Depends on the activity of the yeasties, Bill. If they've been working hard and there's lots of CO2, then it would be lighter than if it were just mixed up. It's nothing that can be definitely nailed down, I don't think. That's why things are specified by weight, because volume is not reliable, especially in this case, where you have an arbitrary amount of gas in the volume.
Why, I wonder, do you want to know the weight of a cup of starter?
Paul: Thanks for the response. And, you are right. Depends. But, the reason I ask is because a lot of recipes I run into (some in well known books like Beth Hensperger's The Bread Bible and some on the Internet) call for 1 cup of starter (no weight given).
And, if you want to play around and increase the starter to say 1-1/2 cups, how do you do that if you do not have a starting point for the weight of the cup of starter?
Rose Levy Beeranbaum in her book, The Bread Bible, says that a "scant" cup of liquid (100% hydration) starter weighs 240 grams.
Peter Reinhart in his The Bread Baker's Apprentice says that a cup of his "seed" starter (88% hydration) wieghs 7 ounces or 198 grams.
And, lastly Jeffery Hamelman's Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes recipe for Vermont Sourdough says that two tablespoons of liquid (100% hydration) weighs 1 ounce. So 16 Tablespoons in a cup means that this cup weights 8 ounces or 226 grams.
So, who's right. Or is it as you say, "It depends..."
To keep things easy, I'm going to say that a cup of liquid starter (100% hydration) weighs 230 grams (that's an average between Rose and Jeff).
Thus, based on this weight, a cup of liquid starter would contain 115 grams of flour and 115 grams of water.
I weighed it a while ago, and it's 280 grams for my starters.
As to starter varying depending on how active they are, in the interest of consistent volumetric measurement you should stir down the starter before measuring it.
OK, I admit that I'm as dense as a loaf of poorly made whole wheat bread but would there be much if any difference in weight of active vs inactive starter?
Volumn sure, but CO2 gas is not going to give any lifting effect like say, helium, would it? And if it did, would any of the scales we all use pick up such a small difference in weight? I'll bet if I weigh an empty balloon, then blow it up to 3X it's empty volumn, my scale would not regisrter the added CO2 & moisture. And are'nt the little beasties CONVERTNG the existing weight of sugars to CO2? Not ADDING new weight?
It's weight per volume. No, the starter isn't going to float away. Imagine egg whites. How much volume do six egg whites take up? What is their weight? Now whip them and ask the same two questions - different volume/weight ratio in your answers, eh?. If your initial question was "how much does a cup of egg white weigh?" then, in order to answer it, you would have to know if they were whiped or not. Same with the starter. If you're asking "how much does a cup of starter weigh?" you need to know how gaseous that starter is in order for the answer to be meaningful.
"As to starter varying depending on how active they are, in the interest of consistent volumetric measurement you should stir down the starter before measuring it."
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Depends on the activity of
Depends on the activity of the yeasties, Bill. If they've been working hard and there's lots of CO2, then it would be lighter than if it were just mixed up. It's nothing that can be definitely nailed down, I don't think. That's why things are specified by weight, because volume is not reliable, especially in this case, where you have an arbitrary amount of gas in the volume.
Why, I wonder, do you want to know the weight of a cup of starter?
:-Paul
...because all recipes do not say, "200 grams of liquid starter"
Paul: Thanks for the response. And, you are right. Depends. But, the reason I ask is because a lot of recipes I run into (some in well known books like Beth Hensperger's The Bread Bible and some on the Internet) call for 1 cup of starter (no weight given).
And, if you want to play around and increase the starter to say 1-1/2 cups, how do you do that if you do not have a starting point for the weight of the cup of starter?
Rose Levy Beeranbaum in her book, The Bread Bible, says that a "scant" cup of liquid (100% hydration) starter weighs 240 grams.
Peter Reinhart in his The Bread Baker's Apprentice says that a cup of his "seed" starter (88% hydration) wieghs 7 ounces or 198 grams.
And, lastly Jeffery Hamelman's Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes recipe for Vermont Sourdough says that two tablespoons of liquid (100% hydration) weighs 1 ounce. So 16 Tablespoons in a cup means that this cup weights 8 ounces or 226 grams.
So, who's right. Or is it as you say, "It depends..."
To keep things easy, I'm going to say that a cup of liquid starter (100% hydration) weighs 230 grams (that's an average between Rose and Jeff).
Thus, based on this weight, a cup of liquid starter would contain 115 grams of flour and 115 grams of water.
It's a place from which to start.
:) Bill
Sounds good. You might
Sounds good. You might also try weighing a cup of your starter...
:-Paul
280 grams
I weighed it a while ago, and it's 280 grams for my starters.
As to starter varying depending on how active they are, in the interest of consistent volumetric measurement you should stir down the starter before measuring it.
Mike
Weight of active vs inactive starter?
OK, I admit that I'm as dense as a loaf of poorly made whole wheat bread but would there be much if any difference in weight of active vs inactive starter?
Volumn sure, but CO2 gas is not going to give any lifting effect like say, helium, would it? And if it did, would any of the scales we all use pick up such a small difference in weight? I'll bet if I weigh an empty balloon, then blow it up to 3X it's empty volumn, my scale would not regisrter the added CO2 & moisture. And are'nt the little beasties CONVERTNG the existing weight of sugars to CO2? Not ADDING new weight?
I'm giving myself a headache.
Scott.
Hey Scott, It's weight per
Hey Scott,
It's weight per volume. No, the starter isn't going to float away. Imagine egg whites. How much volume do six egg whites take up? What is their weight? Now whip them and ask the same two questions - different volume/weight ratio in your answers, eh?. If your initial question was "how much does a cup of egg white weigh?" then, in order to answer it, you would have to know if they were whiped or not. Same with the starter. If you're asking "how much does a cup of starter weigh?" you need to know how gaseous that starter is in order for the answer to be meaningful.
-Paul
The light is on now!
Thanks Paul.
Your egg white example brought it into clarity and makes me wonder why I did not grasp the concept right away (must be getting old!).
Now this begs the question; should you always 'stir-down' a starter before measuring it by volumn?
Scott.
Mike's the man to listen to
Mike's the man to listen to on that, and he says:
"As to starter varying depending on how active they are, in the interest of consistent volumetric measurement you should stir down the starter before measuring it."
:-Paul