Comments on: How big is a cup?

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:05:53 +0000

@Chris: This is in no way presented as “in depth” research, just me gleaning and figuring stuff based on a quick perusal of what info I have at hand. So in effect, one can take my results and add them to the list of inconsistent measures for a up of bread flour.

Go on the internet and look up tables of ‘standard kitchen ingredient weights’ (and there are several) and you’ll see they’re all over the place too. I’d expect this is too ‘fluid’ an ingredient to pin down. Different flours from different manufacturers from different regions, even if they are all labelled “Bread Flour” are going to vary, although a 50% variance may be a little much. The final aim is most usually the dough consistency so even if everyone was OK saying “1 cup = X oz or Y grams” the baker standing in their own kitchen using their specific flour still needs to “adjust as necessary”.

But it would still be nice to have a set base amount everyone is OK with as useful for most everyone everywhere. Seeing weights ranging anywhere from 3.8 oz to 5.5 oz is just flat out confusing.

As for your book publisher balking, I can’t see the logic. It’s easy enough to include three values , cups, oz and grams or preferably grams, oz and cups, thereby relegating volumes to a “third choice” status. Yes, that would be a bit of a psychological game. I might even go with something similar to Maggie Glezer’s take:

Bread flour: 350 gr, 12.3 oz, about 2.75 cups
where she makes a point of the volume amount being approximate is every recipe

Then just let the reader pick which version they prefer. Then, adding short explanation in the intro for the use of all three measures and a statement of what you assumed a cup weighed should suffice.

And yes, different flour types like whole wheat, rye, etc. are a whole ‘nuther ball of wax. Another reason to ditch volumes and simply go with weight.

Although it’s a fact that there’s a great reluctance to change off the volume system despite it’s clear shortcomings, this shouldn’t preclude the promotion of a better one. Just as a large swath of people won’t buy a recipe book without cups, many bakers would skip over one without weights.

Good luck with the book, BTW!

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:15:29 +0000

Thank you for digging into this! I had noticed the discrepancy in some of the same books. I’m working on a cookbook and plan to list ingredients in grams and cups. I sometimes wonder how much push back I’ll get from a future publisher.

Then, there’s also the difference in weight between whole wheat flour and bread flour and no apparent agreement on that either!

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:52:41 +0000

@ Anne Marie: Yes, actually, they do! I do a fair bit of this blogging stuff in the wee hours

By: Anne Marie

Anne Marie — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:17:34 +0000

Do these things keep you awake at night? I’m all for doing away with measuring cups and printing all recipes in weights.

By: Frieda

Frieda — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:21:05 +0000

Thank you for this very informative post…I just got asked that very same question today. In teaching my bread classes, people want exact amounts and a scale is the way to go. I just purchased a Salter digital scale for $20 at the local Ross store, which I am very satisfied with. Weights, like you said, are a good way to start the recipe ~ then adjust according to atmospheric conditions and type of flour.