The baking world is a pretty friendly place. We bakers generally fill our days with butter, flour, sugar, chocolate, and high-five one another from afar.
The pastry chefs generally take themselves more seriously than the bread bakers. The wedding cake bakers might occasionally scoff at the cupcake bakers. The gluten-free bakers usually like to talk about flour mixtures far longer than wheat flour bakers. For a group of people that wakes up at 3am every morning, it’s surprisingly friendly… until we start talking about one thing: measuring cups or scale baking, volume vs. weight.
Those are fighting words.
Let’s break down the difference between baking using measuring cups and baking using a kitchen scale. Let’s talk about how either way, it’s cool. Yea… it really is.
The Kitchen Scale
The kitchen scale is an amazing tool. Truly. With a digital kitchen scale you can place a bowl on the scale, zero out the weight, and measure your ingredients in grams and milliliters. You can easily read the number of grams and milliliters as they accumulate in the bowl as flour is tossed in. Scoop in 180 grams of flour and 110 grams of sugar. No problem at all! Most European recipes are written in grams and milliliters, making the kitchen scale a necessity. Professional bakeries also use kitchen scales. They’re often baking on such a large scale that using anything other than a kitchen scale would be too time-consuming and inconsistent.
Kitchen scales are accurate and reliable. When properly calibrated, which they usually are, kitchen scales make measuring ingredients pretty fool-proof. A gram is a gram and a milliliter is a milliliter, making international recipes totally accessible.
Baking is a science as much as it is a home-cooking adventure. Part of that science is accurately measuring ingredients and kitchen scales are one of the best ways to ensure that ingredients are properly measured.
The only problem with the kitchen scale is… well, it’s just not my tool of choice in the kitchen. That… well, maybe that’s more of a personal problem.
The Measuring Cup
While kitchen scales measure by weight, measuring cups measure by volume. We fill the space inside of a 1 cup measuring vessel (intended for dry ingredients), and do so as consistently and deliberately as possible. Dry measuring cups (not to be confused with liquid measuring cups) usually come in increments of 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, and 1 cup measurements. You may recognize cup measurements from most American recipes. We sure do love our cups.
Measuring cups can be a great kitchen tool… if you know how to use them.
Let’s talk about measuring a cup of flour. One cup of all-purpose flour by volume should be about 4 ounces of all-purpose flour by weight. Well… 4 ounces if your flour is well sifted and measured with a tender hand. If you’ve measured your flour by plunging your measuring cup into the sack of flour, packing the white powder into the cup, you’re more likely to emerge with nearly 6 ounces of flour, rather than the intended 4 ounces. Generally speaking, one cup of all-purpose flour, sifted lightly with a whisk is about 4 1/4 ounces by weight.
We talked about how to store, sift and measure flour in Baking 101: Must We Sift This Flour. Those notes are important if you’re as stubborn about your measuring cups as I am.
How To Measure Flour With Measuring Cups
– Use a large spoon or whisk to fluff the flour in its storage container. It’s great to aerate the flour slightly before it is measured because flour tends to settle as it sits.
– Use a large spoon to lightly sprinkle flour into the measuring cup. Depending on the size of your spoon, it could take several dips into the flour container to fill the measuring cup.
– When the sprinkled flour reaches just above the edge of the measuring cup, use a straight edge to sweep off the excess flour, so that the flour is flush with the top edges of the measuring cup.
– Repeat with more flour as necessary.
So…
In my home kitchen I use measuring cups. Since I learned how to bake using measuring cups, it’s what makes me the most comfortable in the kitchen. When I work in professional kitchens and make enormous batches of scone dough, I use a scale… because no one should ever attempt measuring 32 cups of flour by volume.
If your takeaway from this post is that I’m stubborn and unwilling to do what’s right and just use a kitchen scale, I wouldn’t disagree with you. I am stubborn. I’m also a sore loser. You should see me lose at Uno. Not cute.
