The holidays are coming, and people who love to bake for their loved ones are thinking of the right tools for making those holiday treats. The right baking tools not only help make sweets and savories delicious but make them easier to cook. Here are the top 10:
A cook should have both hand and standing mixers. Standing mixers are a must have if the cook loves to whip up cakes, cookies and other desserts. An electric hand mixer is the thing if something needs to be whipped over a bain marie or a bowl of ice water.
Many things have to be cooked at just the right temperature, and the candy thermometer is the go-to instrument. The best ones are long enough to reach into a stockpot and should have a back that’s flat, made of metal and easy to clip on to the side of the pot.
This simple tool not only scrapes up that last bit of dough stuck to the board but makes short work of slicing balls of dough into smaller, neater balls.
These bowls come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from those big enough to hold a few gallons to tiny bowls just big enough to hold a couple of teaspoons of spices or salt. Cooking experts recommend the cook get a set of stainless steel bowls and a set of glass bowls.
Since many recipes call for a precise amount of this or that ingredient, no cook can do without measuring cups and measuring spoons. Make sure that the spoons and dry measuring cups can be leveled off and that liquid measuring cups are made of transparent tempered glass.
There are an amazing variety of whisks out there, from balloon whisks to flat whisks to mini whisks to cut-off whisks that make spun sugar. Use them to beat egg whites, sauces and to blend dry ingredients.
These are indispensable, for they can mix everything whether it is hot or cold, cooked or uncooked, animal, vegetable or mineral. Wooden spoons are inexpensive, and every cook should have a lot of them.
These tools include:
The cook should not forget tart pans, ramekins, soufflé dishes and brioche molds.
Like whisks and wooden spoons, the ideal is to have more than one rolling pin. The American type has handles for a comfortable grip, while French pins are a solid piece of wood and gives the cook a better feel.
Finally, the cook should also have sets of cookie cutters and biscuit cutters. The best ones are made of copper.
The list of tools that a cook can use to whip up their favorite holiday tasties is almost endless. But these 10 tools are ones that most cooks consider essential.
