Why am I incapable of baking?
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I'm sure you're completely full of it. Maybe it's God trying to tell you that he wants you to bake some good stuff instead of all that healthy crap I hear you talking about.  J/K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Is your oven at the right temp? I MEAN I remember a lot of times, it was the oven that wasn't staying at the right temp. Are you overmixing, and doing baked goods... I ALWAYS use room temp butter and eggs, i never use the butter out of the tub either b/c it seems to turn out different than the bar stick kind, and is your baking soda flat (add water, does it fizzle), and are you using the right pans (sometimes glass or aluminum makes a big difference depending on recipe), and depending on elevation... the amount of flour is also effected? Or are you just under or over baking something? I'd totally eat at your house if I was invited. Mostly b/c I know if I die from poisoning, there's a doctor there to save me.  |
barney1 wrote: I try so hard. I measure. I follow recipes exactly. I preheat the oven. EVERYTHING I bake turns out bad. Why? WHY?? My poor child is going to grow up with slice and bake cookies as her homemade treats
Not enough chocolate  |
| Invite Jo for a visit.......she's right about ingredients, mixing, ingredients and oven temp, baking pans, etc. Baking is a science. If everything isn't exactly right, the results are off. I find cooking temp and time can vary too. You have to learn how to recognize "doneness signs" and be prepared to act. I wish it all come down to being able to insert an thermometer.....or better yet the remote type that calls you, "I'm done." As far as I know, bread is the only "bakery" stuff that will allow you to take it's internal temp to determine doneness without creating a structural problem.
Cooking is an art.....there you can be more creative and booboos aren't so noticeable......or become interesting variations. |
I can't cook or bake  ...I was lucky to have an Italian grandmother who loved to bake ---all from scratch!!! Hubby is a gormet cook and he LOVES to do it..so I was fine as the kids were growing up.
Now that they are all married or out on their own...My son married a lovely girl who is a baking fool!!!! Yummy homemade cakes, pies, torts...and she love to decorate so all birthdays are covered. My oldest and youngest daughters inherited their fathers art and are wonderful cooks.... Maybe one day I will take a cooking class  ....nah!!!!....I'll just concentrate on my furkids!!!!!! |
| I'm assuming my oven is fairly accurate on temp as it's only a year old, but I've never really checked. I haven't checked the baking soda, but it doesn't matter if it's a freshly opened one or one that's been sitting.
I think usually my problem is that I try to healthify my baking, which means substituting some ingredients, which means things start to change in texture and flavor. And I'm okay with that. It's expected. But like yesterday. I was making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (my favorite--the oatmeal makes it healthy ) and I followed the recipe on the Quaker Oats can exactly. The only substitution I made was instead of 2 eggs I had to use egg beaters b/c we didn't have eggs. I think they taste pretty good, they're just not very pretty.
I guess I'll keep trying. Although I don't have much of an audience. I asked my husband to try a cookie last night b/c I couldn't tell how good or bad they were (b/c I'm so used to my healthy treats, which sometimes others find less than yummy), and he refused to try one! |
| See Val--you did it the right way--you surrounded yourself with people who'll bake for you! |
| We should get you an...
...Easy-Bake Oven!  |
| You don't have to bake to be a good Mom. When my kids were small I was working two jobs and going to school full time. I NEVER EVER baked anything.
I went to my daughters first parent teacher conference in kindergarten. She got glowing reports for behavior but the teacher expressed concern over some of her "work". She pulled out some papers that had been colored, cut and pasted. The idea was they were supposed to color the pictures, cut them out and paste them in order. As soon I saw them I started laughing. Both scenarios were "house" stuff. The first showed a Mom baking cookies; the gathering of ingredients, mixing the batter, baking them eating. I can't remember what the second was but it was some housekeeping chore. My daughter had them all in the wrong order. I told the teacher it was quite simple, I had never baked cookies with my daughter (she thought they came from the Keebler Elves) and what ever housekeeping chore it was, laundry I think, was done late at night long after she4 was in bed. So don't despair, you child will not be scared by your lack of baking ability. |
| i find that youre either a baker or a cooker...im a cooker, nothing that i bake turns out....so i just buy desserts and such..id rather make an appetizer anyway! |
| Check your oven temp. There is a little thermometer you can
buy to check your temp. It has been my experience that they are frequently off. Also, are you using an oven with the feature that circulates air - because that will throw your timing off as well. Since it is a new oven, maybe it's just not what you are used to? I think those of us who bake get used to what we have and sometimes changing that oven throws everything off. Good luck! It's probably not you - blame the oven. Shellie |
Darcy wrote: i find that youre either a baker or a cooker...im a cooker, nothing that i bake turns out....so i just buy desserts and such..id rather make an appetizer anyway!
What if you are NEITHER?????????????? |
| Now that they're older, my mil and mom HATE to cook. They used to LOVE it but simply try to dodge it now that they're retired.] |
| I see your problem, you are subbing without understanding what the consequences will be. Using EggBeaters results in too little structure to bind the flour molecules (have I been watching too much Alton Brown??) to form the "matrix" needed to hold the cookies together. (yeah those yolks are important) Yes, we try to make the food more healthy like subbing applesauce for fat but we must realize the results won't be the same.