I think that stepping into my kitchen should feel good. Part of those feel-good feelings involve measuring cups for me. My dad taught me how to bake with measuring cups. When I reach in the cupboard to pull out those big jars of flour and sugar, I’m basically just trying to recreate every good smell that ever came out of my kitchen when I was growing up. Part of those memories involve measuring cups. Maybe that feels like an inconsequential thing from a professional baker… but actually, it’s everything.
Resources
King Arthur Flour has some great tips on flour conversions and how to consistently measure flour by volume. It’s a great place to start!
The Kitchn has helpful baking ingredient conversions.
I’ve spent a lot of time teaching myself how to bake. When looking for super reliable baking proportions, I always consult the book Professional Baking. It is an encyclopedia of every classic base and dough. Remember encyclopedias? Me neither.
Ratios by Michael Ruhlman is a simple book, but totally transforms the way you approach the kitchen. Everything from pancakes to mayonnaise is broken down into a simple ratio. Kitchen scale recommended.
Whether your preference is the almighty kitchen scales or a trusty set of measuring cups, just make sure you have something super functional that makes you want to step into the kitchen and make a big ol’ mess. It’s worth it.
Deb
Remember those Tupperware ham containers? They’re great for storing various bread flours and easy to label and stack if you have the space. I keep chopsticks handy for leveling. Yeah, I like cups too.
Lori
Thank you so much for taking a stand and standing up for measuring cups and the people who use them. Like me!
Glyn. french
Hi a lot of recipes I use are American based on cups but you just can’t buy them in the Uk and our cup sizes are totally different; it makes baking difficult trying to convert everything! glyn
Nancy
That’s what computers are for ;-) there are lots of converters for cooking also international measurements, even for cutting a recipe in 1/2 or 1/3. Plus I think you might find an american measuring cup in one of those expensive kitchen stores.
Nancy
I’m a Canadian living in the Netherlands for many years. I use measuring cups for all my dry ingredients and for butter (water plus butter of course) We don’t have sticks in Europe. But for the wet or sticky stuff I use a scale, because it’s a big mess and a lot more work, plus clean up to measure peanut butter, honey etc. into a cup!
Ragnhild
I’m a Norwegian myself and use both a scale and measuring cups. It depends on what the recipe asks for. But this I don’t really get: Why would you use a scale to measure milliliters? Milliliters (and deciliter which are even more common) are measures by volume. 200 milliliters will therefor weigh completely different depending on what it is…
Nadia
Where are your measuring cups from? They’re perfect. I’m really sorry if someone already asked but you have a lot of comments to scan :p
Thanks!!
Amanda Bunnell
My only question/problem is how do we know that the recipe came from someone who properly measured their flour? What if their recipe is a “scoop and plop into bowl” kind of method? In this age of pinterest and food blogs, its hard for me to tell what kind of baker the author of the recipe is. I usually error on the side of “scoop and plop into bowl” because I think too much flour is better than too little. But I really want to know, what do we do?
Cate
I have quite a slapdash approach to baking, 90% of the time it turns out fine, 100% of the time i have fun and the food tastes delish!
Measuring cups fit in to my personal baking philosophy, of the easier the better. I’ve only just started to use them, since i’ve been following more American recipies, but i do love them.
The only problem i’ve ever had was the butter problem, but i worked out that a ‘stick’ or 1/2 cup is about half a British block of butter, so now i’m golden.
Go Team Cups!
Cate, x
emily nirshberg
I’d love to see you do a post re: baking using the convection oven setting vs. regular oven!
Ann
I have to laugh at some of these comments turning their noses up at the American fondness of measuring cups. The classic french yogurt cake that every French person worth their salt knows how to make clearly indicates you use the yogurt container as you ingredient measuring device. Tres simplement.
