Intuitive baking

[_john]

I've heard it repeated again and again that baking is a science, and that you must use exact measurements in order to achieve the desired results. Nevertheless, I'm interested in developing an intuition for baking that is similar to what many cooks develop for cooking.

The two "recipes," or intuitive guidelines, that I've developed so far are for pizza and a basic icebox cookie. I have been able to get fairly consistent results after practicing these without measuring. What do others think about intuitive baking? Any suggestions of things to practice or ways of approaching it? 

[gfweb]

Experience = intuition. It ends up being a recipe one way or the other.

[Lisa Shock]

Agreed. I think the closest you can get would be along the lines of Ruhlman's 'Ratio', which happens to be so highly flawed that, IMO, it doesn't prove its own concept.

 

In culinary school, they force pastry students to memorize charts and basic recipes for things like major categories of custards which gives you a feel for say, what a custard is like when whole eggs are used vs mostly yolks, but, you're just doing comparisons of recipes in the end. Also, sometimes we can give the impression that we are improvising when in fact we're relating information from our memorized recipes.

 

I can make a loaf of bread without a recipe, and it will be probably be good, maybe even great. The catch is replicating what happened, so that anyone can make it again. And, honestly, if I don't write it down, I can't precisely replicate it. Another problem with just riffing is: consistency in size and weight of the final product. For some products, I want to make enough dough to fill a special pan adequately without overflowing, or make 16 3oz rolls, a 100 calorie slice, or a dozen muffins.

 

Sure, sometimes you try substitutions and experiments because you don't have a recipe. I was asked once to make some blue corn crepes, for example. You can't just toss out the flour and use corn meal because the gluten in the flour helps hold things together, and, since we were going to roll these, they needed to hold together. I wound up reducing the flour amount to ½ the original, but replaced the usual pastry flour with 'bouncer' a high gluten bagel flour. The other half measure of flour was the corn meal, but we wound up grinding it into a fine flour to get the crepe to look nice when rolled. Anyway, this got perfected in three test runs, and I took notes the whole time because the event was a month in the future, and, I might not be the person making them. My first attempt was fairly good, tasted ok, and probably would have been just fine to serve at a casual meal in someone's home. But, this product needed to be picture perfect and produce hundreds of identical servings that were easy to roll around the filling without cracking or tearing. So, my assistant and I worked and re-worked the recipe until it was exactly what we wanted.

[Anna N]

I think for most home baking you can eyeball a teaspoon of baking soda/powder/salt/spices. I think you can eyeball a teaspoon of vanilla. Your results won't be much different then you might get from three different sets of measuring spoons. Beyond that though I don't think it's worth venturing. I am so happy when I am working from a recipe based on weight as I know my results are much more likely to be successful.

I just don't think you can truly bake intuitively the same as you can cook intuitively because even then you're working with some established guidelines.

[lindag]

I am not an intuitive cook and I know I never will be.

However, my own mother and other women I've known just seem to instinctively know how to cook without a recipe.

I don't remember my mother ever owning a cookbook but she still was an excellent cook and could make just about anything while I seem to need a recipe for even the simplest things.

Edited February 8, 2015 by lindag (log)

[Deryn]

I cook intuitively but I am a better cook than a baker for precisely the reasons others have expressed above - I am impatient with using standardized recipes and recipes are much more often required for baking. But, then I don't much care to or need to replicate results exactly even twice in a row. Makes me a terrible teacher (unless I follow a recipe when cooking or baking).

 

I have some intuition borne of much experience though and I know a lot of general baking principles (rules for substitutions and the 'chemistry', etc.) so I do know what ingredients and basic proportions to expect in a baking recipe and I can, as Anna spoke of, 'estimate'. And there are grey/crossover areas where I am more likely to succeed than not if I don't use a pre-tested written recipe - mostly in the area of breads, muffins, etc. All that said though, when I bake, I do have to consult a recipe much more than I ever would when cooking - or I cannot guarantee the result (especially twice in a row).

