Home Baking

Rolling sticks come in all sort of sizes and weights. I own a number of them and favor various models for certain jobs. Large and heavy for yeasted doughs, lighter and more nimble for delicate doughs, and everything in between. The simple design of a rolling stick means they have no parts that may break, and they are easy to wipe clean. Aging only makes them more pleasant to hold and use.

A standing mixer is a once-in-a-lifetime investment. Do not scrimp on the cost and you will be well-served. In fact, a well-built mixer is something to pass along to your ancestors (along with the gigantic roll of plastic wrap that will outlive you).

When was the last time you tried to remove a blazing hot pizza or flatbread from the oven without a peel? Never again, right? Nuff said.

Set your pizza, bread or flatbread dough onto a preheated baking stone and you can practically hear a crisp surface forming. With bread, the contrast between toothsome crust and chewy interior is one of life’s most basic pleasures. Once you have eaten bread baked on a stone, there is no going back.

A stainless steel dough cutter is the tool that makes you say, “How did I ever bake without this?” Use the cutter to divide blocks of dough into chunks, to cut a hunk off a pound of butter, for scooping up stray flour off the table, and, most importantly, for scraping your work surface clean. You will never have to scrub flour “glue” off a counter with a wet rag again.