Aimee Pham
This is such an interesting post! I’m not the most scrupulous of bakers because of sheer laziness, but I’ve been interested in using a scale instead of measuring cups for a bit now, so thanks for the info! My friend Elise just baked a fantastically decadent cake using both measuring cups and a kitchen scale. You can see the photos for reference on her blog North of Dixie. Also, the cake is gluten free! http://northofdixie.blogspot.com/2013/11/cake-photos.html
Elise
I use a mix of using a baking scale and measuring cups when I cook. Some things are easier for me when I can see it down to the tenth of an ounce, and some times it is easier to just scoop!
http://northofdixie.blogspot.com/
Jen Singerman
Well…I may have just ordered a few books on Amazon. :P
Thanks for the helpful info and the links! Love your blog. :)
katie mazur
I’m an American living in Germany so I know the fight between the two! Since my training has been in Europe, I am definitely a scale girl… Also because I have to calculate recipes for larger and smaller quantities and it’s really difficult to do that in cups!
However, I will always get a warm feeling when I see a recipe in cups. It makes it feel like home :)
Love you as always Joy…
Rachel
Oh how I love scales! I think being British you are born with a set of those ridiculous scales (ones where you have to add the weights and then measure until even) in your kitchen, having learnt to bake on one of those, when we finally went digital it was like I had won the lottery. Maybe I didn’t run screaming down the streets but I definitely jumped for joy. I use cups when I want to quickly measure dry goods, but the butter always threw me – until I visited LA and realised you can buy butter in sticks (crazy!).
Totally understand the connection that you want to make to childhood memories, I feel the same about scales – after all baking is all about nostalgia and making the best of what you’ve got. The best is usually cake.
Ellen W
When I had to start baking gluten free, that’s when I started using a scale for measuring flours. It is also how I convert recipes from my favorite cookbooks and blogs to work for my gf kitchen.
Becca - Cookie Jar Treats
I love using measuring cups. It’s probably because I’m so used to it, but honestly if given a choice I will go for my precious measuring cups.Sometimes I use a scale when a cookbook gives me weight and I’m too lazy or time-crunched to convert into teaspoons and cups.
Kelly
These are fantastic tips, thank you for sharing – I had no idea!
xx
Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
Streusel, aka Tiffany
Forgive my superiority complex but I’m all about the scale!
Beth
Very helpful measuring advice – as long as the recipe developer used that method, rather then dip-and-sweep, as many do. Very few recipe writers specify which method they use, the one you described or dipping into the flour bin or bag, which would yield much different results.
Noreen
I bought a scale about two years ago and love it! I couldn’t believe the difference it makes in some of the measurements. Convinced my sister to buy one who is an excellent baker. Not a hassle at all :)
Rachel @ Twin Tough
I’m with you, Joy. I love pulling out my measuring cups and spoons when baking something special. It just has this homey feel. I know that the kitchen scale is great for accuracy and ease, but there’s just something a little nostalgic about the cups. :)
fariha
I’m really loving the baking 101 series.. was wondering if in a future post you could expand on the differences between dark brown and light brown sugar, and whether they are interchangeable in recipes :)
Cara
my first baking job was at a bakery where they weighed all the dry ingredients in ounces. Everywhere else I’ve ever worked has used grams, and I’ve never been able to get a definitive answer on whether or not weighing dry ingredients in ounces is okay or not. I’ve tried converting a couple of their recipes from ounces into cups/spoons and they’ve flopped completely. It’s all very confusing. Any help in solving this mystery would be great!
ruhlman
and I meant at home, where you can influence other home cooks, friends and family!
ruhlman
you STILL don’t use a scale. If I come out with my own scale, which I am, and I send it to you, will you at least TRY it?
Cy
Being American, I grew up using measuring cups and am therefore more comfortable with them. Once, my sister and I were staying with British friends in Italy, it was our turn to make dinner and I decided I wanted to make a chocolate cake. I had to use a scale, because that is all there was. The cake was perfect! Since then I am comfortable with both and both options work just fine.
Deva
I, too, am a measuring cup user. I do have a kitchen scale, which makes some recipes easier (some Alton Brown recipes, for example, are written in grams and ml), but I learned with measuring cups and that’s what I gravitate toward.
