Comment on Why do Americans measure everything in cups?

• BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Because the difference between packing a cup of flour and not packing a cup of flour is as much as 30%

  loveandoliveoil.com/…/weight-vs-volume-measuremen…

  It doesn’t really matter for liquids, but dry ingredients are a whole other ballgame when it comes to this mess.

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  • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    It’s really mainly only flour though, because can be compacted, most of the things that you’re using in the kitchen like baking powder or sugar aren’t going to be compacted to any appreciable level.

    For flour, you pour it into your measuring cup and then run the spine of a knife or something over it to get rid of the excess flour and get a level cup

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    • BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      There are many of other things that can be compacted or have different volume to weight ratios.

      Corn starch is like flour, you can pack it down. Salt (Table vs Kosher) Kosher salt has about half the volume to weight as table salt. Shredded Cheese (this one always bugs me. Is it 3 cups after shredding, or before… how packed in should it be), etc.

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      • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Also, the proper amount of shredded cheese is the container.

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      • HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        A lot of volumetric baking recipes tell you to run the grain through a sieve to remove clumps, this generally standardizes the density well enough.

        Salt is usually assumed to be table salt unless noted in the recipe. Even then, most recipes have a point to them where they tell you to taste the food and add salt to taste as necessary.

        What are you cooking with shredded cheese where the ratio is that important?

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      • NoIWontPickAName@kbin.earth ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Are you measuring cornstarch?

        Maybe I just have weird cornstarch but anytime I try to actively scoop out of it, it’s like trying to scoop baking powder.

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  • HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    In my other responses, I’ve noted that I don’t bake. In other people’s responses, they’ve noted that there are still a lot of baking recipes out there that don’t require precision.

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    • ryathal@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Precision in baking is massively overstated. The earliest recipes are in parts if you’re lucky. More likely they are mix in these ingredients until it looks right.

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