5 Surprising Secrets to Help You Bake Like a Pro

One of the things I have learned in my years of baking is that I am ALWAYS learning something new.  Anyone that has worked with me in the bakery, knows that I love learning any new tip or trick that can help me be more efficient, make a better product, or simply give me ideas on how I can improve.  In this post I will share 5 surprising secrets I have learned over the years to help you bake like a pro. 

Some of these tips might challenge some of your preconceived notions about baking, but trust me, they work wonders.  Are you ready to up your baking game?  If so, read on. 

1:  Use a Kitchen Scale

While measuring cups and spoons are commonly used in baking, investing in a kitchen scale can take your baking to the next level.

If you aspire to bake like a pro, you need to know, professional chefs and bakers rely on food scales to achieve consistent and top-notch results in their culinary creations.  Precision is key in baking, and here’s why a scale is your secret weapon:

Different flours, sugars, and other dry ingredients can have varying densities. Using a scale ensures accuracy and consistency as you measure ingredients by weight, not volume.

Scaling recipes up or down becomes a breeze when using a kitchen scale. You can easily adjust quantities without worrying about the inconsistency that can occur with volume measurements.  

Even though figuring cost isn’t technically “baking”, a professional baker needs to know the cost of their product to help them figure profit margins.   You may have noticed that ingredients are sold by weight, not volume. Using a scale for your recipes makes finding cost a lot faster and easier. 

If you learn to bake like a pro, you may want to create your own recipes.  A scale is crucial in experimenting with ingredients to ensure consistency in the constants used in your recipe experiments.

2:  Scrape the Bowl

I might sound like a broken record if you have read any of my other posts, but I mean it when I say, if you want to bake like a pro, you have to scrape the bowl… really good. 

It sounds so easy and although you might be rolling your eyes saying, well, that is obvious, this is one of the most crucial steps in baking like a pro.  Scraping the bowl is something I have to constantly correct and remind when I am teaching people to bake.   If you learn when and how to scrape the bowl, your baking can drastically improve.  Correctly scraping the bowl will benefit your baking in many ways including:

Scraping the bowl each time you add an ingredient, mix the batter or when the recipe instructs you to, guarantees consistent results.  This is particularly important when you want to replicate a successful recipe or maintain the quality of a signature dish.

3:  Utilize your Freezer

One of the lesser-known secrets to baking like a pro is making the most of your freezer.

While many think of the freezer as a storage place for leftovers and ice cream, it can be an invaluable tool for bakers and is used in commercial kitchens everywhere.  Bakeries  use the freezer for many things.

Baking is a time consuming process and by utilizing the freezer, you can create more items from scratch by splitting up the steps into manageable time frames.  For example, mixing and rolling cookie dough into balls allows you to have fresh home-baked cookies without the extra time of mixing the dough.  Making roll dough and freezing it creates an opportunity to have freshly baked rolls anytime.

Freezing items can also help create a better final product.

Cake that is frozen doesn’t crumble as easily and holds together while frosting. Pie shells blind baked, bake much better when baked from a frozen state.  

You can also use the freezer to store items to have a longer shelf life, or to have a stash of frozen baked goods for unexpected guests, to help prep for a party or when you suddenly have a dessert craving.

4:  Use cold water when making breads, rolls or yeast dough

Contrary to what your grandma might have told you, using cold water when mixing bread can be a game-changer.

I remember the first time I saw a baker bringing ice to the giant mixer in the bakery.  Confused, I asked him, what is that for?  He proceeded to tell me he ices the dough?!  What??  This was against everything I had ever been taught.  And, yes, as crazy as it sounds, he used ice water to make the bread dough. 

I soon learned that this is how many bakeries made their bread.  Contrary, many traditional recipes recommend using lukewarm or room temperature water to make yeast bread or rolls but using cold water has its benefits. The only caveat is you can only use cold water when using instant yeast. Active Dry yeast won’t activate properly if you use cold water.  

Good bread requires gluten formation.

  Gluten is formed when water is mixed with flour and bonds together to create a stretchy and elastic network.  Gluten provides strength and structure to the dough allowing it to hold its shape and create a more uniform and well-structured crumb (soft inside of the bread, not the crust).  The more you knead or mix the bread dough, the more the gluten develops. 

Temperature is important in dough making and having dough get too hot can ruin your results. Ideal temperature for completed dough (for a 1 hour -1 1/2 hour rising time) is between 78 – 82 degrees. Using cold water when mixing your bread dough gives you more time to knead the dough and gets the gluten starting to develop.  Full development of gluten takes time and the constant mixing creates heat. 

Cold water also slows down the yeast’s activity, allowing for a longer fermentation period. It makes it easier to control the dough’s temperature helps you achieve more consistent results without worrying about over-proofing. 

It also allows you to have the option to freeze or refrigerate the dough.  This slow rise or long cold rest time results in a more developed flavor. Instant yeast works best with this technique as you don’t have to activate it in warm water like active dry yeast.

5: Colder butter in cookies, softer butter in frosting

When making cookies, the temperature of your butter matters more than you might think. While soft room temperature butter is often recommended for cookie recipes, using colder butter can yield surprising results.

 Cold-room-temperature butter is my favorite way to make cookies and a way that will help you bake like a pro.  If you remember from above, mixing creates heat and if you are creaming your butter and sugar, you want to have enough time to cream properly before the butter starts getting too warm and melting. 

Using colder butter prevents this from happening, especially on hot humid days.  But, there is a caveat with this technique.  Make sure you cut your butter up in smaller chunks so your mixing paddle doesn’t break.  When you start with colder butter, your cookies will spread less in baking, which means thicker, chewier cookies with a more defined shape.

On the flip side, when it comes to frosting, you’ll want to use really soft butter.

Soft butter makes creaming with powdered sugar much easier, leading to a smooth and silky frosting.  Leave your butter at room temperature for an extended period before making frosting. It should be so soft that it gives slightly when pressed, but it should not be melted.

Learning to bake like a pro doesn’t require years of experience or a professional kitchen. By incorporating these surprising secrets into your baking routine, you can elevate your baking skills and create delicious bakery items that rival those from the finest bakeries. So, put on your apron, grab your oven mitts, and get ready to amaze your friends and family with your newfound baking prowess.