Kirsten@ My Kitchen in the Rockies
I have been using an Escali kitchen scale for many many years. It measures in volume, grams, pounds and ounces. Recipes are very easy to convert this way. I would never go back measuring with cups. Coming from Europe and having a pharmaceutical background, I never liked it anyways. It is not accurate. I would highly recommend getting a good scale for your baking.
Laetitia
I live in Europe so i’ve learned to bake with a scale.
When i started to search for new recipes on the internet, a lot of them were using measuring cups. And one day, i decided to buy measuring cups.
I like them…but a scale is way better. And for everything.
First, 1 US cup is 250ml (at least mine is) but in UK, it isn’t the same volume. So how can we know if the recipe is using a US or a UK cup ?
Secondly, “1 cup of butter”. Ok, now i know that it’s 225gr but if i only use cups, how can i measure butter ?
Thirdly, “1 cup of cut strawberries”, when i’m at the grocery store how can i know how much strawberries i will need for the recipe ? With a scale, it’s easier “300g of strawberries”, i know how much i will need.
Even if i think a scale is better, i still like to use my cups when i’m doing a american recipe :-)
Miss Kim @ behgopa
Excellent lesson! You explain things way better than my baking instructor in culinary school ever did…and made it more fun!
Emmy
i feel like I have to point out…milliliters are a volume measurement, not a weight measurement, so they won’t be measured on a kitchen scale. A scale will only measure ounces/pounds and grams/kg. I think my pyrex liquid measuring cup has metric right alongside the cup measurement, for the curious. And, when measuring substances with a similar density to water, a pint is a pound (the world around!).
rieyll
Despite not being American, i have a major love of measuring cups! That’s mostly because I find most of my recipes online from American bakers’ blogs. My biggest problem lies in the butter measurements. Like, 1.5 stick of butter? 13 Tablespoons of butter? This is the only thing that makes me grab the scales when baking.
Amy
I use both, depending on the recipe. For recipes that I make week in and week out, I often convert them so I can use a scale, but I’m not religious about it. I love how using the scale = less dishes to wash.
also, I learned to love the scale when my twins were tiny, and the scale + the USPS website could save me (and my tiny babies) a trip to the post office.
Kait
Joy,
I love that you’re doing these posts. I’m a recreational baker and a full-time manager at a Co-Op. Since you’ve started posting these, the 5 million people a day that ask me the difference between dutched cocoa and natural or baking soda and powder has been so much easier. Instead of trying to rattle my brain to come up with an easier way to explain it, I just think to these posts. Your words are the guidance I need when someone asks me about these things while I’m counting eggplants.
So from the people selling the flour and cocoa, thank you! My Blossom hat is off to you!
Kait
Arthur in the Garden!
We all do what is familiar. In the USA we use cup measurements and not weight. But, then again, I adjust about every recipe to suit my taste.
Paula
A well-articulated and informative post, as always, Joy! I tried switching from cups to a scale for a few months and felt oddly more confident in my final products for a bit; but when my scale broke, I ran right back into the arms of measuring cups. I feel you on the cups being more home-y.
Lea
I have so enjoyed this teaching series and have wanted to share it with everyone!
Terri A
Good advice. Have both but tend to reach for measuring cups first.
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan
I love this! Not only the article, but the comments. Love seeing everyone’s perspectives on this. Go girl!
Chef Katherine
I own a bakery-cafe with an emphasis on French and European-style pastries. Mostly we use the scale and American measures (pounds and ounces). However, some of our recipes use cup and tablespoon measures. In the end, I prefer consistent end products (…and delicious, beautiful ones at that…) to rigid measurement and calibration methods. If when travelling I pick up an Irish, English, French or Italian cookbook and I wish to recreate an item, then I’ll calibrate said recipe as necessary. I’ll tell you this, though: even more important than the recipe is the technique. When we have visiting interns, I always try to teach the importance of technique…the how…the method. Once they master my technique(s), then we can entertain possible changes/alterations. This goes for measuring, too. Through repetition comes mastery. It really doesn’t matter to me the American vs. European aspect. To calibrate it either way is fine. I am focused on the end result.
