Baking Tools

Whether you are baking a batch of cookies, making a birthday cake or perfecting your pastry puffs, the art of baking starts with the right tools.  Here are baking tool essentials that beginners and professionals alike will need and where to buy them to stock up their bakeware cabinets.  As you keep reading in this article, you will also find an equipment guide to help you make that perfect cookie, cake and other baked goods.

 

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Best Stores to Buy Baking Tools

Here are the best stores that carry or specialize in baking/kitchen tools and where you can find the recommended baking equipment in the chart above – the best bang for your buck!

1. Measuring Tools: Sur La Table
2. Pastry Mats: Sur La Table
3. Silicone Pastry Brush: Sur La Table
4. Whisks: Sur La Table
5. Bakeware: Williams Sonoma
6. Offset & Silicone Spatulas: Williams Sonoma
7. Cookie & Pastry Cutters: Williams Sonoma
8. Mixing Bowl Sets: Macy’s
9. Rolling Pins: Amazon
10. Stand Mixers: Amazon
11. Dough Scrapers: Amazon
12. Timers: Amazon

 

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Baking Tools & Equipment Guide

Before stocking your bakeware arsenal, read through this easy guide first to find out which tools you need.

There are 5 processes in the basics of baking: measuring, mixing, forming & portioning, baking and finishing & cooling.  Let’s drill down further into the details of these processes to determine what you’ll need.