 

I also think however that many 'recipes' don't include everything one needs to know to produce an excellent result - one does need 'experience' to supplement. For instance, batter consistency may not be described in the recipe and an experienced baker can tell if that is wrong - not so much with a novice. Basic (pre)knowledge of 'technique' also is often needed - how and when to 'fold' for example. And while using weights helps to increase accuracy, ambient temperature and humidity and other kitchen variables can still affect the output as well. I could completely follow a recipe for meringues one day and then another and have two totally different results.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Deryn (log)

[CatPoet]

Well  Most people who cook with zero measurement ends up with a crappy result.   When I bake bread  I use my  blue tea cup  ( should call it a pond, it is about 2 cups of tea in it) and that is my guide,  I know with that amount of water I get a loaf of bread exactly as large as I need it. I do measure the salt with  a certain spoon. So even though I dont use a recipe I measure.

[andiesenji]

There are certain formulae in baking that produce reliable results time after time as long as all other factors are the same.

 

These include not only the ingredients but also time, temperature and even atmospheric conditions.

 

Considering the latter - try and bake meringues when it is pouring rain and the humidity is 90% or higher.  (Unless you can work in a closed environment with dehumidifiers running). 

 

Humidity or the lack of it can cause problems in baking other things.   Experience and repeatedly baking the same thing will allow one to develope a "feel" for dough or batter that is more reliable than instructions in cookbooks, but it takes time.

 

I bake some things without using a recipe because I have been preparing them for decades and I don't even have to think about it as I go through the motions and they turn out nicely every time. 

[CatPoet]

Andi, but you do measure? Not just grab and hope for the best?

[andiesenji]

Andi, but you do measure? Not just grab and hope for the best?

I don't measure exactly.  I have a bowl into which I put some flour - I poke my fist into the center and fill the depression with liquid then mix, if it looks a bit dry I add a bit more liquid, if too wet, more flour.  If I need it sweet, add a little sugar to the flour. 

Work it just enough for it to hold together, shape and bake - patting out and cutting for biscuits or ??

 

It is often difficult for me to write down a recipe from memory because I have to go through it step-by-step because it is so familiar to me I don't think about it. 

 

I don't have a "recipe" for baked meringue shells or schaum torte.  It's just egg whites, vinegar, vanilla and sugar but I don't make them when it is rainy or damp.  My neighbor had to watch me to learn because I couldn't explain exactly how I do it and put it on paper. 

 

The one time I did try a "new" recipe they turned out awful, tough and chewy, nothing like the ones I have been making for 60+ years.

[JeanneCake]

Andie, could you get your neighbor to give us her notes?   I've been making meringue shells for pavlova and this past weekend I was disappointed in the results (the meringues wept a bit).  I know that we just moved into our new kitchen and I was baking them in the range oven (not the convection) and attributed it to the oven temp.  The recipe comes from an Australian women's magazine and has worked well for me in the past (4 whites, 1 cup bakers special sugar, 1/2 tbl cornstarch, 1 tsp vinegar, 1/2 tsp vanilla and it scales up nicely) but I'd like something well tested if you know what I mean!

[AlaMoi]

not sure how to phrase this all pc and such....  but blanket rules in baking just simply do not exist.

 

rules for baking bread products do not apply to baking meringues, or soufles, or pies, or cakes, or . . .

 

for example, why did the meringue weep, cry, bawl out it's eyes, turn to mushy water - I've used the same recipe for 100,000 years....

real answer:  technique.  over beat the egg whites and the water falls out - nothing to do with 'the recipe'

 

or the dear cook who moved from the high plains to Hawaii - and was all upset that the humidity ruined her fudge.  well, around here the confectioners/sugar workers/chocoholicitiers all shut down in July-Aug-Sep because no matter how much air conditioning they got, the humidity kills the product.

 

there are certain ratios of certain "active" ingredients one should think about observing when baking stuff.

"the recipe rules" likely do not apply to putting one cups vs 3/4 cups of raisins into the raisin bread. 

and actually - half, or double, the yeast probably won't make any difference if you're experienced enough to know when it has "risen" - if you're working by the clock - allow to rise for one hour - and you use half the yeast and your kitchen is 10 degrees cooler - nope.  that's a doorstop.

 

the ratio/type of leavening and fats when making cake stuff gets you angel food or shortbread.  made-up-on-the-fly gets you something inbetween - could be good, could be a brick.

 

a bit more/less flour when kneading a bread dough is utterly standard procedure, as flour varies.  cake/pastry flour varies as well, but the exact to the microgram ratios are not as important - that's why they make toothpicks for cake doneness testing.

and, truth be told, the +/- flour bit for a bread is much less about how it turns out and much more about the physical handling/stickiness of the dough.

