Weight V Measurement
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RCJoe
Senior Cook
IMHO it would be trial and error. There would be many variables in the conversion effort.
But if I were to try I'd find the water component and base the rest on the weight of the water involved. (or similar ingredient such as milk) Eggs come in all sizes/weights. Milled grains may weigh differently depending on the variety, moisture content etc.
But I would keep a record of what I used each time so I would have a basis
to refer to so I could adjust each following effort.
A friend of mine was into baking bread some time ago. She went to the Library and found the "Beard on Bread" cookbook and worked from it. Soon after that she bought a digital kitchen scale to work by weight and not measure.
But if I were to try I'd find the water component and base the rest on the weight of the water involved. (or similar ingredient such as milk) Eggs come in all sizes/weights. Milled grains may weigh differently depending on the variety, moisture content etc.
But I would keep a record of what I used each time so I would have a basis
to refer to so I could adjust each following effort.
A friend of mine was into baking bread some time ago. She went to the Library and found the "Beard on Bread" cookbook and worked from it. Soon after that she bought a digital kitchen scale to work by weight and not measure.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
I use mostly weights. For small amounts such as teaspoons and tablespoons, I use volume.
A bag of flour or sugar will give you the volume/weight equivalent in the nutritional information area. However, that may be different from how you measure for your recipes. If you have successful recipes, measure flour as you usually do then weigh it. Use that amount going forward.
A bag of flour or sugar will give you the volume/weight equivalent in the nutritional information area. However, that may be different from how you measure for your recipes. If you have successful recipes, measure flour as you usually do then weigh it. Use that amount going forward.
eparys
Assistant Cook
I am with Andy - I bake solely on weight now a days for the larger volumes and for small amounts use tsp/tbl. If it is an old tried and true recipe and I am in a hurry I sometimes lapse into what I call fluff and sprinkle for flour but by using weights the results are always consistent and usually perfect. RCJoe is correct however - depending on your storage system for flour your weights can vary with humidity. All my flours are stored in big Tupperware containers bought back in the dark ages (lol) so they are for the most part consistent and not greatly affected by humidity. I have also contemplated purchasing a micro scale for the small measures but so far the tsp and tbl method has worked fine for me.
When I first started converting my recipes I used this King Arthur Flour on-line converter (I even selected the table and copied it into a pdf so I have a copy of it). Granted, these measurements are for mostly KAF ingredients (esp the flours) and I have found that not all flours are equal in weight or quality. I live in an area of the country where KAF flours are all in all the local stores so I usually gravitate to them for my purchases so this chart is my go to.
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart
Andy has a great suggestion - next recipe you make, weigh your ingredients then you can go back and modify it as needed. I think you will be happier with the results.
When I first started converting my recipes I used this King Arthur Flour on-line converter (I even selected the table and copied it into a pdf so I have a copy of it). Granted, these measurements are for mostly KAF ingredients (esp the flours) and I have found that not all flours are equal in weight or quality. I live in an area of the country where KAF flours are all in all the local stores so I usually gravitate to them for my purchases so this chart is my go to.
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart
Andy has a great suggestion - next recipe you make, weigh your ingredients then you can go back and modify it as needed. I think you will be happier with the results.
I'm in the process of converting my recipes to weight rather than volume. I use conversion tables and take notes. Or, sometimes I measure by volume and then weigh it and take notes. Notes go on the recipes. Like Andy, I use measuring spoons for small amounts.
For salt, I really prefer weight, when the amount is finicky. Then I don't have to worry about differences between volume measurements of kosher salt, table salt, coarse salt, flaked salt, and various brands. 5 grams of salt will contain the same amount of salt, whichever form the recipe specifies.
For salt, I really prefer weight, when the amount is finicky. Then I don't have to worry about differences between volume measurements of kosher salt, table salt, coarse salt, flaked salt, and various brands. 5 grams of salt will contain the same amount of salt, whichever form the recipe specifies.
there's a whole bunch of "if" involved here it's not cut&dried&straight-forward....
going by weight is almost always more "reliable" that by cups. measuring fractions of cups gets tricky. measuring cups where you can scoop&scrape one cup are common place. scoop&scrape 1-3/8 cups,,,, less so.
