Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven , but can also be done in hot ashes , or on hot stones . The most common baked item is bread , 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 with grilling to produce a hybrid barbecue variant by using both methods simultaneously, or one after the other. Baking is related to barbecuing because the concept of the masonry oven is similar to that of a smoke pit .
45-446: 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. The art of 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
90-437: A bakery , which is a store that carries only baked goods, or at markets, grocery stores, farmers markets or through other venues. Meat, including cured meats, such as ham can also be baked, but baking is usually reserved for meatloaf , smaller cuts of whole meats, or whole meats that contain stuffing or coating such as bread crumbs or buttermilk batter . Some foods are surrounded with moisture during baking by placing
135-418: A dessert . For example, although a baked custard can be made using starch (in the form of flour , cornflour , arrowroot , or potato flour ), the flavor of the dish is much more delicate if eggs are used as the thickening agent. Baked custards, such as crème caramel , are among the items that need protection from an oven's direct heat, and the bain-marie method serves this purpose. The cooking container
180-415: A certain job, e.g. operating a sand blaster . Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level of skill being shown and used. A skill may be called an art when it represents a body of knowledge or branch of learning, as in the art of medicine or the art of war . Although the arts are also skills, there are many skills that form an art but have no connection to
225-466: A more substantial dish. Sweet soufflés may be based on a chocolate or fruit sauce (lemon or raspberry, for example) and are often served with a dusting of powdered sugar. Frugal recipes sometimes emphasize the possibilities for making soufflés from leftovers. A soufflé may be served alone, with ice cream, fruit, or a sauce. Apple soufflé is made by lining a cake tin with pureed rice boiled in sweetened milk and baking it until it sets. The rice "border"
270-506: A must for dry ingredients. Eleven events occur concurrently during baking, some of which (such as starch gelatinization) 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 the Maillard reaction . Maillard browning occurs when "sugars break down in
315-434: A profession is called a baker . 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 prepare cakes , pastries , pies , tarts , quiches , cookies , scones , crackers , pretzels , and more. These popular items are known collectively as "baked goods," and are often sold at
360-516: A reputation for being a culinary achievement. Similarly, a good baking technique (and a good oven) are also needed to create a baked Alaska because of the difficulty of baking hot meringue and cold ice cream at the same time. Baking can also be used to prepare other foods such as pizzas , baked potatoes , baked apples, baked beans , some casseroles and pasta dishes such as lasagne . The earliest known form of baking occurred when humans took wild grass grains, soaked them in water, and mashed
405-432: A result. In Paris, the first open-air café of baked goods was developed, and baking became an established art throughout the entire world. Every family used to prepare the bread for its own consumption, the trade of baking, not having yet taken shape. Mrs Beeton (1861) Baking eventually developed into a commercial industry using automated machinery which enabled more goods to be produced for widespread distribution. In
450-508: A sauce atop the soufflé, such as a sweet dessert sauce , or with a sorbet or ice cream on the side. When served, the top of a soufflé may be punctured with serving utensils to separate it into individual servings. This can also enable a sauce to integrate into the dish. There are a number of both savory and sweet soufflé flavor variations. Savory soufflés often include cheese, and vegetables such as spinach, carrot and herbs, and may sometimes incorporate poultry, bacon, ham, or seafood for
495-444: A small amount of liquid (such as water or broth ) in the bottom of a closed pan, and letting it steam up around the food. Roasting is a term synonymous with baking, but traditionally denotes the cooking of whole animals or major cuts through exposure to dry 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
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#1732780845060540-435: A specialization. Epstein argues that many tasks require a variety of skills which tend to be possessed by more well-rounded people, and finding a task which is a better fit to one's personality and interests can overcome the advantage otherwise provided by having more practice earlier in life and attempting peak performance as a younger person. Someone who has demonstrated a high level of knowledge or skill in multiple disciplines
585-415: A specific task or situation. It involves both understanding and proficiency in such specific activity that involves methods, processes, procedures, or techniques. These skills are easily quantifiable unlike soft skills , which are related to one's personality. These are also skills that can be or have been tested and may entail some professional, technical, or academic qualification. Holistic competencies
630-438: A thin film of butter to prevent the soufflé from sticking. Some preparations also include adding a coating of sugar, bread crumbs, or a grated hard cheese such as parmesan inside the ramekin in addition to the butter; some cooks believe this allows the soufflé to rise more easily. After being cooked, a soufflé is puffed up and fluffy, and it will generally fall after 5 or 10 minutes (as risen dough does). It may be served with