 

"So even though I dont use a recipe I measure" per CatPoet - well, those are "measurements" and together those are a "recipe"

 

I weigh all my solids and quite a few of the liquids.  it all started out as a grams per cup recipe - but I've tweaked the grams up or down based on my flour choice and the results.  so I'm using 3.62386341 cups of flour (in grams, I deal to the 5 gram level....)  not a particularly good "unit" in terms of cups, but by weight is sure works for me.

Edited February 9, 2015 by AlaMoi (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

not sure how to phrase this all pc and such....  but blanket rules in baking just simply do not exist.

 

rules for baking bread products do not apply to baking meringues, or soufles, or pies, or cakes, or . . .

 

for example, why did the meringue weep, cry, bawl out it's eyes, turn to mushy water - I've used the same recipe for 100,000 years....

real answer:  technique.  over beat the egg whites and the water falls out - nothing to do with 'the recipe'

 

or the dear cook who moved from the high plains to Hawaii - and was all upset that the humidity ruined her fudge.  well, around here the confectioners/sugar workers/chocoholicitiers all shut down in July-Aug-Sep because no matter how much air conditioning they got, the humidity kills the product.

 

there are certain ratios of certain "active" ingredients one should think about observing when baking stuff.

"the recipe rules" likely do not apply to putting one cups vs 3/4 cups of raisins into the raisin bread. 

and actually - half, or double, the yeast probably won't make any difference if you're experienced enough to know when it has "risen" - if you're working by the clock - allow to rise for one hour - and you use half the yeast and your kitchen is 10 degrees cooler - nope.  that's a doorstop.

 

the ratio/type of leavening and fats when making cake stuff gets you angel food or shortbread.  made-up-on-the-fly gets you something inbetween - could be good, could be a brick.

 

a bit more/less flour when kneading a bread dough is utterly standard procedure, as flour varies.  cake/pastry flour varies as well, but the exact to the microgram ratios are not as important - that's why they make toothpicks for cake doneness testing.

and, truth be told, the +/- flour bit for a bread is much less about how it turns out and much more about the physical handling/stickiness of the dough.

 

"So even though I dont use a recipe I measure" per CatPoet - well, those are "measurements" and together those are a "recipe"

 

I weigh all my solids and quite a few of the liquids.  it all started out as a grams per cup recipe - but I've tweaked the grams up or down based on my flour choice and the results.  so I'm using 3.62386341 cups of flour (in grams, I deal to the 5 gram level....)  not a particularly good "unit" in terms of cups, but by weight is sure works for me.

 

Not to be too obnoxious about the meringues, but consider a vacuum oven.  There is almost always a workaround for a problem. 

[andiesenji]

Andie, could you get your neighbor to give us her notes?   I've been making meringue shells for pavlova and this past weekend I was disappointed in the results (the meringues wept a bit).  I know that we just moved into our new kitchen and I was baking them in the range oven (not the convection) and attributed it to the oven temp.  The recipe comes from an Australian women's magazine and has worked well for me in the past (4 whites, 1 cup bakers special sugar, 1/2 tbl cornstarch, 1 tsp vinegar, 1/2 tsp vanilla and it scales up nicely) but I'd like something well tested if you know what I mean!

 

Preheat oven to 275.             Makes 15 to 18 meringues, depending on size.

 

Use large mixer bowl and make sure it is  completely clean and dry, not even a hint of oil or fat!

 

3/4 cup of egg whites - at room temp - (take eggs out of fridge the night before)

3 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

 

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

 

2 1/2 cups white sugar

 

Beat egg whites till foamy.

Add Cream of Tartar and the vinegar

Beat on medium speed just till very soft peaks form.

 

Continue beating on medium speed, gradually add in 1/3 of the sugar

gradually add the vanilla

slowly add the remaining sugar

Turn speed to high and beat till peaks are stiff - stop and test by scooping some out on an ice tea spoon - turn it upside down

it should not drip.

 

Dump the meringue into a jumbo plastic bag, zip the top closed

snip off one corner - about a half-inch opening

pipe onto parchment covered baking sheets  - about 4 inch rounds about 1 inch thick

If you want shells, form a hollow with the back of a ladle.

 

Bake for one hour.

Turn off the oven

set timer for one hour.  DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR!

Remove from oven, slide parchment off baking sheets. 

They should pop loose easily or use an offset spatula if they stick.