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Weighing Ingredients...

Dailey

By Dailey
in Pastry & Baking

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Dailey

Dailey

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i weigh all my ingredients whenever i make cakes and cookies. luckily, most of the time the recipe list grams/ounces but what about the the recipes that don't? i have several charts that convert into grams/ounces but they all state different numbers. :blink: for example, for one cup of cocoa, one chart says its 82 grams while another says 125! that's a big difference, has anyone else run into this problem? what chart do you all used? thanks :biggrin:

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Patrick S

Patrick S

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I use the tables in the back of the Cake Bible. When I have checked her numbers against my own, I have found them to be very accurate. Using the example of cocoa, for instance, RLB gives three weights: sifted, spooned, dip-and-sweep. Obviously the weight is different depending on how you fill the cup.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced" - Vincent Van Gogh
 

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misstenacity

misstenacity

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Good topic! I find that when confronted with bad data I just have to use what looks right, or else just "make it up" with my own findings, like what Dukeofyork suggested.

That being said, I often use as a "master guide" the amounts shown in Nutritiondata.com, which comes from USDA figures. So my "1/2 cup cocoa" that goes into one pint of chocolate gelato is actually 1/2 of what Nutritiondata says a cup weighs (86g) which is 43g. If I used Dailey's amount and added 62g of cocoa it would be an even richer gelato! Hmmm... :blink:

Damn, I love my kitchen scale. It has made cooking so much more pleasurable for an obsessive person like myself. :biggrin:

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

"You can't taste the beauty and energy of the Earth in a Twinkie." - Astrid Alauda

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srhcb

srhcb

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A lot of ingredients have the measure and/or weight of a "serving' on the package. Sometines it takes a little calculating to derive the quantity you need, so be sure to write it down.

It's an especially good way to measure out things like peanut butter and shortening.

SB (always has the scale and calaculator at hand in the kitchen)

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miladyinsanity

miladyinsanity

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Damn, I love my kitchen scale.  It has made cooking so much more pleasurable for an obsessive person like myself.  :biggrin:

Andrea

http://tenacity.net

Indeed it has, Andrea. :biggrin:

I've taken to measuring liquids in weight as well, simply because I don't like using cups--I have to wash them too!! Plus my digital scale allows you to start from zero even when you have something on it (IOW, weigh a hundred grams of sugar, hit the button, and you start from zero again.). :wink:

May

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Woods

Woods

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i weigh all my ingredients whenever i make cakes and cookies.    luckily, most of the time the recipe list grams/ounces but what about the the recipes that don't?  i have several charts that convert into grams/ounces but they all state different numbers. :blink:    for example, for one cup of cocoa, one chart says its 82 grams while another says 125!  that's a big difference, has anyone else run into this problem?  what chart do you all used?  thanks :biggrin:

I have to agree with Dukeofyork. You are your own control in any recipe so measure out one cup of whatever and weigh it and that is your cup.

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Dailey

Dailey

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gee, you would think i would have thought about weighing the ingredients on my own :blush:! at any rate, i have the cake bible so i'm gonna go with RBL's chart since patrick already "tested" it. :wink: thanks everyone! :biggrin:

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skyflyer3

skyflyer3

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I use the tables in the back of the Cake Bible. When I have checked her numbers against my own, I have found them to be very accurate. Using the example of cocoa, for instance, RLB gives three weights: sifted, spooned, dip-and-sweep. Obviously the weight is different depending on how you fill the cup.

I often use Cake Bible, or King Arthur Flour weight approximations as well. One thing that gets me is this - RLB has three weights for flour - sifted, dip and sweep, and lightly spooned. How do I know, when a recipe doesn't specify, which one I should take weights for? Should I assume sifted always?

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SweetSide

SweetSide

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If the recipe is from a book, I've found that in some of the better books, they outline in the beginning how they measure their flour (dip and sweep or lightly spooned). The one I've seen the most often is the lightly spooned method. Also, before I began weighing, I was taught to always stir my flour container before hand -- it aerates the flour and keeps it from being as compact, lightening the weight of a cup.

Most often, the flour is to be sifted before measuring, the directions will say so. Otherwise sifting is done after measuring.

Ah, with all the most oftens and variations, its no wonder I will never be without a scale again -- best investment I've made! :wub:

Cheryl, The Sweet Side
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Patrick S

Patrick S

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I use the tables in the back of the Cake Bible. When I have checked her numbers against my own, I have found them to be very accurate. Using the example of cocoa, for instance, RLB gives three weights: sifted, spooned, dip-and-sweep. Obviously the weight is different depending on how you fill the cup.

I often use Cake Bible, or King Arthur Flour weight approximations as well. One thing that gets me is this - RLB has three weights for flour - sifted, dip and sweep, and lightly spooned. How do I know, when a recipe doesn't specify, which one I should take weights for? Should I assume sifted always?

Well, that's the problem, isn't it? If the recipe doesn't specify, all you can do is guess. I will say this, in the vast majority of recipes I've used where both weight and volume are specified, the weight of AP flour is given as 5oz per cup, which is a dip-and-sweep weight.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced" - Vincent Van Gogh
 

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Wendy DeBord

Wendy DeBord

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It's all good and fine except for the fact that it's a very rare recipe that states if it's a sifted cup, a spooned cup or a dipped cup worth of flour. So the charts are only as good as the imperial measurement recipe was in the first place.

In other words, it's anyones guess. We really must get out of the dark ages and have all our American books written with weights. I can see other countries might have a good chuckle over this American way.

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