So I have begun trying to actually educate myself about this new hobby of mine, and to do this I picked up a few theory or almost textbook-like tomes. The one I have started with is by Alton Brown, that mad scientist of cooking that many of us love. Thus far, I have only gotten so far as the introduction, but that has already been enough to get me thinking a bit differently about baking.
One of the biggest suggestions that Alton makes is to begin weighing your ingredients rather than measuring them. Particularly in baking, where formulas are so balanced and important, you need to get the proper ratio. And when you can delicately scoop or tightly pack a cup or flour to make your loaf of bread, if we all were to use digital scales to measure the same 5 ounces we know we'd be making the exact same pastry.
I see his point. My question is: Am I ready to commit?
This is a big step from casual baking to all-out geekery I think. From art to science perhaps? Maybe not, since in my own little world I sort of view all baking and cooking as art. But it's well beyond "a dash of this, a pinch of that."
$30 will change my baking world. Now to decide whether or not to do it.
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