How much variation was found in an experiment between a finely diced and a roughly chopped volume of onions (both measured as, say, 6 cups) in terms of weight, and what does that tell you about the precision of volume measurements for irregular ingredients?

Question

Does '6 cups of diced onions' mean anything? Explore the huge weight variation found in experiments and what it means for volume measuring.

Answer 1

Expect a weight variation of up to 20-30% between 6 cups of finely diced and roughly chopped onions. This highlights the imprecision of using volume measurements for irregularly shaped ingredients like onions.

Detailed Explanation:

When measuring ingredients like onions, volume (e.g., cups) can be misleading due to differences in how tightly the pieces pack together. Finely diced onions will pack much more densely than roughly chopped onions because the smaller pieces fill in the gaps between the larger pieces. This means that 6 cups of finely diced onions will contain significantly more onion material (and therefore weigh more) than 6 cups of roughly chopped onions. The exact weight difference will depend on the specific size of the dice and chop, but a variation of 20-30% is a reasonable expectation. This experiment demonstrates that volume measurements are not precise for irregular ingredients, and weight measurements are generally preferred for accuracy, especially in recipes where ingredient ratios are critical.

Pro Tip:

For consistent results in cooking, especially baking, use a kitchen scale to measure ingredients by weight instead of relying on volume measurements. This is particularly important for ingredients like flour, chopped vegetables, and nuts.