[foodpump]

Good gracious, what are you trying to do to me?! In the specific case that got me onto this, I have two similar books that have sort of exactly the same recipes. They are titled the same and have the same photographs. They have the same method and the same ingredients. The only difference is that one book has the recipes in weight and the other in volume. I noticed that the weights were different for one cup of flour in one recipe than the 1 cup of flour in another. I think the recipes were originally for a European audience, but were converted to American. The one with weights, for instance, mentions caster sugar, so is European. I've been working up a recipe book of my own (not for publication, but just my reference) and just decided to convert all to weight as I prefer using weight (amongst many other things, it's less messy).

What you have just described is exactly what I experienced almost 20 years ago, when I replaced a copy of Teubner's "Cakes and pastries" in original German--which ws stolen from me, with a the same copy, albeit printed in USA with the same beautiful photos and recipie descriptions, but the ingredients given in US imperial volume. I felt like I had bought a Rolls Royce and someone had swapped out the engine for a Hyundai engine. I fumed and wrote letters, and then realized that most cooking publications printed in the US are ONLY in Imperial volume. This topic has been discussed to death a few weeks ago, with many people for and against measurements in weights.

As I often tell my wife, "you can't argue with logic" but she does... Go the route ALL professionals, ALL around the world have been doing since befoe Christ, use weights.

 

[free rider]

What an improvement! I did the conversions and now things are working much better. No more mess from spooning flour or sifting it onto paper to tip it into the cup and no more just trying to dig the cup in and hoping for the best. I tried it twice over the weekend and I think it is a vast improvement from the eyeball/volume method ('specially as my eyeballs are gettin' old).

Thanks everyone for the input.

 

[foodpump]

I am a very happy to hear this.
Now if only some of those Cooking Magazine editors could view this thread and make a few decisions.............

 

[casualcook]

I suggest you look at The Cake Bible by Rose Bevy Barenbaum. At the back she has pages and pages of conversions for all different types of flour, sugar and just about every baking ingredient.

This book is worth buying just for this reference.

 

[mitmondol]

Foodpump, I totally feel your pain!
Being from Eu myself, I had a really hard time with cups and spoons etc.
Ended up franticly weighing every cup of flour only to discover that it IS inpossible to convert that to an accurate weight!
They were always different no matter how hard I tried to do everything the same way!
Not only the type of flour but the brand of flour mattered too. Or the time of the year. Or the weather. Or who knows!

Anyway, I still weigh everything for baking , well, if it is possible.For cookies? No.
I figured they are so American, can just use the American way of putting them together...
I don't think you will find a surefire conversion though. Only because it is inpossible to do.

 

[stavrogin]

I don't have a definitive source, but I have had reliable results using 4.5 ounces or 130 grams of flour per cup. Regardless of the weight printed on the package. Some packages say a 1/4th of a cup of flour is 20 grams, some say 30, some say 40, etc. I think most other ingredients are either pack-resistant or used in such small quantities as to make the weight irrelevant. But, then again, I have been drinking tonight and alcohol does terrible things to your judgement.

 

[castironchef]

There is no, can be no, "definitive source" for the weight of a "cup of flour." Alas, the difference between the same volume of packed and freshly sifted flour is way too great. All you can do is hope that the writer of the recipe will give some clues as to how the volume was originally determined.

 

[free rider]

I went to Borders and looked at this book. I didn't see anything about volume to weight conversions. Perhaps they've changed the book over the years?

 

[z~bestus]

:chef:Good morning to you. Go back to Borders book store & take a look at page 438 & it begins at page 439. I have seen this book in used book shoppes for much less. Anyway, I thought you would like to know that.
Enjoy the rest of the day.

~Z~BESTUS.

 

[free rider]

I'll try that. Mastercook has worked wonderfully so far, btw. I've converted most of my recipes over and the standard they use works great. I've heard that the Cake Bible may be good for other than conversions though. I just wasn't impressed when I looked at it. I'll give it another shot.

 

[livetobake]

Has anyone done volume to weight conversion for the flour in the Basic Yellow Cake recipe posted on the ChefTalk site from BettyR ("FINALLY!!!!!! That perfect homemade yellow cake"), and successfully tested it?

For many years now I have used weight measurement when I bake, but am a bit confounded still when recipes provide only volume measurements, particularly with no guidance from the author on how the flour was measured. In the case of this recipe, I don't know how the "2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (do not sift the flour)" would have been measured, apart from not sifting: sprinkle and sweep? spoon and sweep? dip and sweep?

These different methods in my own hands have given me a range of about 4.25 to 4.75 ounces per cup. I do want to try the recipe, but hoping for some guidance first.