The measurements tag has no wiki summary.
26
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3answers
1k views
Why are baking measurements such nice round numbers?
I've heard over and over that when it comes to baking, measurements cannot be ignored, and you need to be very precise. This question covers how precise a measurement of flour should be, for example. ...
17
votes
3answers
617 views
Cups v. weighing scales - is there an historical explanation?
Broadly speaking UK recipes will specify amounts by weight (lbs/ounces or metric), whereas American recipes will specify amounts by volume (cups).
Is there an explanation for how the two different ...
16
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3answers
3k views
What job is the fat doing when I prepare bread dough, and what to expect if I use the wrong amount?
I've been baking bread for years and no longer really measure the ingredients. But I'm no expert on the science of what I'm doing. I add fat (lard) because I've always added fat.
What job does the ...
15
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4answers
1k views
Do I need to sift flour that is labeled sifted?
Is there really an advantage to sifting flour that I bought that was labeled 'sifted'?
12
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3answers
4k views
What does “spooned and leveled” mean?
I'm looking at a recipe that lists the following as an ingredient:
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and
leveled)
What exactly does this mean? Is this literal - i.e. spoon it into the measuring ...
12
votes
2answers
39k views
How much juice is in a lemon?
A lot of recipes call for the "juice of a lemon". I keep a bottle of lemon juice in the fridge as this is easier, cheaper and more convenient than buying lemons all the time but my problem is I never ...
11
votes
6answers
463 views
Cup measurements: shake or scrape?
When you are measuring out your flour, sugar, etc with the measuring cups, is it better to
scoop and then shake the cup to get a leveled cup, or
scoop and then use a knife to scrape off the excess.
...
10
votes
2answers
821 views
Is baking by weight really more accurate?
It's gospel among serious bakers that measuring by weight is far more accurate than measuring by volume. However, I'm not sure that measuring by weight helps at all when you have varying humidity ...
10
votes
3answers
976 views
Why buy a more expensive kitchen scale
It seems about time for me to give in to peer pressure and get a kitchen scale like everyone else. It seems like they would give my cooking more consistency if nothing else.
I've payed attention to ...
10
votes
4answers
3k views
Can I weigh without a set of scales?
So I'm at my sister's house, and it turns out she doesn't have any scales.
I need to weigh 120g of castor sugar.
What can I do?
10
votes
5answers
10k views
How much is a knob of butter?
I was reading a question here on Food and Cooking and no one seemed to know how much it is. I tried to Google convert it to cups but no dice.
So how much is it?
10
votes
1answer
317 views
Is steam lost in boiling negligible?
If I bring 20 ounces of water (2.5 cups) to boil in a kettle, and promptly remove it from the heat, is the amount of water lost (by volume/mass) a negligible quantity?
To be more precise about my ...
9
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3answers
240 views
Where to learn what ratios to use in cooking?
I am learning to cook. I want to know whether there is a good resource at what ratios of ingredients to use when I am cooking. Thank You. :)
8
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1answer
406 views
How to measure food acidity
I am asking about a method or a trick to measure (or guess) how acidic is food.
Please don't suggest any expensive tool; this will be for home usage only.
8
votes
3answers
1k views
Standard weight conversions for converting cups of flour to grams of flour?
I hate the idea of measuring flour using something as imprecise as measuring scoop.
What numbers do you treat as definitive/authoritative/canonical for doing weight conversions for different types of ...
8
votes
1answer
711 views
How can I adjust a recipe for different grades/brands/types of gelatin?
I'm trying to reproducibly make a specific jelly recipe. How can I achieve consistent results, using different grades/brands/types of gelatin?
Depending on what I can find in grocers nearby, I may ...
7
votes
4answers
948 views
When a recipe calls for a cup of chopped nuts, should they be measured before chopping or after chopping?
It seems like it would throw off recipe since you can fit more in once they are chopped?
7
votes
4answers
210 views
Any advice to help me form and shape stuff more uniformly?
I get frustrated by recipes which call for the cook to shape or form little balls out of a dough or cake or biscuit mix.
