Essential Equipment for Baking
Using the right tools will make things easier and faster, and will ensure success. As you continue to bake, you will enjoy adding special equipment to your collection.
Equipment is constantly changing and evolving, so rather than give too many specific brand or model recommendations, my advice is to read reviews online. I am, however, listing the brands of equipment that I’ve designed or that I find essential for accuracy.
Specialty equipment used for just one recipe will be listed in the recipe itself.
It is a good idea to reserve equipment made of anything other than metal, ceramic, or glass for only baking, as other materials such as plastic and wood retain odors from savory cooking and impart them to baked goods.
Ovens
When installing a new oven, make sure that it is level, or your cakes and most other baked goods will not be. Also have the installer calibrate the oven to make sure it heats to the correct temperature and that the temperature display is accurate. (You can also have a manufacturer’s representative calibrate the oven at a later date if you discover the temperature is off.) If your oven has a convection setting, follow the manufacturer’s directions. They may recommend lowering the temperature by 25°F/15°C when using the convection setting. It’s fine to use convection for most cakes, cookies, pies, and pastry; but for bread, only use it toward the end of baking, when it will help crisp the crust. (The beginning of baking requires moisture; convection will have a drying effect.) Note that countertop ovens can be a fine choice but baking temperature, and therefore time, may need to be adjusted. The size of some ovens may not accommodate larger or taller pans.
Stand Mixer
A 5 to 6 quart heavy-duty stand mixer with a flat beater and a whisk beater is ideal for baking recipes. Having two bowls will come in handy, especially when you need to beat egg whites separately before adding them to the batter in another bowl.
Handheld Mixer
A handheld electric mixer is useful for small quantities of ingredients such as whipped cream. If it is a powerful model, it can also be used in place of a stand mixer. If it is less powerful, use a higher speed than indicated in the recipe.
Food Processor
A 7 to 12 cup capacity will work for almost all of the recipes in this book. It is also very useful to have a small capacity food processor and/or an immersion blender.
Note that when using a food processor without using the feed tube to add ingredients, it is very helpful to cover the work bowl with a piece of plastic wrap before locking on the cover. This keeps ingredients from leaping into the crevices of the cover. Also, after scraping out the contents of the work bowl, run the processor for a few seconds to spin any residue off the blades.
Baking Pans
Unless otherwise specified, choose sturdy heavy-gauge, light-colored aluminum or steel pans with a dull finish.
Cake pans other than tube pans should have straight up and down, not sloped, sides. If your pans have sloped sides you will need to add a little less batter.
Cake Pans
- • 9 by 2 inch high round (two)
- • 9 by 3 or 2¾ inch high springform (for cheesecake)
- • 8 by 2 inch high square
- • 13 by 9 by 2 inch high rectangle
- • 10 cup fluted cast-aluminum tube pan (preferably Nordic Ware)
- • 16 cup two-piece angel food pan (10 inch diameter at the top, 4 inches high)
- • Muffin pans (preferably with 6 cavities)
- • Rose’s Heavenly Cake Strips: I recommend encircling pans with cake strips to ensure even baking when making cakes. These silicone cake strips slow down the baking at the sides of the pan, which otherwise would set sooner than the center, resulting in doming in the middle and dry-ness at the edges of the cake. If you don’t have these, you can make your own reusable cake strips using a strip of aluminum foil: Cut it long enough to encircle the pan with a little overlap, triple the height of the pan. Wet some paper towels, fold them to the height of the pan, and lay them along the middle of the foil strip. Fold the top, bottom, and ends of the foil over to encase the paper towels. Wrap the strip around the pan and secure it with a metal paper clip or clamp.
Tart and Galette Pans
9½ by 1 inch high fluted tart pan (preferably nonstick with a removable bottom, preferably Gobel brand)
Pie Plates
9 inch standard Pyrex pie plate (4 cup)
Rose’s Perfect Pie Plate (4 cup)
Foil Rings for Pie Crust Rims
These prevent overbrowning around the edges. Rather than buying manufactured versions, it is best to make your own from heavy-duty aluminum foil, which will protect the crust without flattening the decorative border. (See step-by-step photos.)
Loaf Pans
- • 8½ by 4½ inch (6 cups)
- • 9 by 5 inch (7 cups)
Baking Sheets
These pans have raised rolled edges on all 4 sides. The best quality, heavier weight ones are referred to as sheet pans. The standard size for a “half-sheet pan,” used throughout this book, is 17¼ by 12¼ by 1 inch high. They are also available as 13 by 9 inch quarter sheet pans.
Cookie Sheets
These pans come either with a rim on one side or without rims. The cookie sheets used throughout this book are 15 by 12 inch.
