Based on a suggestion from a two weeks ago, this week’s topic is on debunking common baking myths and misconceptions. The first myth is that salt does not matter in baking. Hint: it does! Despite the fact that many recipes only call for a small amount of salt, sometimes just a pinch, it still helps elevate flavors and is extremely important in baking bread. Now, when I say flavor, I do not mean that salt just adds a salty flavor. Usually, there is not enough salt in a bake to really make it taste salty. Plus, you don’t want your cookies and cakes tasting salty like the ocean. Instead, salt is great at counteracting the bitterness from other ingredients (Krystal). According to the King Arthur Baking Company, salt also helps to tighten the gluten structure in doughs, and it slows down yeast fermentation in breads.
Secondly, there is a misconception that you don’t have to measure your ingredients accurately. This is completely false! For most basic bakes like your standard chocolate chip cookies, having the exact amount of flour to the gram is not going to make a difference. However, more complicated bakes can be affected by inaccuracies in measuring your ingredients. One thing to note is that measuring cups are not perfectly accurate. If the flour is packed versus fluffed up, or if the sugar is in clumps versus loose, then this can affect how much is actually in that 1 cup. Hence why many professional bakers use kitchen scales which weigh the ingredients in grams, making their measures much more accurate. I personally just use measuring cups, but I try loosen-up my ingredients beforehand, so I don’t scoop too much (unless the recipe says to pack it in).
I already discussed this in a previous post, but one misconception is that baking soda and baking powder never expire. If your baking powder expired ten years ago, and you think, “oh, it’s only a little old,” then you may want to relearn what an expiration date means. Do not keep using expired baking soda or powder, otherwise it will affect the rise of your bakes.
Another common myth is that opening the oven door ruins your bakes. I can personally testify that this is not the case…sometimes. Depending on what you are baking, opening the oven door while your bake is in the oven does not affect anything. A quick peek to see how your cookies or pound cake is doing will not make a difference. Nevertheless, leaving the oven door open for long periods of time will absolutely mess with the proper rising of your bakes because cold air will rush in. This will affect the temperature inside the oven. Now, there are some bakes such as soufflés and meringue cakes that will be ruined if you open the oven door while they are baking, so understand and know about what you are baking beforehand (“Holiday Baking”).
Finally, similar to salt, many people think sugar only adds sweetness. The truth is that sugar also helps to enhance the flavor of and/or counteracts the bitterness of other ingredients. Additionally, sugar helps your bakes retain moisture and helps to create air bubbles (Krystal). This is important because you don’t want to end up with either a dry or very dense cake. That doesn’t sound particularly yummy :(.
Works Cited
“Holiday Baking Championship: Baking Myths (Debunked).” Food Network, https://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/holiday-baking-championship/photos/holiday-baking-championship-baking-myths-debunked. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
Krystal, Becky. “Six baking myths that you shouldn’t believe.” Washington Post, 14 February 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/02/14/baking-myths-sugar-salt/
“Salt.” King Arthur Baking Company, https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/pro/reference/salt. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
uva5043
October 24, 2022 at 7:44 amI think it’s interesting how some recipes make it an option to include salt! I never understood what the difference would be if I were to add salt or leave it out but your blog finally let me understand why! My mom has always told me that opening the oven door while baking would affect the result of the food. I never understood why it would be a problem if you were to open it up for five seconds. I will now be sending her a text telling her she has been wrong all of this time.
pkb5363
October 24, 2022 at 9:21 pmI think the salt myth is really interesting because we recently learned in our chemistry class how even a little bit of salt can dissolute quickly and “be everywhere,” which as you said exemplifies the flavor. I think it’s also interesting how sugar doesn’t necessarily have to be used for sweetness, but can be used as a counteraction to other unwanted flavors. These myths not only show the importance of areas of baking such as measuring, but also brings questions such as why a specific culinary skill is required for baking a simple cake. Who knew baking can have such philosophical and scientific questions!