Recent questions in Measuring & Scaling

by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 3 views

How do measuring cups and spoons account for the fact that ingredients like salt, sugar, or sprinkles can have large grain sizes or irregular shapes, and what should a cook do to ensure they get a full accurate measure in those cases?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 3 views

What technique would you use to measure a very light and fluffy ingredient like cake flour to avoid compressing it and adding too much (for instance, would you scoop, spoon, or sift it into the cup), and why?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 6 views

How does the concept of specific gravity relate to measuring ingredients like honey, oil, or syrup by weight versus volume, and what does it tell you about using a scale for those heavier or lighter-than-water liquids?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 3 views

In terms of food science, how can an extra ounce of flour or an extra ounce of water (added by mistake due to measurement error) change the outcome in something sensitive like bread dough or custard? Give an example of the effect of such an imbalance.

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 4 views

Why might converting a recipe from volume to weight mid-stream (for instance, if you suspect a volume measurement was off and you want to switch to weighing) be problematic if you don’t know the proper conversion factors for each ingredient?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 4 views

If you need to divide a small dry ingredient measurement, for example getting 1/8 of a teaspoon from a recipe that calls for 1/4 teaspoon (perhaps you’re halving a recipe), what methods can you use to approximate that accurately if you don’t have a 1/8 tsp measuring spoon?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 3 views

When measuring something like “1 cup of cooked rice” versus “1 cup of uncooked rice,” how are these measurements fundamentally different (dry vs. cooked volume), and why must recipes specify which one they mean?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 4 views

How do you properly measure flour that has been aerated or sifted (and is very fluffy) versus flour that is packed or settled, and how might each approach affect the volume you fit into a cup?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 3 views

What considerations should you take into account when measuring hot liquids (like melted butter or boiling water) in terms of both safety (handling a hot measuring cup) and accuracy (expansion of liquids or steam)?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 4 views

Why do liquid measuring cups often have extra space above the top measurement line (for example, a 2-cup measure might hold a bit more than 2 cups), and how does this feature help when measuring liquids like milk or broth?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 4 views

If you only have a liquid measuring cup available, how can you measure dry ingredients with it as accurately as possible – what technique might you use to mimic the “level off” method that a flat-top dry measuring cup allows?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 3 views

How do professional kitchens measure large quantities of both dry and wet ingredients (say, for 100 servings of soup or for mixing a huge batch of dough), and what tools or methods do they use to ensure consistency at that scale?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 4 views

What tool would you use to measure 3 quarts of water for a soup or stock, and why would using a smaller measuring cup multiple times potentially introduce more error or inconvenience than using a larger volume measure or scale?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 2 views

Why is it often fine to measure liquids like water, broth, or milk by volume for general cooking recipes, but critical to measure liquids like water or milk by weight for certain baking recipes (for instance, in bread dough with specific hydration levels)?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 4 views

How do you measure a liquid ingredient by weight if the recipe provides only a volume (for example, 1/2 cup of egg whites), and what calculation or additional information would you need to perform this conversion accurately?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 4 views

Why should ingredients like baking powder or baking soda be measured with exactness (leveled in measuring spoons) and treated with the same care as larger measurements, and what could happen to a baked good if these are measured imprecisely?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 2 views

What differences would you expect in a cake’s texture if one person measured the flour by weight (say 300 grams) and another measured by volume (say 2½ cups), assuming the second person unintentionally packed the flour more densely than intended?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 4 views

If a recipe calls for 250 mL of milk and you only have measuring tools in US units, how would you measure this volume and what conversion factor would you use (knowing that 1 cup ≈ 240 mL)?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 3 views

In what situation might you choose to measure an ingredient like sugar as a wet ingredient (for example, by dissolving it in water to a certain volume) rather than measuring it dry, in order to get a very precise measurement or consistency in a recipe?

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by cookwithfem (602k points) in Dry vs. Wet Ingredients asked Jun 11 5 views

How can you measure out 1 liter of water using only measuring cups marked in US cups and ounces, and what is the conversion you need to know to do this (since 1 liter is about 4.2 US cups)?

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