With your baking, are you self taught or did you get training?

[Winterybella]

I think I would have to say "self taught" as I was able on my own, to read and accurately follow the recipes for my box cakes.

I was raised by a mother who was always in the kitchen cooking and baking. I have no recollection of her actually sitting me down and teaching me to cook, but I watched, learned and developed a keen interest as I grew. I can't say I developed the same interest in baking. It always looked like so much work.

Anyway, I recently discovered a baking forum where there are apparently lots of great bakers. My formal training has begun here.

 

[JessiFox]

I think that's great that you're mainly self-taught, I am as well and there are plenty of amazing bakers who can say the same. I never even had anyone to really watch or learn by example until much later on in life, but I just made it a point to start experimenting and jumping right in with it. There's a bit of a learning curve, but there are certainly harder things to teach oneself .

 

[Winterybella]

I think that's great that you're mainly self-taught, I am as well and there are plenty of amazing bakers who can say the same. I never even had anyone to really watch or learn by example until much later on in life, but I just made it a point to start experimenting and jumping right in with it. There's a bit of a learning curve, but there are certainly harder things to teach oneself .

Well at least you are self taught and quite good. I am self taught and still might be struggling. I am the last child to my mother and we all had different skills. I had a sister who was good with baking, another great at cleaning, and I was the one who liked to cook and experiment. When my older sister was alive I would call her anytime I wanted advice on anything with yeast and baking.

We all have different gifts I suppose. Some of us are naturals, while others have to be taught. I am being taught how to become a "natural" here.

 

[ACSAPA]

I'm self taught. I look at recipes in cookbooks and follow the measurements and directions exactly. I'm definitely not a natural cook and I don't experiment too much.

 

[JessiFox]

Well at least you are self taught and quite good. I am self taught and still might be struggling. I am the last child to my mother and we all had different skills. I had a sister who was good with baking, another great at cleaning, and I was the one who liked to cook and experiment. When my older sister was alive I would call her anytime I wanted advice on anything with yeast and baking.

We all have different gifts I suppose. Some of us are naturals, while others have to be taught. I am being taught how to become a "natural" here.

Yes, you're quite right there...we all have things we're natural at. But you know, even people who don't consider themselves "natural" at something- if you're willing to put in the effort, can end up being better than someone who has a natural talent but doesn't work for it. So it doesn't have to be a barrier to anything.

 

[Tara]

I'm self taught. I follow recipes from cookbooks or cooking shows. Once I have made something successfully, I experiment. I do love to experiment. It's a bit hard to do with baking because the measurements have to be precise.

 

[marilou conn]

I am definitely self-taught, nothing could be more exciting than learning it on your own, plus you won't have to pay exorbitant amount of fees to pay for school when you can learn it online on your own, guess it comes with practicality. Recipes are available online, all it takes is patience and perseverance to learn something that you are passionate about..

 

[Winterybella]

Like Tara, once I have perfected something, it is then I might try to play around with the recipe. I might be wrong but baking does not allow much room for experimenting when it comes to texture and taste.

I guess the real experimentation has to come when you start getting into fondants and the cakes with the surprise inside and the cake pops and all those fun things.

 

[tangela]

Definitely self-taught. I guess if you consider baking with your older family members and learning from them as a form of training, then yes I was trained a little. I was never professionally trained though. I was just taught that I need to follow the directions accurately and I'll be fine. To this day I haven't had an issue with baking, and even if I did it's because I either didn't read it right or study the recipe enough.

 

[Tina Nord]

My mother taught me a lot of the basics about baking, but a lot of the advance stuff I know is self taught. When I moved out and got my own kitchen, I really started to experiment and learn new tricks and techniques. I still have a lot to learn though.

 

[dandeliion]

With the exception of a pastry class I took in high school (I ditched a lot of school so I had to take classes at a community college.), I'm self taught. I watched my mom a lot in the kitchen but she's a very controlling person when it comes to cooking and baking so all I ever got to do was watch. When I moved out I just bought a couple of cooking books and went for it. Made a lot of mistakes, and still do, but more often than not things come out okay!

 

[kammy]

I have being in the kitchen with my great grandmother from a tender age so i would say most of my baking skills were taught to me..and i also did Food and Nutrition while i was in high school...i think there would be endless disasters if my baking was self taught.

 

[Mara]

At school we had lessons, but I have also learned from both of my parents who were cooks. Then I have taken these basic skills and developed my own style and techniques.

 

[JustJoel]

I think I would have to say "self taught" as I was able on my own, to read and accurately follow the recipes for my box cakes.

I was raised by a mother who was always in the kitchen cooking and baking. I have no recollection of her actually sitting me down and teaching me to cook, but I watched, learned and developed a keen interest as I grew. I can't say I developed the same interest in baking. It always looked like so much work.

Anyway, I recently discovered a baking forum where there are apparently lots of great bakers. My formal training has begun here.

Can I join your class?

 

[JustJoel]

Like Tara, once I have perfected something, it is then I might try to play around with the recipe. I might be wrong but baking does not allow much room for experimenting when it comes to texture and taste.

I guess the real experimentation has to come when you start getting into fondants and the cakes with the surprise inside and the cake pops and all those fun things.

I must respectfully disagree! Yes, precision is important; that’s one reason I weigh instead of measure. But I’ve found baking to be a dichotomy of precision and a bit of laissez faire. Basically, if you put flour, water, salt, and yeast together in a hot environment, you will get bread! It may not be the loaf you had planned on, but it’s bread! It’s one of those little kitchen miracles!

 

[JustJoel]

I think I would have to say "self taught" as I was able on my own, to read and accurately follow the recipes for my box cakes.

I was raised by a mother who was always in the kitchen cooking and baking. I have no recollection of her actually sitting me down and teaching me to cook, but I watched, learned and developed a keen interest as I grew. I can't say I developed the same interest in baking. It always looked like so much work.

Anyway, I recently discovered a baking forum where there are apparently lots of great bakers. My formal training has begun here.

Self-taught here. And still a long way to go. I sometimes think I spend more time reading and researching than I spend baking! Four hours to bake a loaf takes about triple the research time, for me. Now there’s a “baker’s ratio!”

 

[AuntJamelle]

Self taught from cookbooks, not to mention trial and error.

These days there are YouTube videos and such that are so helpful! THAT would have been nice when I was getting started!

I also learned A LOT from the generous tips and advice from others online in what was mainly a Christmas focused forum that I joined years and years ago. Food is a big part of the holidays so there were lots of discussions, recipe sharing and tips shared. That was a big help too! I guess there was life before Pinterest, although I forget that sometimes

 

[Rebecca Elizabeth]

Im self taught too. When my blondie dough didnt fully fit the tin, I improvised and made more dough (an extra egg, some flour, a small amount of butter). I really enjoyed working with the dough and stuff. I learned a lot from the TV show called "The great brittish baking show"