November 20, 2016 - 8:31am
measuring ingredience
I have done much research on how to measure ingredients for baking. Some people have suggested measuring by cup or using teaspoon or tablespoon. On the other hand, some have suggested measuring according to weight. While making bread this morning, I put flour in a 1 cup and leveled off. I then poured it onto my new digital scale, lo and behold the scale didn't measure 4.250 ounces as specified. What gives? All of you think my conversion is crazy........well it is. I misprinted the weight of 4.250. 1 cup=8 oz. Sorry about the confusion. However, with all that being said, what method is more accurate for baking?
.
Share
You did not really put flour directly on the scale, did you? Digital scale will have a tare button which allows you to cancel out the weight of the bowl you weigh the flour in.
4.25 oz is 120 gram, and the only place I know where a cup of flour weighs 120 g. is deranged minds of King Arthur recipe writers. Everywhere else it hovers in the vicinity of 135 g.
No, I didn't put flour directly on scale. I misread the conversion and came up with the correct conversion. Thanks for the reply.
This is the reason most seasoned bakers only use grams and eschew imperial measurements and cups.
As I am sure you have seen here and elsewhere, there are a multitude of formulas for the same bread. I used to think what made a particular bread unique was the choice of ingredients but I eventually saw many examples of breads that were quite different, still using the same 4 ingredients.
If you have ever worked doughs of different hydrations you have found that an 80% hydration is a lot different than a 65% hydration. Make a Pain au Levain at 65% then again at 80% and you will likely have two very different loaves, even though the ingredients are the same. The ratio of ingredients can make all the difference. Measurement by volume is more haphazard than measuring by weight.
When you weigh the ingredients you have a very definitive approach towards a formula. When you measure by volume you can be off several percentage points, which makes the dough a little (or a lot) different each time. It can be very hard to nail down specific refinements in your processes, and in the quality of the product, when the ratio of ingredients change every time you make the same bread. It's tough enough adjusting to environmental changes, like temperature and humidity, so why throw in more variables when you have a means of precise control.
Weighing is about precision and for some of us that is very important. Every professional baker I know weighs their ingredients and most passionate home bakers do as well.
If your scale has different measurements, you should use grams as they are far more accurate than ounces, especially for things like salt, yeast, and small add-ins. It's also a lot easier to divide or multiply ingredients if you want to make more or less dough than the recipe calls for. E.g. it's easier to figure out half of 102 grams than half of 3 5/8 ounces!
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I am definitely figuring that out. My wife bakes using the cup, teaspoon and tablespoon method. Therefore,. that is what she showed me. I will purchase another scale as mine only reads oz.
I use weight. For a while I was using teaspoons for yeast, but then I weighed it and realized that 2.25 teaspoons is way more than 1/4 oz or 7g every time I try. If it was liquid, then you can get close enough, but not for solids. Bread making is the one place I use grams.
Thanks for the reply. I will seriously do as you have suggested.