..I'm a total beginner, and I mean total. When a recipe says 'sieve flour, sugar etc etc into a bowl' does it mean sieve them individually or does it mean put them all in a sieve together then sieve them into a bowl as one? Hope this makes sense..

If anyone feels generous enough to either post me a glossary of basic cooking terms and what they mean, or if someone knows a good link to something similar please let me know!

Thanx

The main reason for sifting flour is to get more air into it - when packed the flour is compressed and air is removed, but when baking, well-aerated flour will work better and help with rising and lightness. Using a large bowl so that you can hold the sieve up high helps the process.

If sifting sugar, it's more likely to be done to ensure there are no lumps, but you may need a larger mesh sieve than you would use for flour.

Unless the recipe specifies the two should be done together, I would definitely sift the two ingredients separately.

Google will find some very good glossaries or detailed information on just about everything under the sun.

I hesitate to post a link because links to other sites often get removed.

Hope this helps.

If you are just starting out with cooking, can I suggest Mary Berry's book: 'Learn to Cook'.

It has a range of recipes that she has chosen to take the beginning cook through most of the basic cooking methods using a wide spectrum of ingredients. It also has a section on condiments, spicing, etc, plus information on raising agents, flours and much more including advice and explanations on equipment.

Best price I have seen is here:-

[link]

or even: "How to Cook" ... (I should have checked the title before posting )

Great thanks a million, I will definitely try to get my hands on it..

When considering kitchen cookery gadgets is it best to get a food processor and a separate mixer (that has dough hooks etc) or does a good processor do everything? (All the enthusiasm is there but none of the knowledge ha ha!!)

Thanx

Most food processor run at high speed and use two flat convex blades to cut through any ingredients put in them - you can get other attachments, but the cutting blade is the main mode of operation usually.

When making pastry, a food processor works quite well because what you need to do is to reduce the fat down to a fine grain and integrate it with the flour - so the blade can be used to 'cut the fat in' without working the flour too much and developing the gluten. This kind of technique should produce a 'short,' melt in the mouth, pastry.

The important thing to remember is to stop the machine as soon as the dough starts to roll up into a ball - if you keep going after that point, then the dough will get overworked and may well produce tough pastry. You may also find that, unless you have a very good food processor, that the motor burns out quite quickly.

Food mixers provide a somewhat different function: they usually come with a whisk that can be run at high speed for jobs like whisking eggs for meringues, etc. Plus a mixing iron for things like cake mixes. And then a dough hook for bread or pasta type dough. These attachments will normally be run at different speeds.

The dough hook is usually run at the slowest speed, and the idea, in contrast to the use of the Food Processor when making pastry dough, is to develop the gluten in the flour/dough mix to produce an elastic, stretchy-like dough - the dough-hook providing a kneading action.

Most of the quality Food Mixers have some method of varying the speed - by way of gearing or a variable speed motor. Working bread dough needs a machine with some power to provide umph (torque) at low speeds.

For a really good domestic Food Processor, I would recommend Magimix, but they are fairly expensive. Kenwood do some good machines at a lower price.

The main contenders in the domestic Food Mixer market are Kitchenaid and Kenwood – some people argue that one is better than the other, personally I don’t think there is that much to choose between them.

For anyone on a budget, the Kenwood Chef mixer is a very good buy, and they can be bought new for around £120.

With regard to which type of machine is best for you, it really depends on the kind of cooking you have in mind.

You can get Food Processors with whisk attachments, and you might get away with using it for a light cake mix, but I wouldn’t use a Food Processor for heavy dough work.

Hope this helps.

PS

If you are just starting out and not sure about whether you will get into baking in a big way (i.e. re Food Mixer), then I would suggest considering one of these multi- purpose tools - you will be able to do a wide range of tasks with this one:-
[link]

Wow! Brilliant, you have answered my question and then some, you know ur stuff.

I think primarily I'd like something that will help me produce the best cakes/ breads/ pastry etc but something that's versatile enough to use for making sauces etc so the hand blender range might well be perfect. Will head out this weekend to pick something up.

Now I'm going to trawl the site looking for beginners baking recipes, my family are nervously standing by as guinea pigs..

Your help has been tremendous
Many thanks!

You're very welcome.

This Kenwood chef is at a very good price:-

[link]

You will probably get a blender jug that fits into the attachment drive in the box and included in the price.

Kenwood also offer the option of extending the guarantee to 5 years for around £30 - that's on-site repair and includes accidental damage - pretty good eh?

You will find lots of extra s/h attachments on ebay going for a song.

Good luck, I'm glad I could help.

I have a hand haeld whisk/blender by breville its endorsed by anthony worrell thompson and ha 3 whisking attachments and it is fantastic, it helps me make some of the lightest cake i have ever made.
Check out delias web site for her coffee cake very very easy and it has never failed for me!

ooops for got to add, if you don't like coffee just add a tsp of vanilla extract instead

thanks folks! This website and boards are great