Is Your Kitchen Ready For Prime Baking Season?

Is your first thought when fall arrives about how you’re going to up the wow-factor on your famous apple pie tarts? Autumn is a prime time for baking for a lot of people. If you’re one of them, it’s time to prep your kitchen for every recipe, rolling pin, and whisk you’re about to send its way.

Make sure you’re well-stocked on baking staples like flour, sugar, salt, and cocoa, and things like parchment paper and cooking spray. Sort through baking pans and tools to declutter what you don’t use and replace anything that’s in poor condition. Set up a dedicated baking station in your kitchen and organize your supplies in that one area.

Whether you make everything from scratch or love a good box mix, fall entices you to whip up tasty treats and baked deliciousness. It’s the time for pumpkin bread, cinnamon rolls, and warm snickerdoodles. Is your kitchen ready?

How To Prepare For A Busy Baking Season

Inventory Baking Staples And Supplies

When you’re elbow deep in pie dough, that’s not the time to realize you’re out of flour. Before you get into the throes of baking season, go through your pantry and make a list of the ingredients that are running low. Stock up on staples like flour, sugar, baking powder, cooking oils, and salt. Gather a nice inventory of fall seasonings, spices, and flavors, such as cinnamon, canned pumpkin, cloves, vanilla, and nutmeg.

Think about the goodies you bake the most often and what you need for those treats. If chocolate chip cookies are always on your list, you’ll want to have a lot of chocolate chips on hand. Also consider nonedible supplies such as pan liners, parchment paper, baking cups, and foil. You don't have to buy everything at once, but you do want to organize your shopping list to know what you have, what you need, and what you don’t.

Get Rid Of What You Don’t Need

Note anything that’s expired, so you know what to toss and what to replace. Take a good look at your baking tools. Are you really using all of them? Maybe you have three rolling pins but always reach for the same one. Perhaps you bought a special cake pan years ago and haven't used it since. You may even have duplicate measuring cups or gadgets you can't remember how to use.

If something is broken, missing a piece, rusty, or no longer safe to use, throw it out. For items that are still in good shape that you never use, consider donating them. Getting rid of things you don't need creates room for the tools you actually use. It also makes it easier to find what you're looking for when you're in the middle of a recipe.

Stock Up on Storage Containers And Goody Boxes

When you put time into making something delicious and have leftovers, you want to store the pumpkin pie rather than toss it. But that’s not the only reason for food storage. When you bake a lot in the fall, it’s very likely that much of what you’re making isn’t just for you.

You could be whipping up a platter of muffins for the office or a cinnamon coffee cake for brunch with friends. You might also turn many of your recipes into edible gifts for friends, family, and neighbors. It’s frustrating to bake up a batch of cookies for a friend and realize you don’t have anything to put them in. Make sure to have a variety of food storage containers, treat boxes, bags, disposable trays, loaf pans, or muffin tins on hand.

Create A Baking Station

You may already have a dedicated baking station if you bake year-round. If it's more a seasonal activity, fall might catch you off guard. Your baking supplies might be scattered around the kitchen, and hard to find when it’s time to fire up the oven. Creating a small baking station at the start of fall can save you a lot of time in the long run. A small section of your kitchen counter can do the trick. 

Keep your mixer, measuring devices, favorite spatulas, and frequently used ingredients close by and ready for action. If you don't have room to leave everything out, use a basket or bin to hold your most-used tools, so you have most of what you need in one place. A baking station can also help keep the rest of your kitchen from getting cluttered.

Put Baking Tools Together

Even if you don’t have a dedicated spot, you can still organize your baking supplies in one area. Pool all of your tools, bakeware, supplies, and essentials in one section of your kitchen. Keep the most-used items within easy reach, and store the stuff you don’t use as often higher up or in the backs of cabinets.

The same goes for your ingredients. Keep dry goods together in one area, spices in another, and decorations or specialty ingredients somewhere else. Clear containers are especially useful because you can see when you're running low. Be sure to label them so there's no guessing about what's inside, and include the expiration date.

Give Your Oven A Test Run

If you don’t use your oven regularly, you’ll want to test it out before baking season begins. It can be a bummer to find out your oven isn’t heating evenly when you have a pie in it. If it seems to bake some cookies faster than others, or cakes don't rise evenly, the temperature could be part of the problem. An inexpensive oven thermometer can help you see whether the temperature matches the number on the dial or display.