Dariana
I find that it’s comforting to fluff and spoon and scrape my flour, especially when baking from one of your recipes. I know that you did the same thing and that if my results aren’t the same as yours its due to something other than using too much flour.
On the scale versus measuring cups front, I have both and so I use whatever the recipe I’m following does.
Shikha @ Shikha la mode
The one thing I learned when working in a pastry kitchen is the power and necessity of a kitchen scale. It’s surprising that this tool hasn’t’ seeped into home baking, because it really does make everything better.
Luli
I’m from Argentina and most recipes here are very precise. There’s the odd recipe that is measured with cups, probably from my grandmather’s generation though. I find a lot of recipes online that are in cups and for that I have a set of measuring cups that my father brought for me from USA.
I agree with Anna Roose that commented through Facebook, that if a recipe is given in cups, it should be respected and if it’s given in grams, it shouldn’t be taken loosely and measured with cups.
Some recipes NEED to be more precise than others and that’s ok. For instance, macaron recipes given in cups are more likely to fail than recipes given in grams, just because those are particularly picky. I can’t think of a baked good that is THAT picky. Of course something will come out, but it might not be an ideal macaron. It’s easier to get a perfect sponge and you don’t need to be that much of a perfectionist.
Penelope
Hey Joy.
I’m a really huge fan of your blog. One thing I’ve noticed while reading the kitchen scale vs measuring cup discussion was that you said that
“Most European recipes are written in grams and ounces, making the kitchen scale a necessity.”
It’s just a little thing. Europeans, like most of the other countries in the world, are using the metric system and measure units. That’s why most of our recipies are in grams and milliliters. Not ounces. I hope you don’t feel offended by my post. :)
I’ve spend one year in the United States and I also brought back measuring cups. I’ve noticed that smaller units like teaspoons nd tablespoons are way easier to measure with your measure cups. They seem to be more exact. And that’s what I like. When things are exact. Did I mention that I’m German? :)
But seriously. Please continue with your blog and everything you do. You’re a great source of inspiration, motivation and you’re also a role model for many (no pressure here). Joy, don’t stop bringing more joy to the world. It’s in dire need of positive, great and inspiring things and people like you and Tracy. You go, ladies!
Penelope
joythebaker
thanks for the correction Penelope! You’re right!
Mary
Joy, I’m also a huge fan, can’t get enough of your blog. You are, indeed, a constant inspiration!
I feel compelled to chime in on this confusing topic… Penelope is correct in that European recipes are measured in grams and milliliters. However, the milliliter is a metric measure of volume, so the way you revised your post is no longer accurate. Scales do measure grams and ounces, but can’t measure milliliters, as milliliters only correspond to weight when factoring in density (eg. equal weights of flour vs. sugar having different volumes)
Basically, I think you had it right the first time, with the exception of Europe not using ounces. That being said, I’m not sure how Europeans measure their milliliters if they don’t believe in measuring cups!
Marie
Can I use the same measuring cups for flour as I do butter?
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
I usually reach for measuring cups too – like you said, it just feels natural. But, I do read a number of European/Australian blogs and have readers from Europe and Australia too, so it makes me consider using a scale more frequently for their benefit.
Jennifer
I am currently living in Madrid teaching English. I moved here from Florida in January. When I went home over the summer, I made sure to bring back measuring cups and spoons. I discovered that I couldn’t live without them! Although I’ve been using them my entire cooking life, I will definitely utilize some of your tips to get more accurate measurements. :) Thanks!
Kristina @truffledogtravels.com
You are so sweet defending your measuring cups, I can totally relate that one way just is the right way once you have started like that. Which is why I always go to your book or blog to be inspired for recipes but I have actually never followed one. Because of the cups. And because I cannot follow a recipe. Ooops, I said it. Love your work!
Brooke
I have one foot on each side of the proverbial fence here- generally speaking, I use cups, but I was taught to bake using the aerate, spoon and level method, so it feels comfortable. There’s something very methodical about it that makes the whole process relaxing (and also less messy: I keep my dry ingredients in the large OXO Pop canisters- spooning and leveling keeps stray flour off the counter!) But for dishes that require a smidge more precision, including macarons, I pull out my scale. I also use the scale when I make Swiss meringue buttercream- measuring the sugar and egg whites directly into my mixer bowl before using it as part of a double boiler is just easier.
