I saw an episode of Alton Brown once and he mentioned what the weight of a cup of flour should be. Obviously this would vary on the type of flour I suppose. Does anyone know where I could find a list of what various baking/cooking ingredients should weigh?
Dave
Very iffy.
--=20 Sincerly,
C=3D=A6-)=A7 H. W. Hans Kuntze, CMC, S.g.K. (_o_)
I use the USDA database with good results. You can find it here:
I was on the Food TV web site
In the US, weight/volume information is given on the nutrition panel on the side of the package.
Howard Larson
Don't forget "
The only thing I've found bothersome about "weighing" flour when it calls for a weight measurement of flour in a recipe is that if your called-for flour weight, because of many factors, turns out to be way less than you normally would want in order to make your recipe correctly, thus making your recipe quite short on flour --- and consequently a failure.
Now this would present no problem if you were experienced with your recipe, but it does present this problem when working with a new recipe.
Dee
I don't find that to be true. I NEVER measure flour using cups, NEVER. My baked goods turn out just fine. I weigh the four, using 120 grams for each cup specified in the recipe. It works just fine.
Howdy,
Would that not be an indication of a poor recipe...?
Either that, or it indicates that the scale isn't accurate. The only time that I find that more (or less) flour is needed than indicated is when baking bread. In that case, there can be a number of factors that influence the total amount of flour used, including one's expectations of the consistency of the finished dough. I don't measure flour for bread anyway. I just use enough to make a satisfactory dough.
I'm not quite sure I understand what you're trying to say. Did you mean to say "..."weighing" flour when it calls for a *volume* measurement" or did you really mean "weight measurement"? If you meant what you originally wrote, then it really doesn't make sense. If your recipe calls for a weight measurement then of course weighing would provide an accurate measurement and there shouldn't be any problems. But if you meant, say, that you need 4 cups of flour so you just use a pound of flour instead of using the 4 cups, then I can sort of see where you might have a problem. However, I really doubt there would be that much of a difference between the 4 cups and one pound to create a problem with the recipe.
rona
So, for you when a recipe calls for 4 cups, you use 480 grams; and when it calls for a pound, you use 454 grams. And the weight of the flour due to humidity never enters into the weight of the flour measured?
Thanks, Dee
That's right. I set the scale for English (pounds/ounces) or metric (grams/Kg) and weigh the flour just as the recipe specifies. If the recipe specifies cups of flour I measure out 30 grams for each 1/4 cup of AP flour or 28 grams for each 1/4 cup of cake flour. One quarter cup is considered a serving size for flour and those are the respective weights given on the package label for each type of flour.
Although I might be wrong, it is my conclusion that ambient humidity is an insignificant factor as it relates to flour in home baking. I keep my flour tightly closed and generally buy it in 5 pound bags when it is offered at a deep discount at the store. (I used to buy it in big bags from Costco, but I find that the small bags are easier to store and cost less per pound when I can find them on sale.) I doubt the flour could be equilibrated with the atmosphere. It should have about the same humidity it had when it left the mill. I doubt that moisture can penetrate very deeply a bag of flour nor is the surface to volume ratio favorable for rapid dehydration. I think that the amount of water needed per unit of flour depends almost entirely on the amount of gluten forming proteins in the flour. These proteins bind with water. As I mentioned, I don't measure flour when I make bread. I pour out what I think will be adequate for the amount of bread I am making. I add the yeast and salt (which I do measure) and then start adding any liquids. When the dough is just right, I stop. It doesn't matter how much water or flour I have added. It only matters that the dough is right. For all other baking, I strictly measure all the ingredients by weight.
I realize that there are probably entire libraries of information on this subject. If you are running the Wonder Bread bakery using thousands of pounds of flour in a batch and you have a lab, the exact hydration of your flour as it comes out of the train car is probably a vital piece of information. If you are making two, nine inch cake layers, it doesn't seem to matter. I would suggest that the best way to minimize hydration variations from batch to batch would be to keep your flour in a tightly sealed container. However, as I mentioned, I don't think it is much of a factor. It hasn't been in my experience. Perhaps if you live in the rainforest or the dessert, keep your flour in a porous container, and don't use much flour, it may have a more significant fluctuation in humidity. Maybe Roy can address this. He is the resident expert on ingredients.
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