flours react differently. wheat used, fineness of grind, etc. will all affect how much flour to use - regardless of measured by weight or by volume. for decades I used Ceresota Unbleached AP - local markets stopped carrying it, switched to KA AP and had to revamp _all_ my by weight recipes..... buying the cheapest store brand is very likely to make for a lot of failures. the flour is not "bad" - it's just "different"
for small quantities/batches - like for me, cooking/baking for two.... you can scale down large qty recipes - but can you measure 1-5/16th cups of flour? with a scale you can 'measure' to the gram - something like one 130th to 150th of a cup. repeatably and reliably.
going by weight is almost always more "reliable" that by cups. measuring fractions of cups gets tricky. measuring cups where you can scoop&scrape one cup are common place. scoop&scrape 1-3/8 cups,,,, less so.
flours react differently. wheat used, fineness of grind, etc. will all affect how much flour to use - regardless of measured by weight or by volume. for decades I used Ceresota Unbleached AP - local markets stopped carrying it, switched to KA AP and had to revamp _all_ my by weight recipes..... buying the cheapest store brand is very likely to make for a lot of failures. the flour is not "bad" - it's just "different"
for small quantities/batches - like for me, cooking/baking for two.... you can scale down large qty recipes - but can you measure 1-5/16th cups of flour? with a scale you can 'measure' to the gram - something like one 130th to 150th of a cup. repeatably and reliably.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
I do the same.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
A while ago, SO was having issues with a couple of recipes. It was clear it was due to her measuring technique for flour. I showed her how much the weight of a "cup" of flour could vary based on measurement techniques. The differences were over 25%! She got the message.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
I think a lot of us do.
Souschef
Sous Chef
Funny story this post reminded me. My DIL is Czech, and for Xmas I wanted to make her something special. My son sent me the recipe for Xmas bread, so I looked at it and was shocked!
First, the recipe was in Czech-no problem-I translated it. Then the measure of all the ingredients were in metric. No problem, I converted them into US measures. Next the ingredients were in weight not volume-no problem I got out Joy of Cooking and converted them.
The bread was supposed to be a braided bread, like a challah Problem! when I took it out of the oven it looked like a large Milk Bone biscuit
First, the recipe was in Czech-no problem-I translated it. Then the measure of all the ingredients were in metric. No problem, I converted them into US measures. Next the ingredients were in weight not volume-no problem I got out Joy of Cooking and converted them.
The bread was supposed to be a braided bread, like a challah Problem! when I took it out of the oven it looked like a large Milk Bone biscuit
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
Weigh. I have had a cup of flour weigh anywhere from 200 g to 270. I weigh eggs because I had chickens and their eggs were not "standard" size. The only thing I don't weigh is salt. That I measure in the palm of my hand. When I worked for a food photographer, I learned that my hand (like you would measure "hand" for the height of a horse) was exactly 5 oz. of salmon. For fun, I would measure the fillet against my hand, cut the first one, and weigh it. Never once was it less than the 5 oz. serving size we were shooting (pun intended) for--if it was over it was by less than an ounce. My parents owned a newspaper when I was young. My Mom wrote a weekly column. She learned to cook from her Mom. I recently read all of her columns again. In one, she admitted that she didn't cook from recipes--she cooked the way her Mom did. Guess that might be why I don't follow recipes except when I bake, and even then, I deviate.
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Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
Interesting. I expect a cup of flour to weigh between 120 grams and 150 grams. What am I missing?
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
My Dad buys off-brand flour? But, now that I think of it, the last recipe I converted was for 2 c flour, so maybe the 200 g was the two cups. I know I used to weigh a lot of flour when I bought ingredients for the catering company...never measured it, always converted the cups to weight and padded the amount I bought to make sure we had enough for the 200+ orders. When I made croissants last week, I weighed the flour--the recipe called for 4.5 cups, I ended up using 400 g.
With really packing flour in I wonder how much we could make a cup of flour weigh...
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
That's great of you to volunteer to conduct the experiment, Frank. We look forward to your report.
I just bought a kitchen scale because I was so frustrated with my issues with pizza dough. Weighing things meant perfect dough, FINALLY! I still do both, but am leaning more toward weighing these days. Things are working out better.
There is also a bit less cleanup after measuring everything by weight rather than by volume. You just add your ingredient to the bowl you are weighing stuff in, tare (zero out) the scale and then add the next ingredient by weight. No need to get a bunch of measuring cups dirty.
CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
+1 Anything that means fewer things to wash (or put in the dw and put away) is a win in my book.
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