SC - Cookery-Art or Science

[Decker, Terry D.]

> 	Baking (and all 'Pastry Sciences', to borrow a phrase from Homer
> Simpson) is a Science.  
> 	Mistress Christianna
> 
After careful consideration, I must say that baking can not be a Science.
To be a Science, the results must be reproducible and any baker will tell
you they can't guarantee what is going to come out of the oven.  In most
instances, the end product will be within usable tolerances, but there is
always the occasional catastrophe.  

Understanding the processes of baking is Science.  Producing quality bake
goods is Art.  Baking, the combination of the two, is obviously a craft.

I believe the reason you see baking as a Science is the use of precise
measurement.  You do not need precise measurement to produce  most bake
goods.  If you can tell the readiness of the dough by feel and by sight, you
can bake without measurement.  In fact an artisan baker needs to be able to
feel the dough to correct for differences in volumes of liquid, dryness of
flour and humidity.  The best baking is not done in the controlled
environment of a factory bakery.

The need for measurement is historic and economic.  Bread was one of the
first products to be controlled by regulation.  When the size and weight of
a loaf is specified by law, the baker had to get serious about meeting the
requirements.  Since you lose about 25% of the weight of a loaf during
baking, you need to know precisely what is going into the oven.  It wasn't
until the 18th Century that laws started being written to price bread by the
actual weight of the loaf rather than trying to make the loaf meet some
arbitrary standard.

Economically, an independent baker walks a thin line.  If you don't put
enough into your product, the customer will feel cheated and will not do
business with you.  If you put too much in your product, you will not be
profitable.  For some products, like cookies,  this difference is only a few
grams of dough.  Precise measurement is the best method to insure economic
survival.

Bear

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