Baking by Feel

Posted by Karen Upright on August 28, 1997 at 22:49:21:

In Reply to: Re: Cheesecakes=Custard posted by Gerard on May 29, 1997 at 00:14:42:

Gerard:

You wrote:

: It depends what level skill you have, the more competant the less you need to rely on thermometers, I've never heard of baking with a thermometer and wouldn't teach it.I think thats guarenteeing a person will never develop the skill needed to work in a bakeshop.
: Relying on touch , feel and looks is how we do it in bakeries, a baker has that skill. If I had to use those methods I'd never get through the day, its OK if all you do is bake cheesecake but I typically have 4 or5 different products in the ovens all the time, I never overbake but then I'm skilled and well trained. Imagine 5 different time clocks and trying to keep track. help!
: And we NEVER bake by time, we take it out when its done, not when a clock says so. I have no clock in the kitchen, don't know how long exactly it takes to bake anything.
: Maybe in a factory they do that but I don't call that baking, thats more like mfgering.
: Its easy to over analyse and whilst cooking might be an art and baking a science the temptation is to turn it into rocket science, I prefer to keep it simple because it is.
: Better to learn how to bake.!
: You ever see a bricklayer using string to align his row of bricks? thats because he doesn't have the skill to work by eye.

: Is CMC cert'master chef? , aren't you supposed to be a baker to be a master chef ? I was told that when I was apprenticing to be a (true) chef you need to take 2 years pastry. By 'take' I mean apprentice not academic. I told that to the chef at Le Mridien and he got kinda defensive. (hehe)

Dear Gerard:

I am beginning to appreciate your vain humor and to admire your advice. When you have given it on this board, it has always been precise. This time I am not writing to criticize you, just to share something.

I worked for a short time in the pastry shop of a private club. The shop had its own walk in, adequate mixers, sinks, tables, utility guys to clean up, and a view of the river from one of the upper floors of a high rise building. But the oven was out the door, down the hall, around a corner, past the coolers, past the office and around another corner. You couldn't check on product and accomplish anything else at the same time! I started carrying a stop watch with alarm, but that's only good if you know the ovens really well and if you're accustomed to baking with a timer. Plus, there was no guarantee a prep cook wouldn't decide he needed to set the oven at 425F and not concern himself with a particularly delicate product. I couldn't stand it and had to move on.

I bake by feel as well. My staff goes nuts when they ask how long to bake something and I say "until its done". They don't have that feel yet. They'll reach for the oven light to check on something and I look up from my table and say "it's not done yet". How do I know? Because it doesn't feel done to me.

Happy baking!

Karen

Follow Ups:

• Re: Baking by Feel Gerard 15:42:31 9/08/97 (0)