners.

2. Rolling Pins

A rolling pin is simply in the shape of a cylinder and it used to give shape to the dough or flatten the dough. It can be with or without a handle for ease of access on both ends of the rolling pin. They are essentially used while baking. They are available in various sizes, lengths, and materials. The various materials of rolling pins are:

• Wooden
• Glass
• Ceramic
• Bakelite
• Copper
• Brass
• Aluminum
• Silicone
• Stainless steel
• Marble
• Plastic

Wooden rolling pins are commonly used for baking. But marble rolling pins are a good option for making puff pastry. The best type of rolling pin is the one that requires minimal flour so that the dough doesn’t stick to it.

If you are new to baking, you might want to buy a small rolling pin which is easy to handle but large rolling pins are good if you bake a lot and you want to roll out a large quantity of dough at once. This way, you will save time and energy.

3. Baking Pans

If you are new to baking, then you must know that you need different pans of different sizes to bake various recipes. You must use a pan as close as possible to the size of the pan that is mentioned in the recipe. To buy the right pan size, you must measure it from the inside, as measuring it from the outside would include the thickness of the pan. The various types of baking pans are:

• Round pans
• Square pans
• Tube pans
• Rectangle pans
• Bundt pans
• Jelly roll pans
• Roasting pans
• Springform pans
• Loaf pans
• Casseroles

Before buying a baking pan, you must know that if a pan is shiny, it will reflect heat and the baking time will be more than usual. Baking in dark pans is quick as they absorb heat and bake efficiently. To bake French bread and other special types of bread, there are special baking pans available.

4. Mixing Bowls

Mixing bowls are a must for baking. They are available in different sizes but a large mixing bowl is the best so that you can mix all the ingredients properly. People generally use glass mixing bowls but the different materials available for mixing bowls are plastic, stainless steel, glass, and ceramic.

Having different mixing bowls or different sizes makes it easy for the baker to prepare the batter. These mixing bowls can be used for various other purposes such as to serve dishes or salads or for storing leftovers.

5. Dough Hook

The dough hook is a useful baking utensil as it helps you in kneading the dough either by hand or by stationary mixers directly in the bowl. Once you are done with mixing the ingredients, you can easily knead them to a dough with the help of a dough hook.

6. Cookie Cutters & Presses

In order to make cookies of different shapes or donuts, you need cookie cutters. These are used to cut out the dough of the desired shape after it is flattened by a rolling pin. This baking utensil is also commonly used to make different shapes and sizes of cookies. Presses are easy and fun to use and they can make pressed or dainty cookies. They are easily available at affordable prices.

7. Measuring Spoons & Cups

If you bake, you must be following a recipe that is either yours or written by someone else. Whatever may be the case, to add the accurate amount of ingredients you need measuring spoons and cups. These baking utensils come handy when you need them while baking. You can buy them in glass, stainless or plastic.

The glass measuring spoons and cups need to be handled with care and that might waste your time. There are also sets available of measuring cups which include cups of sizes: 1 cup, ½ cup, 1/3 cup, and ¼ cup.

8. Baking Sheets & Muffin Tins

Baking sheets are made of tin, stainless, glass or silicone. You need to select the right type of baking sheet for cake and bread pans. Muffin tins, on the other hand, are available in tin and silicone as well. Tin pans are plain and they also come with a non-stick coating, which makes the cleaning process easier. You need to use a tin pan with a non-stick coating.

9. Minute Timer & Candy Thermometer

Owning a small minute timer is practical and handy while baking. You can carry the minute timer with you to a different room and you can ensure when you need to check on the baking.

A candy thermometer is a commonly used thermometer, which is used in making candies, frostings, and chocolates.

10. Spatula & Whisker

Spatulas and whiskers help mix and fold in doughs and batters well. They can be made of wood, rubber or plastic. They are used to either mix the ingredients or to scrape the food that is stuck to the bowl. Rubber and silicone spatulas can be used for scraping the bowls, while metal spatula can be used to serve desserts. If you want to ice a cake, you could also buy a separate ice spatula.

Whisker is a baking utensil that is used to whisk the ingredients so that all the ingredients are evenly distributed in the batter.

11. Pastry Blender & Pastry Cutter

People often wonder if a pastry blender and cutter are the same but they are 2 different baking utensils. A pastry blender mixes the pastry dough and it can also blend a lot of other things.

On the other hand, pastry cutter is similar to cookie cutter and is similarly used after the dough has been flattened. You can cut out pastries of different shapes and also use it to make fancy pie crusts and other delicacies.

12. Cooling Rack

A cooling rack is used to cool down the freshly baked items. You can even cool down cakes or bread by simply removing it from the pan but that might make the base soggy. If you cool it on a cooling rack, you don’t have to worry about the base being soggy. Cooling racks are available in different sizes and you can select one on the basis of the kind of baking that you do.

13. Flour Sifters

A flour sifter is not used by those who use ready-made cake mixes for baking cake. They are used by those who bake at home from scratch and want to improve the texture of their cakes. You can use a flour sifter to dust a cake with icing, or with sugar. You can also use it to dust the pastry sheet with flour. Buying this baking utensil, totally depends on you, whether you want to improve the texture of your cakes or you like them the way they are.

14. Parchment Paper

Parchment papers are used to line up baking sheets and baking pans. It makes it easier for the baker to remove the cake or pastry from the pan and is easy to clean.

15. Melting Pots For Chocolate

What happens when you wish to add melted chocolate in your recipe and in order to melt the chocolate? Well, if you are new to the world of baking then you might end up burning it. With a good quality melting pot, you don’t have to worry about burning the chocolate. It is an ideal solution to melt the chocolate as it even keeps it warm for some time after melting.

16. Greasing Brushes

Greasing brushes are essential baking utensils when you need to butter the bread and other baked items. They are now available in silicone rather than synthetic hair, as silicone is able to cope with the hot liquids easily. On the other hand, silicone brushes are durable. These greasing brushes can be used to grease other food items as well while grilling and roasting.

17. Decorating Tools For Cakes

In order to make beautiful cakes, you need to decorate them. For decorating cakes, you must have tools like colored icings, colored writing gels, icing bags, preformed flowers, and trims. Along with these tools, if you have a rotating stand, it would be easier for you to decorate these cakes.

18. Food Processor

If you don’t want to use a dough hook to knead the dough, then a food processor is a good option. It will knead the dough for you and along with that, it will also be useful for various other purposes in your kitchen.

19. Mixers

Mixers are used to mix ingredients quickly and efficiently. There are two types of mixers:

1. Stand Mixers

Stand mixers can be placed on the countertop and they easily do their job, once you turn it on. You don’t need to stand there and hold it all the time during the process of mixing.

2. Hand Mixers

Hand mixers are more pocket-friendly and they can only mix soft and wet ingredients. Also, you have to hold them still while the mixing is going on.

You can select any mixer based on your needs and budget, but both will give equally good results.

20. Cake Servers, Cake Plates & Muffin Towers

Cake servers or cake plates or muffin towers, all do the same thing. They make your baked food look attractive and you can serve them proudly. You can buy any, depending on what you usually bake.

In conclusion, these are some of the baking utensils that you can use while baking and they will help you in your baking process. Baking utensils are an essential part of the baking process and buying the right one, is worth your money and time. Hopefully, this guide helped you in buying the right baking utensils.