Baking

Bakingis a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in anoven, but can also be done in hotashes, or on hotstones. The most common baked item isbread, but many other types of foods can be baked.Heat is gradually transferred from the surface of cakes, cookies, and pieces of bread to their center, typically conducted at elevated temperatures surpassing 300°F. Dry heat cooking imparts a distinctive richness to foods through the processes of caramelization and surface browning. As heat travels through, it transforms batters and doughs into baked goods and more with a firm dry crust and a softer center.Baking can be combined withgrillingto produce a hybridbarbecuevariant by using both methods simultaneously, or one after the other. Baking is related to barbecuing because the concept of themasonry ovenis similar to that of asmoke pit.
Baking has traditionally been performed at home for day-to-day meals and in bakeries and restaurants for local consumption. When production was industrialized, baking was automated by machines in large factories. Theartof baking remains a fundamental skill and is important for nutrition, as baked goods, especially bread, are a common and important food, both from an economic and cultural point of view. A person who prepares baked goods as a profession is called abaker.
All types of food can be baked, but some require special care and protection from direct heat. Various techniques have been developed to provide this protection.
In addition to bread, baking is used to preparecakes,pastries,pies,tarts,quiches,cookies,scones,crackers,pretzels, and more. These popular items are known collectively as "baked goods," and are often sold at abakery, which is a store that carries only baked goods, or at markets, grocery stores, farmers markets or through other venues.
Meat, includingcuredmeats, such ashamcan also be baked, but baking is usually reserved formeatloaf, smaller cuts of whole meats, or whole meats that containstuffingor coating such asbread crumbsorbuttermilkbatter. Some foods are surrounded with moisture during baking by placing a small amount of liquid (such aswaterorbroth) in the bottom of a closed pan, and letting it steam up around the food.Roastingis a term synonymous with baking, but traditionally denotes the cooking of whole animals or major cuts through exposure todry heat; for instance, one bakes chicken parts but roasts the whole bird. One can bake pork or lamb chops but roasts the whole loin or leg. There are many exceptions to this rule of the two terms. Baking androastingotherwise involve the same range of cooking times and temperatures. Another form of baking is the method known asen croûte(French for "in crust", referring to a pastry crust), which protects the food from direct heat and seals the natural juices inside. Meat,poultry,game, fish orvegetablescan be prepared by bakingen croûte. Well-known examples includeBeef Wellington, where the beef is encased inpastrybefore baking;pâté en croûte, where theterrineis encased in pastry before baking; and the Vietnamese variant, a meat-filled pastry calledpâté chaud. Theen croûtemethod also allows meat to be baked by burying it in the embers of a fire—a favorite method of cookingvenison. Salt can also be used to make a protective crust that is not eaten. Another method of protecting food from the heat while it is baking is to cook iten papillote(French for "in parchment"). In this method, the food is covered bybaking paper(oraluminum foil) to protect it while it is being baked. The cooked parcel of food is sometimes served unopened, allowing diners to discover the contents for themselves which adds an element of surprise.
Eggscan also be used in baking to produce savory or sweet dishes. In combination withdairy productsespeciallycheese, they are often prepared as adessert. For example, although a bakedcustardcan be made using starch (in the form offlour,cornflour,arrowroot, orpotato flour), the flavor of the dish is much more delicate if eggs are used as the thickening agent. Baked custards, such ascrème caramel, are among the items that need protection from an oven's direct heat, and thebain-mariemethod serves this purpose. The cooking container is half-submerged in water in another, larger one so that the heat in the oven is more gently applied during the baking process. Baking a successfulsoufflérequires that the baking process be carefully controlled. The oven temperature must be absolutely even and the oven space must not be shared with another dish. These factors, along with the theatrical effect of an air-filled dessert, have given this baked food a reputation for being a culinary achievement. Similarly, a good baking technique (and a good oven) are also needed to create abaked Alaskabecause of the difficulty of baking hotmeringueand coldice creamat the same time.
Baking can also be used to prepare other foods such aspizzas,baked potatoes, baked apples,baked beans, somecasserolesandpastadishes such aslasagne.