The recipe will say something like "form into little walnut sized balls ... ...
7
votes
7answers
720 views
How do I convert between the various measurements?
Let's have a single question giving the conversion between cups, ounces, teaspoons, and gallons, just to have one convenient reference.
7
votes
2answers
7k views
How much is a bunch of spinach?
I have some recipies for green smoothies, where some of the ingredients are for example "1 bunch of spinach" or "1/2 bunch of spinach".
The spinach I've found in the store are usually fresh leaves ...
6
votes
3answers
7k views
Converting teaspoon/tablespoon measurements to mL?
I have been looking at curry recipes on an American web site and it gives measurements in teaspoons and tablespoons. I am not familiar with these measurements as we do not use them locally.
Does ...
6
votes
4answers
17k views
Best way to measure Spaghetti/Linguini portions?
What's the best way to measure how much Spaghetti/Linguini is 1-portion. I know there are tools which basically measures the diameter of the bundle of dry spaghetti. But are there simpler tricks which ...
6
votes
2answers
151 views
Need help reconciling quantities in this recipe
Here's a recipe from a package of chocolate chips (edited, but not substantively):
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup ...
6
votes
4answers
700 views
What Kinds of Recipes Should I Sift/Aerate The Flour?
We've talked about methods for sifting flour (http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/5364/how-to-make-sifting-palatable), and the purposes of sifting ...
6
votes
1answer
301 views
When used for measuring ingredients in cooking what is the difference between a “dry ounce” and a “liquid ounce”?
I've seen numerous recipes that call for measuring "liquid ounce" but at the same time telling you to measure something like flour as "dry ounce" - I've even seen references to "fluid ounces". Are ...
5
votes
2answers
253 views
How to know how salty is my soup without tasting?
This is a sister to this question.
I need a method or a trick to measure (or guess) how saline is my food using normal tools or substances available on the super-market
Any help?
5
votes
3answers
4k views
Tripling a baking recipe
I have a cupcake recipe that I've doubled successfully in the past. I'd like to triple it for an upcoming party but I seem to recall reading that some ingredients don't work as well if tripled. Is ...
5
votes
1answer
132 views
Big Chicken vs Small Chicken: weight and stuffing volume ratios
I need to adjust a recipe for a stuffed chicken. The recipe calls for a 2kg chicken, and say W grams of stuffing. Now I plan on buying a smaller chicken because it's for less people, how can I ...
4
votes
4answers
1k views
How many milliliters is a “pinch?”
I found a recipe in English that mentions a "pinch" of something. English is not my first language, and Google shows that "pinch" has many meanings. Do I have to pinch it with my fingers, or can i ...
4
votes
4answers
852 views
Measuring glucose syrup without wasting it
Glucose syrup is a liquid sweetener used in a lot of candy making. Unfortunately, it is incredibly thick which makes it difficult to measure. Imagine corn syrup except about three times thicker. When ...
4
votes
3answers
614 views
How to tell the proper amount of oil to use when sautéing vegetables and meat?
A common meal That I make in a pinch is Italian sausage with peppers and onions. I'll cut up a few red and yellow peppers, a whole onion, and throw it in a pan with some olive oil. Once the vegetables ...
4
votes
3answers
195 views
Do cooks in the US measure volume using 'traditional' or 'legal' units?
The wikipedia article for the cup unit identifies two different measures used in the US: a legal cup of 240ml and a customary cup of ~236.588ml.
Similarly, the tablespoon and teaspoon articles ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views
What is the correct flour, sugar, butter ratio for crumble?
Looking through a number of fruit crumble recipes I see that there is a wide range of ratios used for crumble topping. Some use equal amounts of flour (or other dry ingredient), sugar and butter. ...
4
votes
2answers
141 views
Ambiguities in Gravlax recipe
I am going to make Gravlax and found the following recipe:
http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2011/11/30/chef-hamid-salmon-gravlax/
Ingredient list:
2 or 3 salmon fillets, deboned with skin on
2 lemon, ...
