[0 - 2] - Can you tell I'm not a huge baker?
[2 - 8] I mean, I do a decent job, but this is not my forte. (upbeat music)
[9 - 11] - There is no time like the holidays,
[11 - 13] friends and family gathered to reminisce,
[13 - 16] drink, and most importantly, eat.
[16 - 18] - And if you're gonna make all those delicious,
[18 - 21] festive, homemade treats like pies and cookies,
[21 - 23] you need quality bakeware to get the job done.
[23 - 25] - [Hannah] So which baking gear is right
[25 - 26] for your holiday pies and cookies?
[26 - 31] Lisa and I are gonna show you what's what. (upbeat music)
[32 - 33] All right, so I'm gonna be talking to you
[33 - 34] about pie gear today.
[34 - 38] I love to eat pies, I'm afraid of making them, to be honest.
[38 - 40] I'm afraid of pastry, I'm not that good at it.
[40 - 42] The right gear can help a newbie like me
[42 - 44] produce a better pie, and who doesn't want
[44 - 45] to eat more pie in their life?
[45 - 48] I made this dough yesterday, and it's time to roll it out.
[48 - 52] I have our winning rolling pin here, the J.K. Adams,
[52 - 53] - [Voiceover] Play ball! - maple dowel.
[53 - 57] This straight, like totally consistent design, won,
[57 - 60] because it has better touch.
[60 - 62] Like, when you have a rolling pin with handles,
[62 - 64] you're just even one step further
[64 - 65] removed from the dough, right?
[65 - 66] You're holding on to the handles
[66 - 67] that are attached to the pin.
[68 - 69] With this, you're actually touching the pin
[69 - 71] that is rolling on the dough, so you can get
[71 - 74] a really nice tactile feel for the dough.
[74 - 77] You can also get a better judgment of the evenness
[77 - 78] because you're that close to it.
[78 - 80] And what you're holding is bouncing on the dough,
[80 - 82] versus the handles, where you're like,
[82 - 84] "Ehh," a little bit more disconnected.
[84 - 86] And you know, a rolling pin, it's not like an everyday tool.
[86 - 89] Maybe it is for you if you bake a ton,
[89 - 91] but a good rolling pin can do all kinds of things.
[91 - 94] You know, it's not just for pie; cookies,
[95 - 97] yeasted doughs, homemade pasta.
[97 - 99] You know, also, burglar comes in the middle of the night,
[99 - 101] just whack them right on the head.
[101 - 103] Up next, pie plates.
[103 - 105] This pan is made from aluminized steel,
[105 - 108] with a nonstick coating, a ceramic nonstick coating.
[108 - 111] And you know, you'll notice this is a nice golden color.
[111 - 115] And the interesting thing about bakeware cookware,
[115 - 117] the shirt you're wearing, different colors
[117 - 120] absorb heat at different rates.
[120 - 121] If you're out on a sunny day,
[121 - 122] and you're wearing a black shirt,
[122 - 124] you might get hotter than you would
[124 - 125] if you were wearing a white shirt.
[125 - 128] If you have a lighter pan, it's gonna go slower.
[128 - 130] And if you have a darker pan, it's gonna go faster.
[130 - 132] In our testing,
[132 - 135] the color of the pan really determined its success.
[135 - 140] We found tones that are in the middle, golden, bronze,
[141 - 143] they really produce the color that they are;
[143 - 144] they produce golden brown crust.
[144 - 146] They're sort of like shooting the moon between
[146 - 149] the light and dark, and getting beautiful results
[149 - 151] without over-cooking, without under-cooking.
[151 - 154] And that is all determined by the color of the pan.
[154 - 155] We, in the end, ultimately preferred
[155 - 158] a simple flat rim, because then it allows you-
[158 - 160] you want to flute, great,
[160 - 161] you want to do a crosshatch, great.
[161 - 163] It gave us more flexibility.
[163 - 164] And you know, it's small point,
[164 - 165] but it's something, in the end, that we just-
[165 - 167] we just really liked about this winning pan.
[167 - 173] In addition to its color and gorgeous browning. (upbeat music)
[178 - 181] There we go, in the plate, not too bad.
[181 - 182] This is homemade dough.
[182 - 184] I'm feeling a little proud of myself right now.
[184 - 185] And honestly, that's one reason
[185 - 186] I think people love to bake,
[186 - 190] you feel a sense of accomplishment, you know? All right.
[190 - 192] So now that my pie is all rolled out in the pan,
[192 - 194] all fluted, we need to talk about pie weights.
[194 - 197] There are all different options. I'm making a pumpkin pie.
[197 - 200] You know, it's a very wet filling, so you want to pre-bake
[200 - 202] the crust, and then add the filling afterwards,
[202 - 203] so you don't get a soggy crust.
