10 Handy Hints for Baking in High Humidity

Just when you think you’ve mastered your favorite baking recipes, a wet, humid day arrives. Maybe you live in an area where extreme humidity is the norm.

Moisture in the air caused by excessive humidity may drastically alter the result of any recipe. Muffins may be flat and underbaked, and your classic Devil’s Chocolate Cake may not be as moist as normal.

Don’t let the humidity spoil your baking. While baking, use the following tips and tactics to guarantee that your banana bread or dinner buns come out of the oven smelling and tasting delicious.

1 – What High Humidity Does to Baking

High humidity causes moisture in the air to get trapped into the dry ingredients while baking a cake or yeasted bread. This comprises the following ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda.

This additional moisture changes the texture and result of baked goods, converting your fail-safe recipes into a hit-or-miss baking day.

Humidity influences not just the ingredients but also the baking time. The standard 35-minute baking time for squares is just a little too short to remove all of the excess moisture.

Most recipes will need more baking time, so add some minutes to your recipe.

2 – How to Check Humidity Levels

How do you determine the humidity level in your kitchen? The most basic method is to purchase a hygrometer, which monitors humidity levels.

When the humidity level is high, the gauge will alert you. Anything beyond 70% indicates that you should change your baking ingredients and processes.

The ice cube technique is another approach to test for humidity. In a glass of water, place four ice cubes. Wait 5 minutes after stirring. Condensation on the exterior of the glass indicates that the humidity level is high.

3 – Use Less Liquid

Reduce the amount of liquid in a recipe’s components. Since the dry components will retain more moisture, lowering the liquid will help to balance the consistency. Reduce the quantity of buttermilk to 1 cup if your cake calls for it.

Check for uniformity after mixing. If the batter is too dry, add one tablespoon at a time until it looks perfect, taking careful not to use more than the 1 cup specified in the instructions.

Add cooled liquid to the batter or dough if your kitchen is hot and damp. This will cause the butter or other fats in the recipe to melt more slowly. Check that the liquid is not too cold, since combining an egg-containing batter might alter its stability.

4 – Modify Baking Time

To account for the excess moisture in high humidity, increase the baking time of the recipe. Let the cake to bake for an additional 3 minutes. Afterwards, verify for completion. Test every 2 to 3 minutes to avoid overbaking!

Only increase the baking time for cookies by 1 minute increments; it is much too simple to burn cookies by overbaking for even 30 seconds.

A word on increasing the oven temperature. While it may seem logical to bake at a higher temperature, baking just takes longer at higher temperatures. This might result in a dry cake or difficult, thick cookies.

5 – Keep Dry Ingredients in The Fridge

Storing dry ingredients for baking in the cupboard exposes them to the humidity and moisture in the air. Refrigerating them allows less moisture to absorb into the materials.

During the summer, when humidity is a factor, I keep flour, sugar, baking powder, and soda in the fridge, pulling them out about an hour before baking to allow them to get to room temperature.

6 – Use A Marble Board

Baking flakey pastry or pie crust in high humidity is considerably more difficult than baking other baked items. As soon as you lay out the pastry, moisture begins to accumulate and soften the dough. And soft dough will modify the texture of your baked goods, making them hard and rough.

By utilizing a marble board, you may avoid this issue.
Refrigerate the board for at least 2 hours before baking. Next, on the refrigerated board, roll out the dough. This keeps the butter in the dough cold, ensuring that your baked goods are buttery and have those delightful flakey layers.

7 – Chill Cookie Dough Before Baking

It’s not only delicate baked foods like pastries that benefit from chilling. On humid days, I also chill my cookie dough before baking.

This prevents the butter from melting in the high humidity, which causes cookies to flatten and lose their form when baking.

8 – Cool the Air

Even when humid, colder air does not retain as much moisture as hot air on a summer day. Close the windows and put on a fan or air conditioning an hour or more before you begin baking. Instead, if you have one, use it.

These ways will reduce humidity and remove extra moisture from the air in your kitchen.

9 – Let Muffins and Cupcakes Rest

Excessive humidity might cause your muffins and cupcakes to fall instead of rise. Let the batter to sit at room temperature for approximately 20 minutes is one technique to prevent this.

This will cause the leavening in the muffins or cupcakes to diminish, resulting in perfectly rounded tops.

10 – Chill Bowls and Pans

Place the dishes, pans, and cookie sheets in the refrigerator before you begin baking. The idea is to keep anything that comes into contact with the dough or batter cold. When the butter in the recipe is placed in the oven, it will remain cold and melt more slowly.

Don’t let the humidity mar your baking session. Follow these suggestions for baking in high humidity to ensure that your favorite cakes, cookies, and pastries come out flawlessly every time.