What does it mean when a recipe says "Until the wooden pick comes out clean"?

Question

How do I do this and why?

Answer 1

if its a cake, it would mean you need to push a pick in to the middle of the cake, when you pull the pick out if there is mixture stuck to it the cake isn't ready, when the cake is cooked the pick will come out clean

Answer 2

If you are making a cake you would cook the cake for the time stated in the recipe and then put a skewer or tooth pick into the top of it so as to check that it is cooked. If it comes out covered in sticky particles or even partially cooked cake mix the cake would not be ready. But when it comes out "clean" with nothing stuck to it, then it would be ready.

Hope that is clearer than mud.

Answer 3

This used to be done by your grandmother with a knitting needle. When you stick the needle into the cake it either comes out with cake deposits or clean (no cake deposits and no moisture)

It is a very handy trick to use to check if the cake is ready to take out of the oven. You do not need to use one of those things you buy in stores, a simple knitting needle is fine and the deposits are easier to see on a knitting needle and also easier to clean off than most other materials!!

By the way another cake baking tip, never open the over until 45 minutes after starting to bake it, otherwise the cake will sag and be ruined...

Good luck and have fun baking lots of cakes!!

Answer 4

It sounds like you're making a cake. You take a wooden toothpick and poke it into the cake. If the toothpick comes out of the cake or whatever it is you're making clean, then it is done. It's the simplest test for checking doneness on certain baked items.

Answer 5

It means that when checking the product, you put a tooth pick in the middle and if it comes out clean no goo on it the product is done. I am assuming this is for a cake? You stick the tooth pick in the middle of the cake, or as close to it as possible!

Answer 6

This is a test for baked goods to ensure they are done in the middle. You stick a tooth pick (or a clean broom straw) into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean, it's done, if it has dough sticking to it, let it bake a lilttle longer. My understanding is that this method of test came about years ago, when women mostly cooked with wood stoves and it was harder to regulate the cooking time because of the differences in the wood heat.

Answer 7

There is a special kind of long wooden pick. You have to stick it into the cake (or whatever your baking). If it comes out clean, it means that the cake has baked through the center. If it comes out with some cake on it, it means the middle isn't baked yet. They sell these at stores and places. You just take the pick and stick it in the middle and that's pretty much it.

Answer 8

You literally stick in a wooden pick, like a toothpick and when you pull it out, if it isn't covered with dough, the it is proof that the dough is cooked all the way through (or whatever you are cooking).

Answer 9

Forget 'wooden pick' - use a CLEAN knife instead - when you insert the knife into whatever you are baking and then withdraw it again - if the knife blade is clean then whatever it is you are baking is properly cooked and you may remove from the oven entirely and allow to cool.

Answer 10

Im guessing your baking a cake?

it means if u stick a knife of wooden cocktail stick into it in the centre and withdraw it, it will come out clean and not covered in mixture. that is when you know its done.