Questions tagged [baking]

Questions about cooking by dry heat without direct exposure to a flame, typically in an oven.

Most questions in this tag will be about some type of leavened product: cakes, pastries, breads, and so on. However, any food cooked by convective heat at moderate temperatures may be considered baking.

If your question is about cooking meat, vegetables, or other non-rising food, especially at very high heat, consider using the tag instead. Other common oven techniques that are not baking include and .

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Is it okay to use aluminium foil instead of parchment paper while baking cookies?

I don't have access to parchment paper or even butter paper for that matter. I just read on a website that it'd be okay to use aluminium foil as long as I apply a coating of grease on it. And also since aluminium conducts heat faster, will I need to…
Uday Kanth
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For Pizza cooking at home. What is the best alternative to the pizza stone?

For Pizza cooking at home. What is the best alternative to the pizza stone?
Zepplock
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Do modern ovens bake the same as the old ones? Is the new oven the reason popovers don't rise?

My popovers always popped over perfectly tall and golden using an old recipe handed down from the 40's, which called for baking at 400 °F and using old-fashioned glass custard cups. Now with my new electric oven, the popovers do not rise at all…
SusanMary
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Why not make sourdough bread from young starter?

I made my own starter 3-4 days ago, and it has been growing well; I have fed it twice so far. As far as I know, it is recommended that you feed starter for about 7-0 days before you use it to make bread. My question is, why? If my starter is already…
Ovi
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Is granulated sugar (American) the same as caster sugar (UK)?

I have an american cake recipe which includes 'granulated sugar', would this be uk caster sugar? It is for the stage when you beat in with the butter?
user3909
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What happens if I use vegetable oil in a cake?

I want to bake a cake out of baking mix bought at a shop. The mix already contains flour, baking soda, vanillin, other minor components. The manual says I need to add butter. I'd like to use vegetable oil instead of butter - most likely sunflower…
sharptooth
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Is it okay to measure flour by weight by converting from volume?

I don't have a big jar to put my flour in so it's hard to measure by volume (you have to fluff the flour, pour it into a cup and then remove the excess - which cant be done outside of the original bag). It it okay to just look up the conversion (for…
Bar Akiva
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Mystery ingredient in cookies with cream tartar

The attached picture is of a cookie recipe from my grandmother who passed a year ago. I would like to make the cookies, especially since they share my daughter's name, but there is one ingredient that I can't decode. It appears that the recipe calls…
katahdin
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What role do eggs play in baking?

Why do we use eggs in cake baking?
oneat
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Can/should I use baking soda when cooking beans?

My recipe for hummus says to cook the garbanzo beans with a little baking soda to soften them. Does this work with other legumes? I've often seen the advice against salting the cooking water for beans, as it supposedly toughens them. Will a…
Rob Lewis
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Where can I buy borosilicate (Pyrex) bakeware in the U.S.?

Because of the shattering dangers of the apparently inferior lime glass that Pyrex uses for manufacturing in the U.S. as exposed by Consumer Reports, I'd like to replace my Pyrex with borosilicate bakeware. Apparently Pyrex used to manufacture…
Jeff Axelrod
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How can I identify dutch process cocoa?

I have a hard time finding "dutch process cocoa" in the store sometimes. What other names might dutch process cocoa be known as? Is there something else in the ingredients that might identify dutch process cocoa. What is the key property of…
KatieK
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Why don't my cookies flatten?

I have baked Betty Crocker's Giant Honey and Oat Cookies three or four times now, and every time, my cookies do not spread out, I just get thick cookies. Is there something I am doing wrong? As far as I can tell, I am following the recipe exactly.…
user3058
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I want my potatoes to be baked within an hour, but I forgot to preheat the oven. Should I put them in while preheating or not?

I forgot to preheat the oven while prepping my potatoes to be baked. Dinnertime is one hour away. I put them in anyway and turned on the oven. My spouse says I should not put them in yet because the oven will preheat more slowly with the potatoes…
JNL
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Can I always use butter instead of margarine when baking?

Some recipes says use butter or margarine, some say use butter and some say use margarine. My question is, can I always use butter or does margarine have some property that butter doesn't when baking?
johnny
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