Mise en place (French for "putting in place") in baking is the essential, systematic process of preparing, measuring, and organizing all ingredients and tools—weighing flour, prepping pans, setting tools—before starting the recipe. This practice ensures accuracy, efficiency, and a calm, error-free workflow, resulting in consistent, professional-quality baked goods.
Putting Out Fires!
I am precise in how I do things. Preparation makes work go smoother. Work gets done more efficiently when you do not have to measure, sift, or prep ingredients while you are already in the process of making something.
I have been doing French baking/patisserie for many years and yet when I am juggling multiple parts of the recipe at once, trying to manage exact timings, I have to keep refinding my place in the recipe and I am suffering from cognitive overload, and I have been on my feet for 3 hours, I am fatigued and all I want to do is sit down and rest - %^& happens!
I hate to admit it, but there have been times when I have left out ingredients - even with the prepared ingredient sitting right in front of me on the prep tray! Can you imagine what could happen if I had not made the advance preparation?
When I am making macarons in this humid environment I always make Italian meringue. You bakers know that I will have the syrup cooking on the stove and I am checking the temperature. I want to use it right when it reaches temp, not before and not let it sit either. I am also whipping the egg whites and sugar in the stand mixer and keeping my eye on it. I don’t want it too firm or too loose before I add the hot sugar syrup. So, I am trying to get the timing right - sugar syrup to temp at the same time the meringue reaches soft peak to add the syrup.
That is something I have done so many times and yet I am not going to risk messing it up by pulling out or measuring cream of tartar, corn starch, or sugar, or needing to add more while I am in the middle of this. That is the sort of situation that leads to mistakes - mistakes that can make a whole dessert fail.
This is why I never skip nor skimp on my mis en place practice.
Key Aspects of Baking Mise en Place
In a nutshell, there are a few things you need to do in a solid mis en place practice other than just measure ingredients, although that is important!
Preparation
Prepare the Kitchen
I like to keep my kitchen completely clean and clear all the time, but if you need to put away anything, wash any dishes, or clean and disinfect the countertops, do it now.
Have kitchen towels, paper towels, vinegar and alcohol on the countertop. Wipe down counters as you go and use vinegar or alcohol to wipe down the bowls and utensils. They need to be free of any trace of oils or moisture.
Read the Full Recipe
I read it 2 or 3 times. I need to get it into my head because I know once I start working I always have a hard time finding my place when I need to reference the recipe. I know some of my recipes by heart because I make them so often and I have gotten into big trouble when I thought I could do it without my recipe. I might go blank. I might have too much going on with the making of the recipe and I forget something. I might temporarily get a little confused in my head with another recipe.
Plus you must know what to expect - what is upcoming in the recipe before you even start prep so there are no surprises, no revising your prep and such.
Gather Tools on the Countertop
Put what you need at your finger tips. You should have a prep area and a work area.
I keep my whisks together in a canister and my spatulas together in another canister. I set these out in my work area.
Pull out your stand mixer and attachment and your hand mixer and attachment - and any other appliances you may need. An example would be a food processor if the recipe requires nuts or a juicer if it needs fresh citrus juice.
Pull out your hand tools and put them in the prep area. These are things like:
Zester/microplane for citrus zest and a hand juicer if that is what you use
Cutting board and knife if needed for your recipe
Your prep bowls and some table spoons and measures
Pull out your ingredients so they are ready to measure/weigh and prep
Measure All Ingredients
….and I do mean ALL ingredients. Do not neglect to measure out the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and extract because they are small amounts - “I can just reach for the bottle” - NO!
When you are working you do not handle bottles, open and close caps, pour out and measure - this needs to already been done and that ingredient in a little bowl so you just pour it in.
…and when I say measure, I generally mean weigh! Volume measures are imprecise and precision matters. One cup of one ingredient does not weigh the same as another ingredient. Also the same weight of a dry ingredient can have a different volume depending on how tightly packed or how loose it is. A cup of flour is not the same an another cup of flour, but 300g of flour is 300g of flour.
Do not pack down dry ingredients when you measure/weigh them as happens often when you scoop it out. Instead pour it out - into a bowl on a kitchen scale.
The liquid ingredients will also measure differently by volume or weight. I find that a liquid measuring cup is accurate for liquid ingredients rather than a scale. The recipe will usually read 100g heavy cream and that measuring cup reading 100g will be accurate for liquids.
All ingredients should be measured into prep bowls and return the main container it came from back to the pantry or refrigerator where it came from. Always keep your work area tidy.