675-513: Is a baked egg dish originating in France in the early 18th century. Combined with various other ingredients, it can be served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler , which means to blow, breathe, inflate or puff. The earliest mention of soufflé is attributed to the French master cook, Vincent La Chapelle , in
720-854: Is an umbrella term for different types of generic skills (e.g., critical thinking , problem-solving skills, positive values, and attitudes (e.g., resilience , appreciation for others) which are essential for life-long learning and whole-person development. Skilled workers have long had historical import ( see division of labour ) as electricians , masons , carpenters , blacksmiths , bakers , brewers , coopers , printers and other occupations that are economically productive. Skilled workers were often politically active through their craft guilds . An ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort to smoothly and adaptively carry out complex activities or job functions involving ideas (cognitive skills), things (technical skills), and/or people (interpersonal skills). According to
765-403: Is called socialization . Soft skills are a combination of interpersonal people skills, social skills, communication skills, character traits, attitudes, career attributes and emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) among others. Development of a very high level of skill is often desirable for economic, social, or personal reasons. In his 2008 book Outliers , Malcolm Gladwell proposed
810-541: Is given to their quality at formal events. They are also one of the main components of a tea party , including at nursery teas and high teas, a tradition which started in Victorian Britain, reportedly when Anna 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
855-419: 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 successful soufflé requires 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
900-578: Is known as a polymath , or in musical performance, a multi-instrumentalist . A long-standing question is to what extent skills can be learned versus the degree that innate talent is required for high-caliber performance. Epstein finds evidence for both sides with respect to high-performance sport in his 2013 book The Sports Gene . For thinking tasks, the heritability of IQ has been extensively studied to try to answer this question, though does not necessarily map directly onto skill level for any given thinking task. Souffl%C3%A9 A soufflé
945-450: Is similar to recrystallization and 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's nursery rhyme Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man takes baking as its subject. Baked goods are normally served at all kinds of parties and special attention
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#1732780845060990-683: The Portland Business Journal , people skills are described as: A British definition is "the ability to communicate effectively with people in a friendly way, especially in business." The term is already listed in major US dictionaries. The term people skills is used to include both psychological skills and social skills but is less inclusive than life skills . Social skills are any skills facilitating interaction and communication with others. Social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning such skills
1035-521: The fine arts . People need a broad range of skills to contribute to the modern economy. A joint ASTD and U.S. Department of Labor study showed that through technology, the workplace is changing, and identified 16 basic skills that employees must have to be able to change with it. Three broad categories of skills are suggested: technical, human, and conceptual. The first two can be substituted with hard and soft skills, respectively. Hard skills, also called technical skills, are any skills relating to
1080-479: The "10,000 hour rule", that world-class skill could be developed by practicing for 10,000 hours. This principle was disputed by other commentators, pointing out feedback is necessary for improvement, and that practice is no guarantee of success. In his 2019 book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World , David Epstein argues that a period of sampling different activities (whether musical instruments, sports, or professions) can be helpful before choosing
1125-474: The 19th century, alternative leavening agents became more common, such as baking soda . Bakers often baked goods at home and then sold them in the streets. This scene was so common that Rembrandt , 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
1170-669: The Church of the Holy Cross, from which these sweet pastries take the name. For Jews, matzo is a baked product of considerable religious and ritual significance. Baked matzah bread can be ground up and used in other dishes, such as gefilte fish , and baked again. For Christians, bread has to be baked to be used as an essential component of the sacrament of the Eucharist . In the Eastern Christian tradition, baked bread in
1215-570: The United States, the baking industry "was built on marketing methods used during feudal times and production techniques developed by the Romans." Some makers of snacks such as potato chips or crisps have produced baked versions of their snack products as an alternative to the usual cooking method of deep frying in an attempt to reduce their calorie or fat content. Baking has opened up doors to businesses such as cake shops and factories where
