Used a couple of US recipes recently and most of the ingredients are in cups, or spoons, not by weight. This is a nightmare to convert. Do Americans not own scales or something? What’s the reason for measuring everything by volume?
Used a couple of US recipes recently and most of the ingredients are in cups, or spoons, not by weight. This is a nightmare to convert. Do Americans not own scales or something? What’s the reason for measuring everything by volume?
I do this, and my brother who is an amateur chef thinks it’s witchcraft. Baking is not hard to eyeball or make by feel, people.
I’m a trained chef working the trade for 30 years. 2 years in vocational school, a year for cooking and a year for bakery/patisserie. I’m a really confident cook - the concept of different cuisines, the basic ingredients and seasonings, no probs. Baking is still a rocket science for me. My current head chef said baking is fun if you know what you are doing but I’m still after 30 years not fully confident about the consistency.
I’ve heard that several times from different people… That chefs often don’t like baking. Or are at least sceptical about their abilities (or the process.)
I think it comes down to the fact that cooking is active. You constantly season, add heat, remove heat, and check if it’s done. Baking is more passive, you mix things and hope for the best, you can’t just add more sugar or flour at the 10 minute mark.
My advice to anyone is start with pancakes. Make a few different recipes and pay attention to the differences. Then make them without a recipe. Switch up ingredients, sub in whatever you feel like, play with ratios. Once you have a handle on that, move to sourdough, cookies, or piecrust. Then do muffins. Leave cakes for last, because they are the most finicky. You’ll be baking with confidence and without a recipe in no time.
I can do this no problem however my WIFE cannot. If something doesn’t have a recipe defined down to a gnats ass then she looses confidence and nearly always screws it up. She’s not dumb she just doesn’t have the knack. It’s sorta like a “green thumb”, some people will kill a plant just looking at it while others are seemingly able to grow palm trees in the Arctic.
I’m sure it’s trainable but some people just have the ability and others don’t. Different people / different gifts and all that.
As someone who once subbed cayenne 1:1 for black pepper in spaghetti sauce, and who has learned to make my own breadcrumbs from failed sourdough, I promise it’s a learned skill. It just takes letting yourself fail a lot and not taking yourself too seriously.