Prepare the Ingredients
I try to do as much of the work with ingredients as possible before I begin, so most of what is left to do is mixing, whipping, and combining. These are some of the common things you need to do to ingredients:
Room Temp
Set eggs, butter, milk, sour cream out on the counter for at least an hour to bring them to room temp. Read the recipe to see which ingredients and how much need to be at room temp. For example, if you are adding milk to a cake batter, it should be room temp. If you are going to make whipped cream, you want the cream, very, very cold.
Separate Eggs
You may need to separate eggs often. If so, get that done.
Zest and Juice Citrus Fruit
Melt Butter
If the recipe says melted butter, so this ahead of time too. You want it melted, but not hot. It will be a little warmer than room temp to stay liquid, but not too warm.
Sift and Combine the Dry Ingredients
Measure flour before you sift it, then sift. Next add the other dry ingredients per the recipe that will be combined. This is usually baking powder/baking soda, and a pinch of fine sea salt. Perhaps cocoa or corn starch. Then sift them all together except the salt because it won’t go through a fine sieve. Just sprinkle it on top.
If using almond flour, as in making macarons, sift the almond flour three times. Sift the sugar, then sift them together.
Combine the Wet Ingredients
Combine per the recipe. This may be sour cream, milk, extracts or lemon juice (depending on the recipe).
Organization
Group the ingredients on prep trays. You can use cafeteria trays, cookie sheets or baking sheets. You must have something to group ingredients and move the whole group easily.
The groupings are significant. For one, keep all ingredients for one recipe separate from another. For example in making macaron shells I need to make sugar syrup Italian meringue, then the meringue batter. I want those three things separated on trays. When making a sponge cake I want the egg whites and their ingredients on one tray because they need to be whipped. I want the egg yolk and extracts on another tray because they will go in together. I want the liquid ingredients on one tray together and the dry ingredients on a tray.
Prepare the Bakeware
Prepare the bakeware whether that be cake pans, muffin pans, macaron sheets or whatever. This means put them out in a designated place where they are handy, but not in your way. Prepare them with oil and parchment paper as needed.
Set up the cooling racks or the ice bath pan and prepare some very, very icy water in the freezer. I also often use cold packs for this step.
Extra Tools
If you will need piping bags ready or anything else, so ahead and prepare it now and set it out.
Preheat the Oven
The exception to preheating the oven now is if you have a rest or chill period before you bake as is the case with macarons, madeleines and other desserts. In this case preheat the oven 30 minutes prior to the rest/chill period ending.
Mental Walk-Through
Take a moment to survey your work area. Note where everything is and your prep zone, work zone, and cooking zone.
Next pick up your recipe and do a mental walk-through of the steps and ingredients.
Why Mise en Place is Vital for Baking:
Accuracy
Baking requires precision; pre-measuring reduces mistakes and ensures the correct ratios.
Efficiency
It saves time in the long run by preventing frantic searching or interruptions mid-step.
Consistency
It reduces the likelihood of missing ingredients or over-mixing ingredients.
Saves Time
When you do all of this prep work up front you can really see how much time it takes - and that is time that is added to making your recipe if you don’t do it. You do not want a backlog of time in your recipe making.
Prevents Mistakes
This is a best method to prevent mistakes, proven by chefs the world over.
Safety & Calm
It keeps the kitchen cleaner, organized, and reduces stress.
Mis En Place Essential Tools
Prep Bowls
You need a set of bowls that you recognize as your prep bowls and stored in a specific area. You need a full range of sizes for prep bowls. These bowls are for measuring out your ingredients. You will then add the ingredients from the bowls to the recipe and it will be easy to see (if you get a little confused) if you have already added something or not.
Measuring Tools
A kitchen scale and measuring cups for dry and liquid and measuring spoons. Why dry measuring cups if I said to weigh all the dry ingredients? Two reasons. If I have a recipe that calls for 3 cups/400g of cake flour, I can pour 3 cups of flour into the bowl on the scale then add to or take out what I need. I also use cups for things that do not require precise measurement like 1 cup of nuts added to brownies or 3 cups of fresh berries to make a sauce.
Prep Trays
You can use cafeteria trays, cookie sheets, baking pan, serving trays or large cutting boards. I like these stainless steel prep boards.
Aside from this be sure to have your kitchenware, appliances, and cleaning tools ready.
Everything in its Place!
By preparing everything in advance and having everything in its place baking will be an easier and more pleasurable experience.
Happy Baking!