[203 - 206] And that means you need to put the crust in the oven
[206 - 208] without any filling, but you also need to put something
[208 - 210] in to hold the crust up.
[210 - 213] Okay, so here I have our winning pie weights
[213 - 214] from Mrs. Anderson's.
[214 - 215] This is four packs of them, because you need enough
[215 - 217] to fill up the plate.
[217 - 219] You need enough to hold that crust back.
[219 - 222] Do you need dedicated pie weights? No.
[222 - 224] Aluminum foil, or parchment, goes in.
[224 - 226] Then you can fill it with a litany of different things:
[226 - 229] sugar, beans, rice.
[229 - 232] You might want to buy a dedicated set of pie weights,
[232 - 234] they're a little easier to clean.
[234 - 237] They conduct heat really well, they're easier to store.
[237 - 240] All right, in they go. I have mine on a parchment.
[240 - 242] I already used this parchment once, I'm re-using it,
[242 - 243] which is nice.
[243 - 245] And it's also nice to corral them,
[245 - 248] 'cause I can just gently lift it up by the four corners.
[248 - 252] Hope I don't drop anything.
[252 - 253] And over we go.
[254 - 255] But they're beautiful.
[255 - 259] As you can see here, it is full, and that's key.
[259 - 262] You know, one pack of these won't be enough weight
[262 - 263] and force to hold the pie dough up.
[263 - 265] So this is why we recommend you buy four packs.
[265 - 267] But you know, they're relatively inexpensive.
[267 - 269] So buying four isn't like, "Whoa!"
[269 - 272] So my pie weights are in, it's time to pre-bake this crust,
[272 - 274] I'm making pumpkin pie, so I'm gonna pre-bake it,
[274 - 276] cool it, fill it, and wait for the filling to set,
[276 - 278] and then top it, and it'll be ready to eat.
[280 - 282] So I just cooked this pie for like 12 minutes or so,
[282 - 284] the sides are set.
[284 - 286] I'm gonna take the pie weights out.
[286 - 288] To remove the weights, you just grab the four sides
[288 - 289] of the parchment or foil,
[289 - 292] or whatever you're using in there, carefully.
[292 - 293] You know, they are hot.
[297 - 298] Look at that.
[298 - 300] Everything stayed up pretty well.
[300 - 303] Okay, so back into the oven for this guy.
[303 - 305] Okay. So our pie is all done.
[305 - 307] Here's the pie I made yesterday, it's all chilled.
[307 - 309] It's looking good. I am ready to cut it.
[309 - 313] Now you don't need a dedicated pie server to serve pie.
[313 - 316] But what it does is it gets you gorgeous slices.
[316 - 318] And if you've put all that effort into the pie,
[318 - 320] I think it's worth getting one.
[320 - 322] This is the OXO steel pie server.
[322 - 325] And this bested all the rest for a couple of reasons.
[325 - 327] One, was the shape of its spade, right here.
[327 - 328] You know, some of them are really long and skinny.
[328 - 331] You really want the right shape to mimic the pie.
[331 - 334] This is exactly an eighth of this pie, a perfect slice.
[334 - 335] Another thing we love is double serrations.
[335 - 338] The serrations really help you get into the pie
[338 - 339] without smooshing things.
[339 - 342] And both sides means it's good for righties and lefties.
[342 - 344] The other thing we loved about this was the offset handle.
[344 - 346] See that slight angle there?
[346 - 348] What that allowed for is us to get up
[348 - 350] under the pie really easily.
[350 - 352] It allows you a little bit more finesse
[352 - 354] to get the slice out.
[354 - 356] And now I'm gonna cut a piece of this, and don't judge me,
[356 - 361] 'cause you know the first slice is always the hardest. (upbeat music)
[365 - 367] Okay, so we want to hear about how you make your pies.
[367 - 370] What kind of pie do you make? What kind of gear do you use?
[370 - 371] What kind of gear do you love?
[371 - 372] So make sure to let us know in the comments.
[372 - 374] And now Lisa is gonna show you
[374 - 379] some of our favorite cookie baking gear. (upbeat music)
[381 - 383] - So I'm gonna be making holiday cookies.
[383 - 385] And you know, this is something we all do
[385 - 387] this time of year, and it's fantastic.
[387 - 390] I'm gonna be making a recipe that I make every year,
[390 - 391] and have for many years now,
[391 - 393] which is for our gingerbread cookies.
[393 - 396] Now this is really such a great recipe,
[396 - 397] especially with a family,
[397 - 400] because it's mostly pantry ingredients,
[400 - 402] doesn't even call for eggs,
[402 - 405] comes together in a few seconds in the food processor.
[405 - 407] And you can have so much fun with this recipe.
