Basic Baking guidelines and rules for beginners

Today , I am going to tell you very basic things you need to know if you are starting baking, or you are new in baking.

1. Do a good amount of research before purchasing an oven.

Electric oven or Gas  oven or oven with both options.

Keep things in mind :

• Your budget
• Your space in kitchen
• Your usage
• Your quantity to be baked

2. It takes minimum 30 to 35 minutes of time to bake anything.

3. Preheating oven is very important. If you won't preheat your oven the right amount of time, which is generally 15 to 20 minutes then you can't get your desired baking results.

4. Always set the temperature correctly of your oven.

E.g. pizza baking is done on 180 degrees and it's preheating should be done 15 to 20 minutes on 180 degrees with its lower heat on.

5. Most importantly you need to know about the heat setting in oven.

• Lower heat 
• Upper heat 
• Both upper and lower heat 

5. Baking is generally done with only lower heat ON.

Like pizza, cakes, chicken, biscuits, etc these all are baked with ONLY lower heat ON. And in the last you need to switch ON the upper heat for giving color to your food for about 3 to 5 minutes.

6. Don't open your oven frequently to check if your food is baked, it removes heat from oven. Wait for atleast half of the required time and then you can check.

7. Before using YEAST in your baking ALWAYS PROOF it before use. Proofing means to check if your yeast is active or not.

PROOFING :

In lukewarm water add sugar 1tsp and add yeast stir roughly and cover it for few minutes. If the mixture becomes foamy then your yeast is active otherwise it's not active. NEVER use Inactive yeast. Otherwise your dough will not rise. 

Note: water should be lukewarm, in too hot water yeast will die and in cold water also it won't become foamy.

8. Ideal baking position for most of the foods is on center rack of the oven.

Keeping on upper most rack gives color quickly on top of the food.

Keeping on lower rack gives color quickly to the bottom of the food.

9. Always grease the baking dish with oil all over with brush and spread some dry flour evenly to take out your food easily after baking from the dish. Otherwise, food will stick to the baking dish.

10. Accurate measurement of ingredients is the MAIN factor in successful baking. Always measure your ingredients properly as mentioned in your recipe with measuring cups and spoons available in market exclusively for baking. Don't use your other kitchen cups and spoons for measurements. 

11. For conversion of units of recipe e.g from cups to grams etc. always use kitchen scale for accuracy, instead of converting with online calculators available on different websites.