The earliest known form of baking occurred when humans took wild grass grains, soaked them in water, and mashed the mixture into a kind of broth-like paste.The paste was cooked by pouring it onto a flat, hot rock, resulting in a bread-like substance. Later, as humans mastered fire, they roasted the paste on hot embers, making bread-making more convenient as it could be done whenever fire was created. According toBritannica, theAncient Egyptiansinvented the first ovens.They also bakedbreadusing yeast, which they had previously been using to brew beer.By 2600 BCE, they were making bread in ways similar in principle to those of today.The bookBread for the Wildernessstates that "Ovens and worktables have been discovered in archaeological digs from Turkey (Hacilar) to Palestine (Jericho (Tell es-Sultan)) and date back to 5600 BC."
Baking flourished during theRoman Empire. Beginning around 300 BC, the pastry cook became an occupation for Romans (known as the pastillarium) and became a respected profession because pastries were considered decadent, and Romans loved festivity and celebration. Thus, pastries were often cooked especially for large banquets, and any pastry cook who could invent new types of tasty treats was highly prized. Around 1 AD, there were more than three hundred pastry chefs in Rome, and Cato wrote about how they created all sorts of diverse foods and flourished professionally and socially because of their creations. Cato speaks of an enormous number of breads including; libum (cakes made with flour and honey, often sacrificed to gods), placenta (groats and cress),spira (modern day flour pretzels), scibilata (tortes), savillum (sweet cake), and globus apherica (fritters). A great selection of these, with many different variations, different ingredients, and varied patterns, were often found atbanquetsand dining halls. The Romans baked bread in an oven with its own chimney, and had mills to grind grain into flour. A bakers'guildwas established in 168 BC inRome.
Eventually, the Roman art of baking became known throughout Europe and eventually spread to eastern parts of Asia.By the 13th century in London, commercial trading, including baking, had many regulations attached. In the case of food, they were designed to create a system "so there was little possibility of false measures, adulterated food or shoddy manufactures". There were by that time twenty regulations applying to bakers alone, including that every baker had to have "the impression of his seal" upon bread.
Beginning in the 19th century, alternative leavening agents became more common, such asbaking soda.Bakers often baked goods at home and then sold them in the streets. This scene was so common thatRembrandt, among others, painted a pastry chef selling pancakes in the streets of Germany, with children clamoring for a sample. In London, pastry chefs sold their goods from handcarts. This developed into a delivery system of baked goods to households and greatly increased demand as a result. In Paris, the first open-air café of baked goods was developed, and baking became an established art throughout the entire world.
Baking eventually developed into a commercial industry using automated machinery which enabled more goods to be produced for widespread distribution. In the United States, the baking industry "was built on marketing methods used during feudal times and production techniques developed by the Romans."Some makers ofsnackssuch aspotato chipsor crisps have produced baked versions of their snack products as an alternative to the usual cooking method ofdeep fryingin an attempt to reduce their calorie or fat content. Baking has opened up doors to businesses such as cake shops and factories where the baking process is done with larger amounts in large, open furnaces.
The aroma and texture of baked goods as they come out of the oven are strongly appealing but is a quality that is quickly lost. Since the flavour and appeal largely depend on freshness, commercial producers have to compensate by usingfood additivesas well as imaginative labeling. As more and more baked goods are purchased from commercial suppliers, producers try to capture that original appeal by adding the label "home-baked." Such attempts seek to make an emotional link to the remembered freshness of baked goods as well as to attach positive associations the purchaser has with the idea of "home" to the bought product. Freshness is such an important quality that restaurants, although they are commercial (and not domestic) preparers of food, bake their own products. For example, scones atThe Ritz London Hotel"are not baked until early afternoon on the day they are to be served, to make sure they are as fresh as possible."
Baking needs an enclosed space for heating – typically in anoven. Formerly,primitive clay ovenswere in use. The fuel can be supplied by wood, coal, gas, or electricity. Adding and removing items from an oven may be done by hand with an oven mitt or by apeel, a long handled tool specifically used for that purpose.
