Baking may be a major part of someone’s childhood. Others may have never been in a kitchen before. Many people have different experiences with baking, and they are all unique.
There are many differences between baking now versus 100 years ago. Back then, healthier baking was more common and more people made things while packaged foods became more popular.
Maxine’s Heavenly is a website that focuses on how health in food has changed over time. It shows how different baking is today versus 100 years ago.
According to Maxine’s Heavenly, “Baking was on a sharp upward trend as improvements in flour, baking powders, and appliances made it a less laborious task. When the gas stove achieved mainstream adoption, it forever changed how we ate and cooked, and home baking was promoted along with new educational cook books all about cooking with gas.”
Foods teacher and mom Kirstin Murphy has been baking since she was little. She was a cook until she went to school to get her teaching certificate. She noticed that there was an opening for a foods teacher within Kaneland’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) department and thought that it sounded fun. She has since baked with her own kids and loves seeing them in the kitchen baking with her.
“I always enjoy baking at home, especially with my kids, so that’s always a nice activity to do as well,” Murphy said.
Baking now is not as popular as it used to be. Not as many people bake at home when they have the chance to buy everything they need at the store. The more pre-packaged baked goods that are available, the less that people will make at home. Some people always bake at home, no matter how busy they are. Everybody has their own way of getting their baked goods.
According to Bake, a website that talks about the amount of people that bake today, “The report estimated that 31% of people baked at least once a week, and 24% of people baked one or twice a month in 2022.”
Murphy is not totally sure why baking is not as popular as it used to be. She likes both store bought and homemade baked goods. She does not have a specific preference.
“I would assume it’s because everybody is just so busy. Everything is just so fast paced now,” Murphy said. “They may just like the convenience of pre-made and pre-baked stuff and don’t do as much at home.”
Sophomore Adriana Chilelli has been baking since she was little. She would bake with her grandma and also had an easy bake oven that she would use occasionally. She loves to bake things and give them to people whenever she gets the chance.
“I like the process of baking, being able to put in the work and getting something good out of it. I like giving people whatever I make,” Chilelli said. “I like making people happy by giving them things I make.”
Processed foods started to become more popular in the 1920s. During the 1920s, women started the trend of baking the way we do today. Food has changed since the 1920s, but it has many similar trends that are occurring today. The food industry has changed the health of contemporary food.
“The 1920s was not just a revolutionary time in baking, but it was also effectively the era of the ‘modern kitchen,’” according to Maxine’s Heavenly. “We have a greater variety of foods available to us than our ancestors, who ate very simply and seasonally.”
Chilelli has had many experiences of both store bought and homemade baked goods. She has made many things from scratch and also bought many different baked goods that were pre-packaged.
“I think store bought is better, but with home it is more personal and more fresh,” Chilelli said.
Even though baking is not as popular as it used to be, many people still choose to bake. This may be because people like to decide what goes into the food or they think it tastes better because they are a smaller portion compared to what it used to be. The prices have changed based on the 1920s, and in the 2020s the prices have led to more options.
According to Maxine’s Heavenly, “Home bakers [in the 1920s] had access to cheaper ingredients and greater variety, while falling ingredient costs made baking and baked goods available even to the poorer classes. With all this in place, it’s no wonder the 20s turned out to be a booming decade for baking.”
Many people will still bake and may even use some recipes from their grandparents. Many of us grew up baking with friends or family members. Now there are more places to get exactly what you want easier than 100 years ago. Baking can be a very important part of one’s childhood, whether that means baking or buying baked goods.
