— Blanca Martinez

Let me first say that depending on what you're making, okay, there are different types of batters, and the benchmarks vary, okay? So there's not, uh, a single answer that I can give you, okay? But, um, I will also say that, uh, you know, when making, um, let's say cakes, right? The number one issue, the most common problem is over mixing, okay? And, uh, the troubleshooting right, comes out in the finished product. Alright? So, uh, if we're working with a high fat product such as a pound cake, uh, over mixing will result in tunneling or these long holes or tunnels, um, that form inside the cake. And we notice that when we cut it open and, and we, you know, look at the cross section of the finished product, uh, in the case of a lower fat cake, like a sponge cake, um, it will look like, um, uh, a, a depressed cake, one that didn't rise sufficiently. Okay? And so that's gonna be some initial troubleshooting for over mixing. Okay? Now, if we back that process up, um, to get us to, um, the, the mixing steps, okay? The, the couple of steps of, of mixing, uh, you know, we've got the initial, um, you know, usually in conventional baking is gonna be eggs, and, you know, things in that first wet stage that you're, uh, that you're blending, um, and there's gonna be commonly air that's incorporated okay? To, to bring some, some loft okay? To that mixture. And then the flour is added to that. Now, the weight of the flour will always, uh, draw down or, uh, sort of, you know, compress, uh, that batter. Okay? But you want us, you wanna pay attention to how much loft is being created in this initial, um, uh, mixing step of the wet ingredients, and then what it looks like as you're incorporating the flour. And, and the, the goal is to just incorporate the flour, uh, so that it's, it, it's evenly incorporated. Okay? And then, generally speaking, you're good to go. If we keep on mixing, uh, again, which is the, the most common problem, then we see, uh, deflation, uh, and gluten development, uh, in the flour. Okay? And, and, um, now on the other hand, if, if it's under mixed, uh, we can see lumps, uh, I'm talking about the cakes right now. Uh, you, you know, we'll see lumps, we might see, uh, streaks or spots of, of dry flour. Those would be evidence of an under mixed, uh, batter. Okay? Um, so at this point, it's gonna be a repetition that will inform you as to whether the batter is, um, uh, mixed. Um, well, so not under or not overmix. Okay? So these are just a couple of general sort of tips to keep in mind, but really repetition your experience is very, very important, uh, in the bake shop to better understand what the, uh, different, um, steps of procedures and cooking meth or mixing methods do, uh, as well as how specific ingredients and combinations of ingredients act and react in that environment. Okay? So I'm gonna shift gears here, right? Remember, the, the first thing I said was, it depends on the type of batter that you're making, okay? There are other batters, you know, let's say, um, uh, a pancake batter, okay? That, uh, can be mixed relatively lightly, such that we do see some lumps in the mixture, okay? And it, it's okay, uh, as it cooks it, it turns out okay, um, you know, in the case of, uh, some, uh, batters for deep frying, such as for tempura, it's even desirable to leave some evidence of, of dried, you know, flour, um, uh, little bumps or, or, or, or spots. Uh, and then once it goes through that frying technique, it all sort of turns out well. Um, so it, uh, ultimately depends on what kind of a batter you're using, what you're making, okay? So keep all of that in mind. And, um, the biggest thing is to be engaged, uh, with that process and, uh, correlate that to the finished product, uh, that you've created. And then try to backtrack to just what it is that you saw, what it sounded like. You know, use your full, um, sort of sensory engagement, um, you know, in the baking process. Okay?