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As much as baking is an art, it’s also a science. Amongst all the cooking techniques, baking is one of the most specific when it comes to what you do to get the best finished product. Whereas other cooking methods absolutely allow that you can add an ingredient here or there, make substitutions as you see fit and generally do things by guesstimating, baking requires things to be done exactly for optimal results.
Best Baking Tip: Always add your liquid ingredients to the bread pan first, then the dry. Make sure to create an indentation on the top of your dry ingredients before adding the yeast, to avoid the yeast reacting with the liquids until mixing and kneading begin – particularly when using the delay bake timer.
Liquid Ingredient Measuring
When you measure liquid ingredients, first make sure the measuring cup or spoon is absolutely level. Remember that any liquid placed into a container will not be completely even when you measure – the top of the liquid will always have a slight curve to it, called a meniscus.
For baking, you always want the apex (mid point of the curve) of this meniscus to be even with your measuring line. In this way, the midpoint of the curve will be touching the measuring line, while the sides may be slightly above or below. When the midpoint of the meniscus is touching your measuring line, the measure is exact.
Dry Ingredient Measuring
Measuring for dry ingredients is done best using the following method:
- Pour out a portion of the ingredient to be measured into a large bowl (scooping from the bag or pouring directly into your measuring cup can cause incorrect amounts).
- Take your measuring cup or spoon and scoop out the ingredient until it is overflowing.
- Using a metal spatula or another metal flat edge, scrape the top of the measuring cup or spoon so that the surface of your ingredient is even with the edge of the vessel from one side to the other.
Remember to never pack an ingredient down or tap it off unless you are specifically instructed to do so in the recipe. Both packing and tapping can lead to over-measuring and affect your final bread.