BAIN-MARIE. [Fr.] In old chemistry, a water bath; also, sometimes, a sand bath. In cookery, a shallow vessel containing heated water, in which saucepans, &c., are placed, when it is necessary either to make them hot, or to keep them so, without allowing them to boil. It is extremely useful in making sauces, warming soups and small dishes, and when dinners are delayed after they are ready to be served.
BA′′KING (bāke′-). Syn. Action de cuire au four, Fr. The process of cooking, or of heating, drying, and hardening any substance in an oven or kiln, or by the rays of the sun; the art or trade of a baker‡; also technically, a batch or ovenful, or the quantity baked at once (= FOURNÉE, Fr.).
In cookery, baking is, perhaps, of all others, the cheapest, most convenient, and best way of dressing dinners for small families, where a good domestic oven is at hand. Though the flavour of baked meat is generally considered barely equal to that of the same parts roasted, there are some joints and dishes to which it appears particularly suitable. Among these may be mentioned legs and loins of pork, legs and shoulders of mutton, fillets of veal, &c. A baked pig, if it has been occasionally basted, and the heat has not been too great, eats equal to a roast one. Geese and ducks treated in the same way are also excellent. A baked hare which has been basted with raw milk and butter also eats well; and so do various pieces of beef, especially the buttock. Cooks tell us that this last should be sprinkled with a little salt for a day or two before dressing it, and after being washed is preferably baked, along with about a pint of water, in a glazed earthen pan tied over with writing paper, ‘three or four times thick.’ A baked ham is said to be preferable to a boiled one; to be tenderer, fuller of gravy, and finer flavoured. It should be soaked in water for about an hour, wiped dry, and covered with a coarse thin paste or batter. Ordinary dishes require similar treatment in baking to that given them when roasted.
For domestic use, where the kitchen-range does not include a really good oven, the portable articles known as a ‘Dutch-oven,’ and an ‘American oven,’ form an excellent substitute, admirably adapted for small joints, poultry, &c., all of which, when these utensils are skilfully employed, possess a delicacy and flavour fully equal to the same when roasted; whilst not more than one half the fire is required for the purpose. According to Miss Acton they also “answer excellently for delicate sweet puddings, and for cakes.” See Bread, Cakes, Roasting, &c.
Baking Pow′der. See Powders.
Baking Powder, American. For making light pastry. Tartaric acid and chalk. (Reichardt.)
Baking Powder, Borwick’s German, is an artificial fermentation powder, compounded with coarse maize-flour. (Gädike.)
Baking Powder, Goodall’s, is a compound of 2 parts of rice flour with 1 part of a mixture of tartaric acid and bicarbonate of soda. (K. Boschan.)
Baking Powder or Yeast Powder, Professor Horsford’s (Cambridge, U.S.). This is a powder supplied in two packets. The one contains an acid phosphate of lime and magnesia made up with a certain quantity of flour, and the other is bicarbonate of soda, with a little chloride of potassium.
BAL′ANCE. As in the process of what is termed gravimetric analysis the chemist has to determine the weights of the different substances employed as well as found, it will be self-evident that for his results to be trustworthy the balance he employs must be perfectly accurate and reliable.