[407 - 411] So let's get started. (upbeat music)
[431 - 434] This is our favorite food processor, it's by Cuisinart.
[434 - 436] It's very powerful, very easy to use,
[436 - 438] just two buttons: on/off and pulse.
[438 - 440] And as you can see, it mixed all of those ingredients
[440 - 442] in a few seconds.
[442 - 443] And before I go too much further,
[443 - 445] I gotta tell you about how I measured
[445 - 448] the ingredients for my cookies.
[448 - 449] This is really important.
[449 - 451] And I don't think enough people really think about
[451 - 453] their measuring cups and their measuring spoons.
[453 - 456] We have tested measuring cups and measuring spoons.
[456 - 458] Now the difference between them is obviously,
[458 - 461] for dry ingredients versus liquid ingredients.
[461 - 463] It's important to use the right one for the right job.
[463 - 466] One reason is that if you're measuring, say for instance,
[466 - 468] flour, and you're putting it in a liquid cup,
[468 - 470] and you're trying to level it off,
[470 - 471] that's very difficult to do.
[471 - 474] It's difficult to know when you've got it right to the top.
[474 - 476] On the other hand, if you got a liquid,
[476 - 478] and you want a 1/4 cup of liquid,
[478 - 480] you have to fill it to the very, very top of this,
[480 - 482] and then you're trying not to spill it.
[482 - 484] This is a 1/4 cup, right to the top surface.
[484 - 486] And this, the 1/4 cup, is way down here.
[487 - 490] If you're doing a dry ingredient, use a dry measuring cup.
[490 - 493] These we love, these are from OXO.
[493 - 495] They are really handy, they have a little magnet
[495 - 498] that holds them together, they stack nicely.
[498 - 501] One thing we really love about these is that the handle
[501 - 503] is on a level with the bowl,
[503 - 506] and it even has a little ramp right here.
[506 - 509] So when you have scooped up an ingredient,
[509 - 511] you want to level it off with a straight edge,
[511 - 512] like the back of your butter knife.
[512 - 515] So we like to dip and then sweep.
[515 - 518] And that gives you the right amount of the ingredient,
[518 - 519] right up to the top level.
[519 - 521] A lot of measuring cups you'll see
[521 - 524] have giant chunky handles, that stuff gets trapped up there,
[524 - 526] and you get too much of something,
[526 - 528] trapped up by the handle.
[528 - 530] For liquids, you want a liquid measuring cup.
[530 - 532] These are our favorites in this category.
[532 - 535] We have Pyrex, which is made of tempered glass,
[535 - 536] and OXO, this one's plastic.
[536 - 540] The difference between these two products is that this one
[540 - 542] is meant to be read from level.
[542 - 545] And this one has a little slope inside
[545 - 547] that lets you see while standing up,
[547 - 549] whether you've got the liquid to the right level.
[549 - 552] Measuring things correctly, especially when you're baking,
[552 - 554] where it's a combination of all the ingredients
[554 - 557] in exact proportions, that's gonna give you better,
[557 - 560] more professional, and more reliable results every time.
[560 - 562] You're not gonna have dry cookies,
[562 - 564] you're not gonna have dough that's too wet.
[564 - 565] You're gonna measure, and then you know
[565 - 568] where you are, and you know it's gonna work.
[568 - 572] So back to our cookies. (upbeat music)
[578 - 581] So I'm gonna be baking cookies in-
[581 - 584] I think the "Test Kitchen"'s favorite pan for baking,
[584 - 586] which is a half-sheet pan.
[586 - 588] This is our favorite, the Nordic Ware Naturals
[588 - 590] half-sheet sized pan.
[590 - 593] A dark finished pan will transmit heat more rapidly,
[593 - 597] so baked goods will set quickly, they'll brown more deeply.
[597 - 600] A light colored pan will transfer heat
[600 - 602] a little less intensely.
[602 - 605] Things get to rise a little bit more before they set.
[605 - 607] And it's great for cakes and things like that.
[607 - 610] The finish is light colored, which is kind of interesting.
[610 - 611] It starts out very light,
[611 - 613] it does not have a non-stick coating,
[613 - 615] that makes it very, very rugged.
[615 - 618] We love that it has just one-inch sides,
[618 - 620] that it's a standard half-sheet size,
[620 - 622] because other accessories will fit with it.
[622 - 625] A lot of consumer sheet pans are odd, wonky sizes,
[625 - 628] and that really cuts you off with some of the things
[628 - 629] that you want to do, which is,
[629 - 630] I was thinking of these two things
[630 - 632] as two parts of the same thing.
[632 - 636] This is a cooling rack and it's a grid style cooling rack.
[636 - 641] This can pop right into the standard half-size sheet pan.
[641 - 642] And then it becomes a broiling pan,
[642 - 645] or a place to put fried foods after you fried them.
