How to Stock a Baker's Pantry

There is a seemingly endless supply of gadgets that you can fill your kitchen drawers and pantry shelves with if you love to bake. But when it comes right down to it, you don’t need all those cool little space wasters. Professional bakers and chefs know that quality trumps quantity in the kitchen any day. Here are a couple of lists to help you assemble a pantry of basic equipment and ingredients. Invest in the highest-quality equipment you can comfortably afford—it will last you a long time. As you add to your collection, choose pieces that you need and will use, rather than those that have just novelty appeal. If you love baking pies but have no interest in tackling cheesecake, invest in a few more pie plates and forget about the springform pan. Read on to learn more.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Flours: All-purpose white flour, whole wheat flour, cake flour, bread flour
• Sugars: Granulated sugar, brown sugar (light and dark), powdered (or confectioner’s) sugar, corn syrup (light and dark), molasses, honey, real maple syrup
• Dairy: Large eggs, milk, heavy cream, sour cream, buttermilk, cream cheese, ricotta cheese
• Fats: Vegetable oil, vegetable shortening, butter, pure lard, margarine (must contain at least 60 percent vegetable oil; do not use “light” or low-fat margarine spreads)
• Fat substitutes: Fruit purees (prune, apricot), unsweetened applesauce
• Leavening agents: Baking powder, baking soda, dry yeast granules
• Salt: Table salt
• Other dry goods: Cornmeal, cornstarch
• Flavorings and colorings: Cocoa powder, flavoring extracts and oils, fruit juice and zest; gel food colors
• Essential spices: Ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves
• Essential extracts (pure): Vanilla, almond, peppermint, orange, lemon, anise
• Add-ins: Chocolate and other flavored baking chips, nuts, dried fruit, poppy seed, sesame seeds or candy bits

Equipment Basics

1. When selecting cookie sheets, keep in mind that there should be 2 inches of space on all sides of the sheet when it is sitting on the oven shelf, for air circulation. If your oven is big enough, you can go with the 17-by-14-inch sheet for your large size. If not, choose 16-by-14-inch or even 15-by-13-inch pans. Medium cookie sheets can be the next size down from your large sheets, or significantly smaller; it’s up to you.

2. For best results, choose pans that are light colored and have a nonstick surface. Insulated pans are not the best choice. If a recipe does call for an insulated pan, you can always double up your regular pans. Silicone bakeware is flexible and may be difficult to maneuver into and out of the oven. Additionally, some batters have a tendency to stick to the surface of the silicone bakeware.

3. Pyrex is the best material for pie plates. Choose clear, untinted Pyrex so you can easily see how well your crusts are browning.

Ingredient Basics

4. Always store your flours and dry goods in tightly sealed containers away from heat and moisture. For storage longer than a few months, you can wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate or freeze flour. This is especially important with whole wheat flour, which tends to get rancid sooner than white flour due to the presence of the wheat germ in it.

5. Do not use artificial flavorings. Pure extracts and oils will provide better flavor and will not evaporate upon cooking, so you won’t have to use as much. Choose gel over liquid food color when possible. The colors are more intense and will not dilute the food you are trying to color.

6. Pay attention to the recipe when measuring out ingredients such as baking soda and baking powder. The two are not interchangeable.

7. Many recipes, especially those for quick breads, muffins, brownies, and dense cakes or cookies, are adaptable to low-fat modifications using fruit puree or unsweetened applesauce for up to half the called-for fat. If you choose to modify the recipe in this way, lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees F and check a few minutes early to see if they're done.

Resources

• A link to Baker's Secret supplies online
• Kitchen supplies online