Many commercial ovens are equipped with two heating elements: one for baking, usingconvectionandthermal conductionto heat the food, and one for broiling or grilling, heating mainly by radiation. Another piece of equipment still used for baking is theDutch oven. "Also called a bake kettle, bastable, bread oven, fire pan, bake oven kail pot, tin kitchen, roasting kitchen,doufeu(French: "gentle fire") orfeu de compagne(French: "country oven") [it] originally replaced the cooking jack as the latest fireside cooking technology," combining "the convenience of pot-oven and hangover oven."
Asian cultures have adopted steam baskets to produce the effect of baking while reducing the amount of fat needed.
Other equipment/tools needed for baking precision include a method for measuring ingredients. Ideally, a scale accurate to thegramis used, as exact measurements provide the best results, but some bakers rely onmeasuring cupsandmeasuring spoons.
Digital kitchen scales are also popular in baking where precise measurements are a must for dry ingredients.The tare function simplifies the process by allowing multiple ingredients to be measured in the same mixing bowl, resetting the scale to zero between each addition and eliminating the need for extra measuring tools.
Eleven events occur concurrently during baking, some of which (such asstarchgelatinization) would not occur at room temperature.
The dry heat of baking changes the form of starches in the food and causes its outer surfaces to brown, giving it an attractive appearance and taste. The browning is caused by the caramelization of sugars and theMaillard reaction. Maillard browning occurs when "sugars break down in the presence of proteins. Because foods contain many different types of sugars and proteins, Maillard browning contributes to the flavour of a wide range of foods, including nuts, roast beef, and baked bread."The moisture is never entirely "sealed in"; over time, an item being baked will become dry. This is often an advantage, especially in situations where drying is the desired outcome, like dryingherbsor roasting certain types of vegetables.
The baking process does not require any fat to be used to cook in an oven. When baking, consideration must be given to the amount of fat that is contained in the food item. Higher levels of fat such asmargarine,butter, lard, or vegetableshorteningwill cause an item to spread out during the baking process.
With the passage of time, breads harden and becomestale. This is not primarily due tomoisturebeing lost from the baked products, but more a reorganization of the way in which the water and starch are associated over time. This process is similar torecrystallizationand is promoted by storage at cool temperatures, such as in a domestic refrigerator or freezer.
Baking, especially of bread, holds special significance for many cultures. It is such a fundamental part of everyday food consumption that the children'snursery rhymePat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's mantakes baking as its subject. Baked goods are normally served at all kinds ofpartiesand special attention is given to their quality at formal events. They are also one of the main components of atea party, including at nursery teas and high teas, a tradition which started in Victorian Britain, reportedly whenAnna Russell, Duchess of Bedford"grew tired of the sinking feeling which afflicted her every afternoon round 4 o'clock ... In 1840, she plucked up courage and asked for a tray of tea, bread and butter, and cake to be brought to her room. Once she had formed the habit she found she could not break it, so spread it among her friends instead. As the century progressed, afternoon tea became increasingly elaborate."
The Benedictine Sisters of the Benedictine Monastery ofCaltanissettabaked a pastry calledCrocetta of Caltanissetta(Cross of Caltanissetta). They used to be prepared for theHoly Crucifix festivity. The monastery was situated next to the Church of the Holy Cross, from which these sweet pastries take the name.
For Jews,matzois a baked product of considerable religious and ritual significance. Baked matzah bread can be ground up and used in other dishes, such asgefilte fish, and baked again. For Christians, bread has to be baked to be used as an essential component of the sacrament of theEucharist. In theEastern Christiantradition, baked bread in the form of birds is given to children to carry to the fields in a spring ceremony that celebrates theForty Martyrs of Sebaste.
Jesusdefines himself as the “bread of life” (John 6:35). Divine “Grace” is called “bread of the strong” and preaching, religious teaching, the “bread of the word of God”. InRoman Catholicism, the piece of blessed wax encased in a reliquary is the “sacred bread”. In Hebrew,Bethlehemmeans "the house of bread", and Christians see in the fact that Jesus was born (before moving toNazareth) in a city of that name, the significance of his sacrifice via the Eucharist. The Eucharist is often interpreted as a connection to the Holy Spirit, a symbol of God’s love, and an invitation to reflect that love in service to others, providing strength for living out one’s faith.