What are You Baking the Week of December 26, 2021?

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I mixed up dough for my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers (aka Baker Aunt's Crackers). I will bake them at the end of the week.

I also mixed dough for my version of the KABC Gourmet Soda Crackers. It rests overnight in the refrigerator, gets baked tomorrow, then sits in the cooling oven to crisp.

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[Mike Nolan]

I've got egg whites from my Hollandaise that I'll use to make chocolate meringue cookies with tomorrow.

[cwcdesign]

On Saturday night I mixed the dough for English Muffins which I made yesterday. Last winter I had splurged on the Baking Steel mini-griddle for making them (and other things). It has a "moat" to catch the oil. It was the first time I had made them since I broke my wrist and I had a little bit of a learning curve with the griddle. I do now own an IR thermometer so I can test the temp on the plate.

I had gotten the griddle to the recommended temperature and added the avocado oil which slid to the back, did my test and it burned so I kept turning the heat down. The oil started smoking and I checked the temp and it had gotten way too high, so I kept turning it down and finally got it set on low. I ended up cooking the muffins for 2 ½ minutes on each side (supposed to be 5) and then baked for an additional 5. They might be overdone in the middle, but better than raw.

So my stove is not level in the back (I got out the level). I will move the griddle to the front burner, which is also smaller, next time and will just start heating on medium low. The problem with flat top electric stoves is that they don't adjust heat quickly. I've decided that I will splurge on an induction stove as to get natural gas would be way to expensive - there is not a line in the complex.

Today I will be baking fudge brownies with caramel in the middle for our celebration of Michael's birthday tomorrow. He would have turned 70.

[Mike Nolan]

I use our standalone induction unit a lot, but its coolest setting is still too hot for some tasks.

I started using it when I made the oyster stew on Christmas Eve, but the butter was getting too warm to poach the oysters slowly (they shouldn't sizzle), so I switched over to the electric cooktop which has continuous adjustment.

I've been thinking about switching the cooktop to induction, but we'd have to replace a number of pans, including my wife's egg pans, which aren't induction-ready

If you get a drop-in or standalone induction cooktop, make sure it has sufficiently low settings to handle things that need to be gently warmed.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday morning, I baked my version of the KABC Gourmet Soda Crackers after the dough rested in the refrigerator for about 16 hours. I rolled it out, cut the dough into 2x2-inch pieces, then baked on the convection setting of 400F for 4 minutes 40 seconds, turned the sheet around, and baked for another 4 minutes 40 seconds. I pulled them out, separated the crackers, removed the parchment, then put the crackers back in the oven, where they will stay until completely cool, to maintain crispness. My Wolf oven vents the heat well, which means that I do not have to prop the door open to prevent them from further browning. (This feature, however, is a pain when I would like to turn the oven off for a short time without losing the heat because I want to use it again within a half hour or so.)

Hugs to you and your family, CWCdesign, as you remember Michael's birthday.

[cwcdesign]

Thanks Mike - that’s excellent advice - I haven’t even started the process yet. But we have two local appliance stores which will help

[cwcdesign]

I cannot edit on my phone.

Thank you BA for your good wishes - it means a lot to me

[Italiancook]

I'm not in the market for an induction range, but I've always thought it wouldn't work with my electricity. Do induction stovetops require any special electric system?

[Joan Simpson]

No baking here.Cwcdesign Happy Heavenly Birthday wishes to your Michael.

[Mike Nolan]

The standalone induction units that go up to about 1800 watts will work in a standard wall outlet. You might want to have a dedicated outlet for it, like you might have for a microwave oven.

A drop-in electric range top generally uses 220 power with an outlet in the space where the surface drops in, and that's what a drop-in induction surface would use, too.

I've actually seen a standalone induction cooktop, intended for commercial use, that requires a 220 outlet but can go up to about 3000 watts. It will handle a pot up to about 14 inches in diameter, so my 24 quart induction-ready stock pot would work on it. We used one at SFBI.

If I ever remodel the basement kitchenette, I might be tempted to get rid of the two-burner ceramic cooktop and replace it with an induction unit, especially if I can get one with enough power to do canning. (That might require putting in a 220 outlet, but that's not far from a power panel.)

I'm using my 1500 watt standalone induction unit a lot more these days, it doesn't heat up the kitchen nearly as much as using a gas or electric cooktop does, which is a big plus during the summer when it is hot. We've made Cardinal Preserves (strawberry jam) in it, without heating up the entire kitchen. I've put a small room thermometer about 6 inches away from the induction unit and it says the temperature when boiling something doesn't get above 75.

[Mike Nolan]

My wife is making a German's Sweet Chocolate Cake tonight, she'll make the frosting and assemble it in the morning.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm going to make my mother's chocolate chip meringue cookies from the left over egg whites from the frosting for the German's Sweet Chocolate Cake. They're very different from the 'forgotten chocolate meringue cookies' I've been making.

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday, I tried baking my oil version of the eggnog cake in a Nordic Ware snowman pan--the one in which the two halves are joined after baking. It did not go as well as I had hoped. Oil cakes do not rise as much, and I needed at least a third more batter. Wo, the heads of the two snowmen are not very thick and baked much faster, while the lower areas took longer. As my husband said, the cake will still be good, but it was not the stunning presentation I was seeking.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm not sure what I did wrong, but the meringue collapsed when I added the chocolate chips and nuts, so the cookies came out really flat:

They puffed up a bit when I baked them, and they taste (and crumble) like meringue, but they're supposed to be tall and puffy.

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[skeptic7]

Just baked cranberry scones again with White Lily flour and butter. This is the recipe without white flour, white sugar and butter. It doesn't have any redeaming characteristics unless you count the cranberries. Tasty through. On the rare occasions I make them I always count them as a very worthwhile guilty pleasure.
I went to the Web to read about White Lily flour -- and read the articles claiming the quailty is the same, and the ones that it has suffered from being milled in Illinois. Also read the recipe for White Lily Biscuits with only three ingredients. I think counting self rising flour as one ingredient and not three is cheating.

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