Reusable Liners
There are two types of nonstick liners used to line baking sheets. Silpat, a combination of silicone and fiberglass, is very durable and ideal as a surface for pouring caramel such as toffee. They are rated safe for temperatures up to 480°F/250°C. Teflon-type liners are less durable because they are thinner. But they are more flexible, and more nonstick, making them ideal for cake rolls. They are rated as safe up to 425°F/220°C.
Wire Racks for cooling
These allow for airflow around pans and baked goods for more rapid cooling.
Digital Scale
I prefer the brand Escali. The range should be from a minimum of 1 gram up to 4 kilograms/8.8 pounds. I give weights for very small amounts of ingredients but it’s fine to use measuring spoons for these. Should you want to weigh these ingredients instead, I also recommend the Escali L600 High Precision Digital Scale, which has a weighing range of 0.1 gram to 600 grams.
Instant-Read Thermometer
(preferably Thermapen by ThermoWorks)
Oven Thermometer
I like the CDN ProAccurate Oven Thermometer or the multifunction ChefAlarm by ThermoWorks, with the optional grate clip.
Baked goods need to bake at the proper temperature. If a cake bakes too quickly because the temperature is too high, for example, it will dome and crack. If it bakes too slowly, the texture will be coarse and the center may dip. If you don’t have an oven thermometer, an effective test of oven temperature is baking time. If it takes more or less time to bake than the range of time recommended in the recipe, you may need to have your oven calibrated (see Baking Equipment), or adjust the temperature setting to compensate. (Create a chart of adjustments needed that you can refer to each time.)
Rolling Pin and Dough Mat
If using a wooden rolling pin, be sure to rub it well with flour, as needed, to prevent sticking.
I created Rose’s Signature Series Pie Kit, which includes a Magic Rolling Pin and nonstick Magic Dough Pastry Mat that prevent sticking while needing the least amount of flour. The rolling pin is made of SynGlas, a durable nonstick plastic, and the dough mat is also virtually nonstick. Also included are Silicone Fast Tracks—strips that you set on the mat as a guide to ensure even thickness of the dough. They come in three heights suitable for pies, tarts, and cookies.
To keep the mat from sliding around as you roll, wet the clean counter lightly. Set the mat at the edge of the counter and then slide it forward, which will create a suction that holds it securely in place.
Cast-Iron Pizza Pan or Baking Steel
(for pies, tarts, and pizza to ensure a browned bottom crust)
Baking Stone or Unglazed Quarry Tiles
(for bread, pizza, and pie baking)
Timer
Citrus Juice Squeezer
Fine-Mesh Strainer
(for straining and sifting)
Set of Glass Mixing Bowls
Pyrex Custard Cups
Cookie Cutters, Plain or Scalloped
(for cookies and biscuits)
Disposable Pastry Bags
Small Straight and Offset Metal Spatulas
(for leveling measuring spoons, unmolding, and applying frosting)
Wire Cake Testers and Wooden Skewers
(for testing doneness)
Assorted Silicone Spatulas
(for high heat stirring and scraping bowls)
Pastry Brush
(preferably silicone)
Wooden Spoon
(for very stiff mixtures)
Plastic Bench Scraper
(for scraping bowls and working with bread dough)
Assorted Whisks
Be sure to include a small piano wire whisk, 10 inches long and 5 inches in circumference, with at least eight loops of fine wire. It will reach into the corners of a saucepan, making it ideal for both preparing a smooth pastry cream and evenly mixing dry ingredients together.
Microplane Grater
(for grating zest)
Measuring Spoons
(preferably POURfect)
Dry Cup Measures
If not using a scale, use dry measuring cups with unbroken rims, which can be leveled off (see Ingredients for Baking). I prefer POURfect brand for the most accurate measuring.
Liquid Measuring Cups (with a spout)
If measuring liquid by volume instead of weighing, be sure to use a liquid measuring cup, not one for dry ingredients. I prefer POURfect measuring beakers and Anchor Hocking Oven Basics glass measuring cups. Read the measurement at eye level, with the cup set on a flat surface. The measurement should be read below the meniscus (the curved upper surface of the liquid).
Parchment
(preferably flat sheets, for lining pans and blind baking pie crust)
Cookie Scoops
(1¼ or 1½ inch diameter for cookies, 2 inch diameter for cupcakes)
Clear Plastic Rulers
(18 inches long, with grid marks)
Pastry Jagger
This is a small wheel with a zigzag edge used to cut dough, as for a lattice-top pie. You can use a pizza wheel or small knife instead.
Plastic Wrap
Stretch-Tite is my favorite plastic wrap because it clings tightly to the bowl or whatever else needs to be wrapped. Plastic wraps are not entirely impermeable and therefore are suitable for freezing baked goods only if used in a couple of layers. Freeze-Tite, however, is significantly thicker and also wider (15 inches).