Measure conversions
Firstly, congrats Floyd on the new site. Very clear, but takes a while to re-navigate. I have a question re cups to gram conversions. I have seen conv charts which state anywhere from 110 - 140g for a cup of AP flour! It is very frustrating for those of us in far flung countries who use solely metric. I have to import all my bread baking books from Amazon (virtually no bookstores left in my home state of South Australia) and shipping usually costs as much or more than the book itself .. then to discover that the book uses cup/spoon measures, altho to be fair, most books do state BP these days). Very frustrating. The book to which I refer is Artisan No Knead Bread in 5mins. I live alone and do not eat too much bread (carbs!) so normally scale recipes down using bakers % to make smaller amounts of dough. But cup measures have me stumped .. how to convert? The book to which I refer is Artisan No knead Bread in 5 mins. I don't use much commercial yeast these days, but I thought I would try some of these recipes.
Can anyone please point me to a reliable accurate conversion chart? Love this site .. it's where my obsession was born!
Sondra
Don't blame you for being frustrated. Volume measurements are inconsistent and problematic.
Here's a link from the ABIF website which should help you out:
http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/2008/10/18/no-knead-whole-grain-baguette-buns-with-extra-sourdough-kick-this-time-weigh-out-the-ingredients
LindyD
Thanx so much for the link .. it will be a great help. I will be able to use the author's recommended conversions. I don't normally make 'quick' type breads since graduating to sourdough and different exotic flours other than plain old white, but I thought this might be an interesting mix to have in the frig for busy days. It actually makes quite good bread, tho I think my measurements may have been off. Now I have this info I will try again.
Sondra
Hi Sondra,
I have converted a lot of recipes from volume to metric since I learned about measuring ingredients here. What I did was to set up a master sheet which included the usual ingredients in breads. I simply took each ingredient and measure it on my scale and noted the weight on my sheet. A cup of my whole wheat flour weighs 129g. Water worked out to be 227g per cup. Salt came in at 6g per teaspoon and sugar at 5g per tsp. while honey is 6g a tsp. The instant yeast I use weighs 3g per tsp.
To get more or less of an ingredient I just had to do a bit more math. but with the chart it was very easy to do. I am not averse to writing in my cook books so my metric conversions have all ended up printed next to the volume measurements for the recipes I use a lot.
There are some great old recipes out there that are too good to pass up so this method has allowed me to tap into those I want to bake and it has allowed me to convert them to using my WY leaven rather that IY.
Hope this helps some.
Take Care,
Janet
Flour you just have to play around with, yes anywhere between 110 - 140g per cup depending on moisture content, sifting, etc. You can split the difference at 125g per cup.
Water should be around 236g per cup (1 US cup = 236mL, 1mL of water is 1g).
I agree with Janet, weigh out your own measures and you'll have a better range to work wth.
Thanks Janet and Cranbo for your help. This community of bakers is always a source of great help and advice. The obsession continues .. whatever did I do pre bread baking!
Regards
Sondra