4
votes
1answer
757 views
How to measure a cup of “solid” ingredient?
I was reading a recipe in which it was mentioned among the ingredients "8 cups of broccoli florets". Measuring by "cups" is for liquids, right? For solid ingredients, are we measuring the "weight" of ...
4
votes
1answer
897 views
Did tomato paste come in only one size of can in the 1950s?
I found an old cookery book while on holiday at the german coast, it was published by Peter Pauper press, Mt. Vernon, New York in 1959.
All recipes that use tomato paste just say "1/2 can tomato ...
4
votes
2answers
246 views
Baker percentages, weights, volumes, and such
So a basic bread recipe might look like (off top of head, not sure if these amounts make any sense)
100 Bread Flour
30 Water
1 oil
....
I know the flour is in weight ounces, but often times in ...
4
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2answers
5k views
What is the substitution ratio for mini marshmallows to large marshmallows?
I have a recipe calling for 12 large marshmallows, but I only have minis. How many should I use?
4
votes
1answer
8k views
What is the conversion rate between dry beans to cans of beans?
A recipe calls for a can (15oz) of cooked beans. How many cups or oz's is that to dry beans? Is this conversion even possible to estimate given that beans differ in amount of water absorption?
4
votes
2answers
483 views
How much is a “scoop” of vanilla sugar?
I've seen a lot of recipes that call for a "scoop" of vanilla sugar. I know that this refers to the little scoop that comes with most vanilla sugar containers. However, I live in a country that sells ...
3
votes
3answers
738 views
Measuring egg whites
I recently made macaroons for the first time and followed the instructions to the T and they were perfect! The recipe called for exactly 90 grams of egg whites..
I then made them again but the egg ...
3
votes
4answers
1k views
Why is a tablespoon defined as 20mL in Australia?
In Australia, a tablespoon is defined as 20mL whereas it is 15mL in nearly all other countries.
I'm interested to know where this comes from, and also what other Australian people do about this ...
3
votes
2answers
231 views
Do recipes which measure flour by volume assume that I'll sift the flour?
I would like to try some baking recipes where the flour is specified by volume, with no alternative measurement for weight. Do recipe authors generally assume that I'll sift the flour to measure it?
3
votes
2answers
169 views
Should I read ingredient weight as prepared or unprepared weight?
Once I have made a recipe a couple of times, I tend to follow my instincts rather than strict portion sizes.
When following a new recipe, however, I have often wondered about how an ingredient's ...
3
votes
1answer
484 views
Royal icing - how important is accurate measuring?
Making royal icing today, for a rather overdue Christmas cake.
I always end up with too much icing sugar, based on my normal recipe which asks for 4 large egg whites and 500g icing sugar.
So today I ...
3
votes
1answer
1k views
How to judge quantity of fresh pasta dough per person
Tomorrow I'll be making a big batch of fresh pasta for about 7-8 people.
I know that if I'm using dried or bought fresh pasta, I usually count on about 125-150g per person, depending on the pasta ...
2
votes
3answers
2k views
1/4 cup of shredded basil OR 1/4 cup of basil that is then shredded?
I am thinking of making a Chicken Parmigiana that I found on the Lidia's Italy website - http://lidiasitaly.com/recipes/detail/398. The recipe calls for "1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, shredded."
I am ...
2
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3answers
340 views
Grams to tablespoon conversion
Do different powders (for example cocoa powder, wheat flour, health drink powder, baking powder) measure different numbers of grams per tablespoon? If yes, why and how do I find out how many grams per ...
2
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2answers
129 views
Should I add flour to dough if I already weighed the amount?
I am using this recipe for pizza dough, and I received some seasoned advice from other members of this site to use a precise kitchen scale for weighing the flour and water. The question is, if I ...
2
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3answers
119 views
How do you recover if you lose track of what you're measuring?
I was making a lemon meringue pie, which called for 1/3 cup of corn starch and 1 1/3 cup of sugar, added to some quantity of water. Silly me, I put the water in the pot first, then the corn starch, ...
