The Baker vs The Cook.

[MyCrummyApartment]

I have always thought this to be true, but was wondering if you bakers here were distinctly more proficient (even confident) at desserts (baking) than you are at general cooking?

Myself, I have never been a good baker, and as such have usually tended towards mixes and pre-made stuff. Even for dinner parties, I am much more inclined to BUY the dessert, even if I have made an exquisite meal.

Another example: My former mother-in-law couldn't make a simple pasta dish to save her life, but cookies and cakes were to die for from her kitchen.

I don't know. Is it the precise measuring thing perhaps?

Thoughts?

 

[Selkie]

I think it's where your particular passion lays. I'm a semi-confident general cook, but my passion is in baking. I look for reasons to bake and read bakery recipes like a good novel.

Baking is also a challenge for me. I enjoy learning and doing things that are complex and challenging. It gives me a sense of true accomplishment.

And in the case of baking, practice certainly helps!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I can do both and do very well, but my passion is cooking. I just enjoy baking.

 

[luvs]

i plain dislike baking- too mathmatical, too few allowances for creativity. i'll stick w/ cooking!~

 

[LPBeier]

I grew up baking - made my first Christmas dessert when I was 8 - okay, it wasn't baking, it was Broken Glass, made with Jello and whipping cream. But I very quickly got into cakes and cookies. I also started cooking at around 11. When I finally got to go to school and was trying to pick, I decided on culinary. However, all my off time was spent hanging around the pastry kitchens and picking up all knowledge I could. I planned to go back for pastry but never did. Instead I continued to practice what I learned by osmosis there, and train under an awesome catering chef. When I started with my own catering business I realized that I loved planning the menus, but equally loved handing the execution over to my assistants and working on the wedding cakes and other desserts.

Now that I have retired from catering for health reasons (and only do the odd cake), I am finding my passion for culinary is coming back....partly thanks to the GCC Challenges here!

 

[Andy M.]

I'm also good at both baking and cooking. Better at cooking as I haven't learned all the secrets to great baking.

In our home, I leave most of the baking to SO who enjoys it and has the patience to do the sometimes fussy work that goes with it.

 

[LPBeier]

Oh, I should add, I do not do bread! Though with FrankZ's help I did make some pretty good sour dough awhile ago and when my pan arrives I am going to try my hand at New England hot dog buns!

 

[Aunt Bea]

We all tend to cook more than we bake in todays world. I am pretty good at both when it comes to home cooking and basic baking but, I was taught the basics and was expected to memorize them just like basic math. That sounds odd in todays world but, it makes baking easier if you have a solid foundation. I need much more work on presentation so I try to take the time to practice when I am doing my daily cooking. This creates confidence for me.

 

[Alix]

I don't like "fussing" with things. My food is always tasty, but my presentation SUCKS! So if a baking project it supposed to be gorgeous...well...NOT. It will taste heavenly though. I like to bake more than I like to cook I guess. I'm pretty fair at both though. I just like to learn and experiment with what tastes good to my family.

I know most folks say baking is more precise than cooking, but I've not found it so. Maybe I just have a good eye or something but my measurements are often, shall we say, less than precise. Its rare for me to have a baking disaster though. (Unless I forget to put the sugar in! )

 

[dcSaute]

>>baking vs cooking

you may have heard somewhere.... baking is a science, cooking is an artform (g)

there's a lot of truth to that - although not to the 200%

in a cooking / recipe dish, a little more / less of x, y, z "to taste" is not likely to ruin the dish.

in baking, the chemistry does need to be more precise. something like "gosh, I'm out of baking powder, I'll just omit it" probably won't work out so well....

otho, "fillings" to tarts, pies, turnovers, popovers, whatever - you can easily substitute fruit for dates, for example - if you hate dates....

bakers are prone to using scales and weighing things. it is probably the best method to achieve "consistency" - avoids the "gosh, last time it worked" issue.

pastry baking - including many many "deserts" - can involve a lot more prep/steps - not to mention a long list of seemingly unintelligible "ingredients" - a pinch of this, grated rind of that.....
some folk enjoy the detail, some folk just like to "wing it"

 

[MyCrummyApartment]

I would probably bake more if I could find all those measuring instruments scattered around my cupboards.

 

[kadesma]

I adore cooking, presenting beautiful well arranged plates and platters. Baking ACKKKK I make the worlds worst mess. Bread I can and do well I love the kneading.I get out all my agresions just beating that dough. As I mentioned I adore cooking
kadesma

 

[babetoo]

I can do both and do very well, but my passion is cooking. I just enjoy baking.

how funny, i am just the opposite. love baking, cook because i must eat and enjoy feeding family. i think the precision of baking appeals to the perfectest it me. i have been told i am good at both.

ever thing i know about cooking and baking i taught myself. my mom as not a good cook.

 

[bakechef]

I like to cook, but I LOVE to bake, it is my passion.

I have been told that I am a good cook, actually many friends say excellent, but I stick to tried and true recipes for company, I am a bit less creative when cooking.

Baking on the other hand brings me so much joy, and I am so much more creative in that. I work on recipes in my head for days, sometimes weeks. I scour recipes when I am looking to create my own, looking for different ways to do things, or new ways to use ingredients. When I get the method down, then it is on to finishing, and how it will look. I want the cake, pie or whatever to look as outstanding as I can.

I like baking because I am a perfectionist, I like precise measuring. If I am having a bad, out of control day, having control over a recipe calms me.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

how funny, i am just the opposite. love baking, cook because i must eat and enjoy feeding family. i think the precision of baking appeals to the perfectest it me. i have been told i am good at both.

ever thing i know about cooking and baking i taught myself. my mom as not a good cook.

I'm definitely not a perfectionist...and my mom was not a good cook, but she's learning

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

With my vast experience of women, those who bake were more fun

 

[Robo410]

I can cook anything, I can bake many things. However, home kitchens no matter how up scale, lack the heat capacity for truly great wok cooking and bread baking.

 

[simonbaker]

I enjoy cooking much better than baking. When I cook I can control the creameness, the thickening, the color, & the flavor with seasonings. With baking ingredients have more precise measurement, alot of it based on weight of the final product, then when it goes in the oven, there is no chance of changing anything except for some icing or special garnish.

 

[Andy M.]

I enjoy cooking much better than baking. When I cook I can control the creameness, the thickening, the color, & the flavor with seasonings...

You can control these things (or their equivalents) in baking as well. You just have to learn different processes to get the job done.

 

[niquejim]

i plain dislike baking- too mathmatical, too few allowances for creativity. i'll stick w/ cooking!~

I'd say bacon, maple syrup baklava is creative
Six Weird Ways of Makin' Bacon : NPR