A large difference in numbers might mean you need to adjust the temperature you use or have the oven checked. Also, take a quick look inside and clean off old spills and crumbs before you start baking lots of cakes, breads, and cookies. A clean oven isn't just nicer to use. It can also help prevent old spills from smoking (and stinking up the kitchen) when you turn up the heat.

Check Your Measuring Tools

Have you had the same set of measuring tools for as long as you can remember? Are you guessing how much milk is in the cup because the numbers have worn away? Are your measuring spoons bent or damaged? Every good baker knows that accurate measurements matter. A little too much flour or baking powder can change the texture of a recipe.

It's also helpful to remember that liquid measuring cups and dry measuring cups are designed for different jobs. Using the right tool can make measuring easier and more accurate. If you have a kitchen scale, this is a great time to make sure it's working properly and has a fresh battery.

Make Space For Cooling

An important part of baking is allowing your various concoctions to cool down properly. Before tackling a big baking project, set up a cooling station as part of your prep. Then, when you take things out of the oven, you’ll know exactly where they’re going. Clear a spot on the counter or kitchen table and place trivets or cooling racks to protect surfaces.

If you’re short on space, consider stacked or multi-level racks to maximize surface area. Also, take a look at how many cooling racks you have. Are you regularly waiting for one rack to become available? If so, adding another may be worth the investment to make your baking time efficient.

Rotate Open Ingredients To The Front

Have you ever ripped open a bag of sugar, then realized you still had half a bag on the other shelf? It’s an easy way to end up wasting food (and money). By stocking up on essentials before the season, you’re likely to end up with multiple bags or boxes of the same thing. Save yourself money and aggravation with some intentional storage.

The idea is to make sure you only open one of each item at a time. Once opened, put that ingredient to the front or in a certain section of your fridge or pantry. Before opening something, check this area first to make sure you don’t already have one in use. With this system, you can confidently open a new package, knowing you haven’t forgotten about another.

Leave Some Breathing Room On Your Countertops

As a baker, you know how much goes into a baking frenzy. Mixing bowls, baking sheets, cooling racks, and ingredients are all out at once. And you need a place to roll out dough, soak sponge cakes, and more. If your counters are crowded, baking is going to become a real hassle instead of something you enjoy.

Before the busy season starts, clear off anything you don't need sitting on the counter. Leave sections empty on purpose, so when it’s time to bake, you don’t need to play Jenga with your kitchen clutter.

Make Your Kitchen Easier To Clean

This isn't the most exciting baking tip, but it's one you'll appreciate later. Before you begin, make sure you have plenty of dish soap, sponges, kitchen towels, and cleaning supplies. Keep a small trash bowl or container on the counter during your baking sessions. This simple tip saves you oodles of time since you won’t have to keep making a bunch of trips to the trash can. 

Just toss eggshells, wrappers, and scraps into it as you work, then dump everything at one time when you’re done. Also, the superpower of any kitchen cooking or baking task is clean as you go. When the cookies are in the oven, start washing some dishes or wiping down the counters. When the timer rings, you’ll have conquered most of the cleanup.

Create A Holiday Baking Bin

If you’re a seasonal baker, there’s no reason to keep your holiday supplies in the kitchen all the time. Instead, gather the specific cookie cutters, cupcake liners, and special sprinkles into labeled holiday bins. When it’s time to start baking for that season, pull out the corresponding bin and add it to your baking station. After the holiday, pack the box back up and put it away. Next year, you'll know exactly where everything is.

Organize Your Recipe Collection

Finally, make sure to give your recipes a little attention. If you have handwritten family recipes, make copies or take photos of them so you have a backup. If they are saved on your phone, make sure your device is charged before you start cooking. Create a folder for your favorite fall recipes.

Add the ones you make every year so you don't have to search for them again. Take notes on family recipes, writing down any little tricks or changes you make. Those notes could become part of the recipe's story for generations to come.

Ready, Set, Bake!

Getting your kitchen ready for baking season doesn't mean buying a bunch of new gadgets or completely remodeling your pantry. It can be as simple as gathering your baking tools, checking your ingredients, clearing some counter space, and getting rid of things you never use.

A little prep time now saves you a lot of time later. When the baking bug bites, you can jump right into mixing up your favorite recipe instead of searching for your spatula. Your kitchen will be ready whenever you want to bake.

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