Yes, the age of the levening is important, especially with baking powder and a little less with soda. Anything over a few months old should be tossed. (soda is a great cleaner) When you buy it, date it with a Sharpie. (I just found a jar of yeast 2 years past expiration I had to do some "pregrowing" the yeast, that is allow the few survivors to multiply before I could proceed.)
Val......with your family, no way would I learn how to cook! Sit back and enjoy others' efforts. |
| you must be able to cook this ...listen...
1 mug all bran (hope you know what that is) 1 mug milk 1 mug dried mixed fruit half a mug of sugar mix together and leave over night to soak. Next day add 1 mug of self raising flour, mix again. Put in a lined loaf tin cook for one hour at gas 4. leave to cool eat sliced with butter. Have a try be good honestly! |
| wonder how that will work at high altitude? I never use self rising because of that.......but I might have to start experimenting. |
| Quick silly question: I seem to recall yeast being very very cheap, yet when I looked at it a few months ago it seemed very very expensive.
Am I not remembering things clearly? |
yeah, it has gone up to between $3 to $6 a pound depending on where you buy it. Those little packages are the most expensive.....I've never stopped to figure out their price per pound 
An awful lot of it comes from Mexico so I don't know about trade issues. |
| I guess coming form AK, I wouldn't notice the difference. Either way, I came down here with several bottles. I go through it fast.
Before I change a recipe, I try to make it just as is so 1. i know whether or not it's a keeper 2. if it tastes gross, i know it wasn't from something i added/subtracted/changed Then I start changing part not all of the recipe. 1/2 not all with applesauce instead of oil or 1/4-1/2 of wheat instead of all, etc. Works for me, I suppose! |
| Yeah, I wanted to make this recipe 'as is' just to see if I could bake if I followed all the instructions carefully, but since I haven't been doing much cooking lately, I didn't have any eggs--only egg beaters, so that's what I used.
I'm actually happy that I'm a cooker rather than a baker, if I had to choose one, since you gotta eat food daily and treats only occasionally. I'll keep trying, though. Oh, and I wish I could blame my oven. It's actually better at this new house than the old one, so I can't blame it! Oh, and I know the age of the leavener matters, I was just saying in my experience, the baked good will be horrible whether or not my package is freshly opened or has been sitting around for a while
Oh, and Ron...I would have DIED for an easy bake oven as a kid. I wanted one SO bad. |
| Life's too short!
Go for it!!!! Hasbro EASY BAKE OVEN at Amazon.com (About $30!) |
Tasker's Mom wrote: My daughter had them all in the wrong order. I told the teacher it was quite simple, I had never baked cookies with my daughter (she thought they came from the Keebler Elves) and what ever housekeeping chore it was, laundry I think, was done late at night long after she4 was in bed.
So don't despair, you child will not be scared by your lack of baking ability. Or she'll just wind up believing in elves... |
| i had to look up gas 4 conversion for usa
OVEN TEMPERATURES UK: degrees C/gas mark US: degrees F 110C/gas ΒΌ 225F 120C/gas 1/2 250F 140C/gas 1 275F 150C/gas 2 300F 160C/gas 3 325 180/gas 4 350F 190C/gas 5 375F 200C/gas 6 400F 220C/gas 7 425F 230C/gas 8 450F 240C/gas 9 475F Also, what type of bran? also is this a bread or cake? KTB wrote: you must be able to cook this ...listen... 1 mug all bran (hope you know what that is) 1 mug milk 1 mug dried mixed fruit half a mug of sugar mix together and leave over night to soak. Next day add 1 mug of self raising flour, mix again. Put in a lined loaf tin cook for one hour at gas 4. leave to cool eat sliced with butter. Have a try be good honestly! |
| Oh, just FYI, I subjected my coworkers to my baking!
Cam wouldn't try them and I don't think they're too bad (they taste really good and are soft, which I like--they're just kind of heavy, which I don't know if that's just because they're oatmeal cookies or if it's my baking issues)...so I emailed my coworkers that I have them on my desk and that I can't vouch for their taste... |
| Its the kelloggs all bran cereal, in a packet, and cook it in a loaf tin and spread with butter...tea loaf.
So funny when UK and US recipes are not the same. I am just going to make a cold tea loaf, now that is nice.... |
| UK vs US recipes......
Yeah, same problem I have with Delia's recipes. Takes me a few minutes to come up with a Yankee term for the food. |
| what's a cold tea loaf? |
| cold tea loaf is a recipe that has no marge or butter in it so is healthier. The fruit soaks over night in the cold tea and plumps up lovely. When I have made it I will take a photo so you can see. As long as hubby doesnt see me he will think I have gone nuts! |
| Please do! Several on Deliaonline.com but nothing with cold tea soaking the fruit unless it's in the premium section.
Love idea of no fat, now how to eliminate the sugar.........  |
SheepieBoss wrote: Please do! Several on Deliaonline.com but nothing with cold tea soaking the fruit unless it's in the premium section.
Love idea of no fat, now how to eliminate the sugar......... One of the problems with low fat foods are they have to increase the sugar to improve the flavor. it is one of the reasons (so a theory goes) that we have increased diabetes and pre diabetes cases. |
| my hubby is diabetic and I always cut the sugar to half, still edible! |
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