[645 - 649] And if I wanted to take them with me to a party afterward,
[649 - 651] this little cover, made of plastic,
[651 - 652] it fits right on there,
[652 - 654] and just pops down to- it's on the rim.
[654 - 656] Doesn't squash the food inside.
[656 - 659] And then this becomes really handy for transporting.
[659 - 660] So if you bake something at your house,
[660 - 663] and you're going to your relatives' for the holidays,
[663 - 665] or do a potluck, this is a really nice thing.
[665 - 667] You don't have to try to wrap it with plastic wrap,
[667 - 670] and then it gets stuck to the top of what you made.
[670 - 673] I've chilled the dough, and I'm cutting out some shapes.
[673 - 675] I just wanted to show you our favorite
[675 - 677] cookie and biscuit cutters.
[677 - 679] These are by a Ateco, which is a food service brand.
[679 - 681] They're made nice and sturdy, no nonsense.
[681 - 683] They come in this adorable little tin.
[683 - 686] There's 11 concentric circles in here,
[686 - 689] from this little tiny size,
[689 - 690] all the way up to this great big size.
[690 - 693] So they're not bendy, they stay round.
[693 - 695] They have a very sharp edge to cut through doughs.
[695 - 698] The top edge is rolled, so it's very comfortable
[698 - 701] to press down, and they stay really in good shape.
[701 - 703] They're stainless steel, they're very sturdy,
[703 - 705] and this just makes me feel creative.
[705 - 706] I want to try different things.
[706 - 709] So this little biscuit set is a fantastic gift.
[709 - 711] I love to put these in people's stockings.
[711 - 712] They're not expensive.
[712 - 714] And I just think it's such a nice little thing.
[714 - 720] For some reason, I feel very excited to use them every time. (upbeat music)
[736 - 740] Okay, so I have a hot sheet tray,
[740 - 741] and I have two cooling racks.
[741 - 744] I always buy two sheet trays and two cooling racks.
[744 - 747] You can use these as a tray for your hot pan,
[747 - 749] and then you have a landing zone for your cookies.
[749 - 751] Most of the time when you bake cookies,
[751 - 753] you don't want to leave them in the hot pan too long,
[753 - 755] because they will keep cooking, the heat-
[755 - 756] and the cookies are very thin.
[756 - 758] So I'm gonna take them out.
[758 - 760] Now I can do this two ways,
[760 - 763] my trusty cookie spatula, which is great.
[763 - 764] I crowded these a little bit.
[764 - 766] You can see, I spaced about a lot more on one end,
[766 - 768] and then I started packing them at the other end.
[768 - 771] The cookie spatula is great, 'cause it slides right under
[771 - 773] and I can transfer one cookie at a time.
[773 - 776] Or, if you're like me, and you're super impatient,
[776 - 779] you just pick up this sheet of parchment,
[779 - 782] and you line it up and do that little tablecloth trick.
[782 - 784] Although they all come with,
[784 - 786] and they're all instantly off the sheet.
[786 - 789] So especially if you're baking, say, sugar-type cookies,
[790 - 791] where you don't want them to keep browning,
[791 - 793] and they cook very, very quickly.
[793 - 794] And then they start to over-bake
[794 - 795] while you're taking them off one by one.
[795 - 798] Now you can serve these as-is.
[798 - 800] They're wonderful, they're a little chewy in the middle,
[800 - 801] a little crispy around the edges.
[801 - 804] Or you can decorate them with a simple glaze,
[804 - 807] just confectioner's sugar, a few drops of milk,
[807 - 809] a little cream cheese.
[809 - 811] It's kind of nice, it gives it a good consistency.
[811 - 813] You can put that in a pastry bag, or if you don't have one,
[813 - 815] put it right in a Ziploc bag,
[815 - 816] cut off the tiniest bit of the corner,
[816 - 818] and you can decorate these.
[818 - 820] With the right equipment, it's so much easier,
[820 - 824] even if you're not like a supernatural baker like me,
[824 - 828] and you need a little help, this stuff will really help you.
[828 - 829] - All right, so that is all of our favorite
[829 - 832] pie and cookie baking gear for this holiday season.
[832 - 834] And you know, if you take one thing away from this video,
[834 - 836] keep an eye on the color of your bakeware.
[836 - 838] If it's lighter, it's probably gonna take a little longer.
[838 - 840] If it's darker, it's probably gonna go a little faster.
[840 - 842] So keep an eye on it to get the most
[842 - 844] beautifully browned baked goods.
[844 - 846] - For more information about all the products
[846 - 848] we talked about today, check out the links below.
[848 - 850] - Ask us your baking gear questions in the comments,
[850 - 851] and make sure to like this video,
[851 - 856] and hit that subscribe button. (upbeat music)