Baking is about multi-tasking. If you are organized and prepared, that's half the battle.
Basting is evil. Basting does nothing for the meat. Why? Skin. Skin is designed to keep stuff out of the bird, so basting just lets heat out of the oven. That means the turkey will take longer to cook... so don't touch that door!
If soggy, baked choux can be re-crisped in a hot oven for several minutes.
I think baking is very rewarding, and if you follow a good recipe, you will get success.
Since I was a kid, baking has been part of my life.
A cake is a very good test of an oven: if it browns too much on one side and not on the other, it's not your fault - you need to have your oven checked.
I always buy the smaller turkeys. On the pre-baste put pats of butter on the meat under the skin, put the skin back on, put a bunch of seasoning on the top, call it a day, put it in the oven. With a 10 - 12 pound turkey you are done in a couple of hours.
Baking is how you start kids at cooking in the kitchen. It's fun whether it's baking bread or cookies. With baking, you have to be exact when it comes to ingredients.
I've always been hooked on baking.
I went to Naples to work with one of the best pizza-makers in the world, and guess how long he bakes his pizzas for? He bakes them for 45 seconds. In and out. And they're incredible. Any more than that, and it's no longer considered a pizza. I've been spouting off to people for years - six minutes in an oven.
The two things that are going to make you a better baker without even trying are a scale and a thermometer in your oven.
Always bake in the center of the oven. A pan placed too close to the bottom of the oven will receive more heat radiating from the oven floor, baking it faster from the bottom. The reverse is true of something baked on the top rack. Always bake in the center for the most even baking and browning all around.
Sure, you can mix the flour, baking soda, salt, shortening, and the whole nine yards, but why wouldn't you just pull out a box of Bisquick?
I think the first thing you should learn is how to roast a chicken. Once you can roast a chicken, you can pretty much figure out anything else. And who doesn't like roasted chicken? It's a classic.
When you roast a chicken perfectly, there's nothing more delicious.
I've learned how to make a nice souffle, a little mac and cheese.
Few people know this about me, but I love baking pies.
I have never baked. I have cooked thousands of meals big and small, but I have never cooked a cookie. I have never roasted a cake, or a pie.
I'm bad at baking.
I don't know how to cook, but I do know how to bake.
I am an indifferent cook, but I can make pie.
For baked goods where lightness is a prized attribute - almost all cakes, some cookies - it's important to start with room-temperature butter.
Anyone can make a good roast chicken.
I've roasted a somewhat frozen turkey, and it's come out just fine.
Let it them be put into any clean oven vessel of china or stoneware which should be wider at the top than at the bottom. so that there may be the largest surface above to favor the evaporation.
