Baking is easy
Summary
Baking is easy, a straphanger declares, setting off a passionate debate about culinary technique and American measurement systems. Kareem's rider insists baking is actually straightforward because you get all the answers upfront: exact temperatures, precise times, clear instructions. The real problem? US recipes rely on volume measurements like cups and teaspoons instead of proper metric weights, setting beginners up to fail. Meanwhile, TikTok's condensed cooking videos aren't helping. The conversation takes a turn when Kareem admits he's never baked anything because everyone says it's too hard. Don't be manipulated by other people's fears, the rider counters. Baking is just a craft requiring basic techniques and repetition. And if you disagree? Come to the October 18th bake sale at WSA 180 Maiden Lane, where 100 chefs will raise money for four NYC nonprofits.
Full Transcript
So, what's your take? Baking is easy. 100% disagree. Baking is like getting all the answers to the test in advance. Like you have all the information before you. How many minutes, what temperature. It's like you're set up to succeed. But we're in this age where like people are like learning how to cook on like TikTok or whatever. And all of this information is condensed into like a 30-second three times speed video. And then those people have never worked in restaurants or gone to culinary school and the recipes don't work.
So, the recipes are the most important part.
Yeah, but the problem with American recipes is that they use volume measurements, which is both cups, tablespoons, teaspoons.
Yeah. If you're a beginner baker and your recipe doesn't have metric measurements to it, you're set up to fail. The US needs to place a better emphasis on writing recipes properly.
Blame it on the damn government. I don't even think baking is hard or easy because I've literally never baked anything. But everyone's like baking is so hard. I've heard it a million times. Baking is hard. Baking is hard. Baking is hard. So, I haven't even tried it because everyone says baking is hard.
You're being manipulated by this like idea that something is hard or not. Don't let anybody tell you what's hard or not.
Cook. Baking is a craft. You just have to learn a couple of basic techniques and do it a bunch of times and then it doesn't feel so hard anymore. I think people just want that shortcut. They want that hack. They want to just like be good at something right away. But if you disagree with me you should come to the bake sale that I'm doing on October 18th.
Bake sale? October 18th?
Yeah. We're having a big bake sale at WSA 180 Maiden Lane. All the proceeds are going to four New York City nonprofits. 100 chefs are going to be there and cookbook authors. Only the good ones.
Go to the bake sale. It's for a good cause.