1. Measuring.  This might be the most crucial element of the baking process because inaccurate measuring of ingredients can lead to possibly the biggest baking mistakes.  That is why you will need these basic measuring tools:
   • Glass cups.  For liquid ingredients, a glass measuring cup with a spout is a must and the 2-cup size (16 fl. oz.) is the most useful and convenient.
   • Metal spoons and cups.  A set of metal measuring cups ranging from 1 cup down to ¼ cup will also come in handy.  Try finding a collection that has a ½ tablespoon measure, which will save you all kinds of grief when trying to make a half batch of your favorite baked goods.
   • Digital scale.  Get a digital scale that can be set to grams and has a tare function, so you place a bowl on it and then zero it out.
2. Mixing.  This step is the second most important part of the baking process because it directly affects the product quality.  For example, if you are baking bread you will need to know how to mix and what tools to use to both homogenize and hydrate the ingredients in the dough resulting in a well-developed and consistent bread.  Here are the mixing tools that you’ll need for baking:
   • Mixing bowls.  Rather than buying a set of mixing bowls of various sizes, get a few 4 – 5 quarts stainless steel bowls and at least one glass bowl of similar size.  Stay away from aluminum because acidic ingredients will react with the metal and change the flavor of your food.
   • Whisk.  If you’re beating an egg, you can do it with a fork.  But if your beating 6 eggs, you should consider using a wire whisk.  Sometimes called a balloon whisk, this tool is designed to whip air into liquid ingredients to get them fluffy or frothy.  A 10” or 11” whisk is an excellent, all-purpose size to start with.
   • Electric or stand mixer.  If you bake only on occasions, then a hand mixer will do.  However, if you are an experienced baker or tend to do a lot of mixing in your daily cooking routine then consider purchasing an electric stand mixer.  An electric stand mixer is expensive, but once you’ve used it a few times, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.  The standard attachments for an electric stand mixer will include a whip, paddle & dough hook (which is enough to cream butter), mix batter, knead dough, whip egg whites for meringues and anything else an aspiring baker would want to do.
   • Silicone spatula.  This versatile tool is ideal for scraping every last bit of batter from the inside of your mixing bowl.  Get one with a long handle.  While a rubber spatula will be sufficient for scraping, a silicone one is heat resistant, so it will do double duty for cooking eggs and sautéing.
   • Sifter or strainer.  A sifter or strainer is used to lighten flour that’s gotten packed down in a bag during storage and shipping.  It’s also useful for mixing dry ingredients together to make sure there aren’t any stubborn clumps.  A 5” or 5.5” mesh strainer is usually sufficient for most baking needs (or one that’s big enough to sit on top of the mixing bowl of your choice) and one with metal/stainless steel handles (vs. plastic or silicone) are more durable and a better buy overall.
   • Pastry blender.  A pastry blender, often called a “pastry cutter”, is used to mix solid fat like butter, shortening or lard into flour to create dough.  It also has other applications, such as blending the flour, sugar and butter for a fruit crisp or mashing boiled eggs for egg salad.  You can do all these with other tools such as a fork, cheese grater, etc.  But if you do a lot of baking, it may be a worthwhile addition to your collection of kitchen gadgets.  If you do buy one, consider a model with blades rather than wires because it will be stronger.  Also, consider one that’s stainless steel as it won’t rust.
3. Forming & Portioning.  Once you’ve mixed all ingredients together and made the perfect dough, the next step is to divide up this larger quantity into specific serving sizes or portions and mold or form them into shapes of your choosing.  Here are the tools to help you do this.
   • Rolling pin.  A rolling pin helps flatten out and shape everything from pie or pastry crust to cookie dough and biscuits.  For beginners, a roller type is the easiest to use and requires less pressure than the rod style.  Get an excellent quality wood pin and it’ll be the only one you’ll ever need.
   • Bench or dough scraper.  A dough scraper, also called a bench scraper, is used for working with sticky bread dough, dividing and lifting portions and scraping extra bits off your work surface.  It is also handy for pulling up delicate pastry dough and transferring it to a pie pan without breaking.  This tool can be made of metal or plastic.  Stainless steel is the most popular, but a plastic is great for getting the last bits of batter or dough out of a bowl.
   • Cookie & pastry cutters.  The sky’s the limit when it comes to various seasonal, specialty and other geometric shapes of cookie & pastry cutters.  But the place to start for a beginner is with a set of plain round cutters and maybe a set of fluted round ones.  Each set contains assorted sizes and will help you cut out all kinds of doughs such as cookies, biscuits and even empanadas or ravioli.  But if you don’t want the extra equipment, you can always just use a cup to make circles.
4. Baking.  All types of food can be baked, but some require special care and protection from direct heat and you’ll definitely want some bakeware and other necessities to bake your baked goods in the oven.
   • Bakeware.  The most common bakeware pieces you’ll want to have are rimmed baking sheet (21” x 15” or 18” x 13”), square baking dish or pan (9” x 9”), two round cake pans (8” or 9”), 12-cup muffin tin and a pie pan (9” diameter).  You can buy these in a set or separately.  Bakeware can be made of metal (the best conductor of heat), silicone (takes away your worries about sticking), glass (lets you see how brown your food is getting) or ceramic (tends to be more decorative).  If you choose metal, look for heavy pans without a dark coating as this can brown baked goods too quickly.  A nonstick finish isn’t too necessary, especially when the pan is greased and floured properly, or a silicone mat is used.
   • Silicone baking mat.  These nonstick mats are made from fiberglass and silicone.  They are a great alternative to parchment paper because they are reusable.  A silicone mat maybe a necessity not only for baking cookies but also useful when placed under fruit pies. or other messier baked goods, to catch any spills during baking.
   • Timer.  A timer is a useful tool to help you not overcook your baked goods.  Although ovens today have timers built-in, older ovens may not have this option and you may want to buy a small minute timer which will allow also you to take it outdoors or another room, so you can hear it and know when to check or removing your baking.
   • Cake tester.  Another way to determine if your baked goods are done in the oven is using a cake tester.  A toothpick often does the job just fine.  However, a metal cake tester has its advantages, they are reusable, and its length makes it easier to use with thick baked goods.  Outside of baking, many professional cooks also use them for testing whether meat or fish are warmed through.
   • Pastry brush.  A pastry brush is useful for coating the tops of pastries and pie crusts with an egg wash or milk, or for greasing baking pans with melted butter or shortening.  Consider buying a brush with silicone bristles vs. hair bristles because the silicone doesn’t fall out and are heat and bacteria resistant as well.
5. Finishing & Cooling.  Finishing & Cooling. When your baked goods are ready to come out of the oven, you need to be prepared to place them somewhere to cool down.  Once your baked goods have cooled down, you will also need the right tools for decorating to finish and complete your final product.  Here are the essentials that any baker will need during this process.
   • Baking rack.  While you can just cool cakes or bread by removing from the pan onto a board, the bottom of the baked goods tends to become soggy.  With a baking rack, the baking cools evenly and faster because the air can flow around it.  Consider buying a cooling rack size based on the type of baking items you usually bake to make it easier to store.  Also, remember to let items such as cookies, muffins and cakes cool for a few minutes in the pan before transferring to a baking rack to cool completely.
   • Offset spatula.  Sometimes called cake spatulas or decorating spatulas, features a narrow metal blade with a wooden handle.  The metal has a pair of bends in it, so that the blade sits about ½” lower than the handle.  This makes it easier to frost the center of a cake without your knuckles bumping into the edges.
   • Piping bags and tips.  Piping or pastry bags come in all different sizes, from large for doing big jobs to extremely tiny ones for doing finely detailed work on cakes and cookies.  No matter what the size, piping bags allows for control and more elaborate designs when decorating.  Piping bags are usually made of canvas, which makes them durable, with a plastic coating on the inside which makes them easy to clean and reuse.  With this plastic-coated fabric type of material, it is important to wash and dry thoroughly between uses.  But plastic ones are also often used and can be disposable.  The tips that go at the end of a piping bag, are also available in an assortment of shapes and sizes, from lines, stars, roses and even basket weaving – the sky’s the limit!