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Confusion about measuring fluids such as water or milk..

BKSinAZ's picture
BKSinAZ

Confusion about measuring fluids such as water or milk..

Much of the recipes give water or milk in "ounces", so do I measure the weight on a scale or use a measuring cup?

ciabatta's picture
ciabatta

you should always measure by weight.  1 UK fluid oz (volume) of water is equivalent to one ounce (weight) of water.  (The US fluid oz is very slightly different) but it would be different for milk or other fluids.  recipes generally list ounces as weight.

 

 

RoundhayBaker's picture
RoundhayBaker

To give the metric version of Ciabatta' post:

One millilitre = One gram.

So it's interchangeable. The important thing is be as accurate as possible.

The real trap to avoid is that US cups (240lml) are different from Canadian (and Australian/ South African) cups (250ml). I don't know the conversion in Imperial, sorry.

 

doughooker's picture
doughooker

Ounce is a measure of weight. Fluid ounce is a measure of volume.

1 U.S. cup of water weighs 8.3454 ounces.

drogon's picture
drogon

is almost likely to be fluid ounces. That's the units on your glass/plastic measuring jug.

Now.. It just so happens that (within kitchen limits) one fluid ounce of water weights one ounce avoirdupois (a unit of weight), and milk has the same density as water (again, within kitchen limits), so you can use your digital scales to weigh milk and water rather than trying to eyeball the lines in a measuring jug. (Vegetable oil is also close enough that I'd don't bother measuring in a jug, just use the scales)

There are small differences between US fluid ounces and UK ones, but in a kitchen setting it's not that important. You'll also find that most published recipes (especially older ones in ounces or even cups) have been rounded up or down to make units easier for scales that are only good to 1/4 ounce at best (or a "scant quarter cup"..) So use grams for more resolution, but the reality is 1/4 ounce or 7g either way isn't going to affect much in the world of bread making - yeast measurements excepted; you do want to be more precise there at times.

So just use your scales for everything.

-Gordon