1260-441: The amount of fat that is contained in the food item. Higher levels of fat such as margarine , butter , lard, or vegetable shortening will cause an item to spread out during the baking process. With the passage of time, breads harden and become stale . This is not primarily due to moisture being lost from the baked products, but more a reorganization of the way in which the water and starch are associated over time. This process
1305-484: 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 using food additives as well as imaginative labeling. As more and more baked goods are purchased from commercial suppliers, producers try to capture that original appeal by adding
1350-486: The beef is encased in pastry before baking; pâté en croûte , where the terrine is encased in pastry before baking; and the Vietnamese variant, a meat-filled pastry called pâté chaud . The en croûte method also allows meat to be baked by burying it in the embers of a fire—a favorite method of cooking venison . Salt can also be used to make a protective crust that is not eaten. Another method of protecting food from
1395-534: 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 an oven . Formerly, primitive clay ovens were 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 a peel , a long handled tool specifically used for that purpose. Many commercial ovens are equipped with two heating elements: one for baking, using convection and thermal conduction to heat
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1440-808: The early eighteenth century. The development and popularisation of the soufflé is usually traced to the French chef Marie-Antoine Carême in the early nineteenth century. Soufflés are typically prepared from two basic components: The base provides the flavor, and the egg whites provide the "lift" or puffiness to the dish. Foods commonly used to flavor the base include herbs , cheese and vegetables for savory soufflés; and jam , fruits, berries , chocolate , banana and lemon for dessert soufflés. Soufflés are generally baked in ramekins or soufflé dishes: these are typically glazed, flat-bottomed, round porcelain containers with unglazed bottoms, vertical or nearly vertical sides and fluted exterior borders. The ramekin, or another baking vessel, may be coated with
1485-402: 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 the gram is used, as exact measurements provide the best results, but some bakers rely on measuring cups and measuring spoons . Digital kitchen scales are also popular in baking where precise measurements are
1530-624: The fact that Jesus was born (before moving to Nazareth ) in a city of that name, the significance of his sacrifice via the Eucharist. Art (skill) A skill is the learned or innate ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain -general and domain-specific skills. Some examples of general skills include time management , teamwork and leadership , and self- motivation . In contrast, domain-specific skills would be used only for
1575-583: The food, and one for broiling or grilling, heating mainly by radiation. Another piece of equipment still used for baking is the Dutch oven . "Also called a bake kettle, bastable, bread oven, fire pan, bake oven kail pot, tin kitchen, roasting kitchen, doufeu (French: "gentle fire") or feu 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
1620-536: The form of birds is given to children to carry to the fields in a spring ceremony that celebrates the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste . Jesus defines 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”. In Roman Catholicism , the piece of blessed wax encased in a reliquary is the “sacred bread”. In Hebrew, Bethlehem means "the house of bread", and Christians see in
1665-536: 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 of Caltanissetta baked a pastry called Crocetta of Caltanissetta (Cross of Caltanissetta). They used to be prepared for the Holy Crucifix festivity . The monastery was situated next to
1710-504: The heat while it is baking is to cook it en papillote (French for "in parchment"). In this method, the food is covered by baking paper (or aluminum 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. Eggs can also be used in baking to produce savory or sweet dishes. In combination with dairy products especially cheese , they are often prepared as
1755-754: The invention of enclosed ovens. The book Bread for the Wilderness states 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 the Roman 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
1800-455: 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 at The Ritz London Hotel "are not baked until early afternoon on
1845-777: 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 to Britannica , the Ancient Egyptians invented the first ovens. They also baked bread using 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 book Culinary Creation states that bread baking began in Ancient Greece around 600 BC, leading to
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1890-573: 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 drying herbs or 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
1935-432: The two terms. Baking and roasting otherwise involve the same range of cooking times and temperatures. Another form of baking is the method known as en 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 or vegetables can be prepared by baking en croûte . Well-known examples include Beef Wellington , where
1980-725: Was established in 168 BC in Rome . 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
2025-807: 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 at banquets and dining halls. The Romans baked bread in an oven with its own chimney, and had mills to grind grain into flour. A bakers' guild
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