Excellent post indeed.
Jessica Bell
I have only used cups… But I think it would be awesome to use a scale! The tricky part would just be converting all of my recipes over to that. Thank you for the great post!
Kat
I’ve been a measuring cup kind of gal for years until my parents gave me a scale for my birthday (at my “suggestion”). For some recipes, especially anything from Christina Tosi’s Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook, it really is still best to weigh, even if you are just making one or two batches of a recipe. My Cornflake Marshmallow Chocolate Chip cookie turned out much, much better when I weighed my ingredients versus when I measured them using cups.
My simple rule of thumb is, if the recipe specifies weight, then I weigh my ingredients even if a cup equivalent is indicated. I trust that the recipe writer had his reasons for indicating weights, so I do as I’m told.
Aveen
Another vote for Team Scale (and yes, I’m from Europe – the UK to be specific). I can’t get my head around why people prefer cups, as they make far more mess, create more washing up, and don’t fit in containers like smallish kilner jars (which is where I keep some types of sugar) so you have to pour from the container into the cup and end up pouring it all over the kitchen. Plus if you’re measuring anything sticky you have to keep washing the cup in between. It’s a scale every time for me – whatever I’m baking in, I can stick it straight on top of the scale and just zero after each addition.
I have a few US cookbooks, including some Martha Stewart and Dorie Greenspan, and rarely use them. I really must sit down one day and convert all my favourite recipes to grams so it’s ready for when I fancy baking.
Emily
JOY!! I didn’t know about that ratio book and that is the exact perfect Christmas present for my husband. He’d much rather work with ratios than with recipes, and I have to admit, the idea of a cookie ratio and all the experimental cookies I can bake is pretty exciting to me. Thank you!!!
Kaley
Since moving to Spain, I’ve bought a digital scale, because if I want to make a Spanish recipe, it’s usually in grams. Plus I have no reliable way to measure my butter since they don’t come in sticks but 250-g packs. Thus, I’ve made the conversion. Also I just haven’t bought any measuring cups here. Nonetheless, back in the US, I’m with you.
Melissa @ Treats With a Twist
I couldn’t agree more. I worked in a bakery and used a scale there. BUT I learned how to bake from my grandma and my mom using measuring cups. They make me smile and they make me comfortable. Just pulling out the scale takes 80% of the fun away from my project, just like that. So, in my kitchen, I use my cups. I love them.
Jayne
I live in Malaysia where we use the metric system. At least people here use metric system. I think in grams, metres, Celsius but when it comes to baking, I revert to cups instead of scales. I find it easier and effective. Scales are precise and stuff but I never have the patience to bring it out and dust it off. Cups, for me, are just easier. Thanks for the validation ;-)
Heather
I love these posts! suggestion for another one in the baking 101 series: why must we roll out this biscuit dough, if that’s not too trivial. I’m really curious.
Mallory @ Because I Like Chocolate
It depends on the recipe for me. I will use a scale for breads usually but not for things like cookies or brownies.
lene svingel
I’m with the other Europeans here: grew up with kilos and grammes. But being intrigued and interested in American baking – so much more divirsity (is that spelled right?…) than here in Denmark – I have brought home measuring cups when visiting family in Canada.
To find out how to convert the amount of one stick of butter to grammes, google a conversion site. And your problem will be solved :-)
Kindly, Lene
Rosie Jones
I’m from the UK so the kitchen scales are my default, but since I’ve been doing more baking I wanted to explore using cups… However, my biggest issue is that I ALWAYS forget how many cups I have added as I go along! I get to my 3rd out of 4 cups and think, is this the second? Fourth? How many have I done already?? Disaster! I’m sticking to the scales.
Natalia
hahaha, I’ve had the same problem, I have to count them out loud!!!!
Sini | my blue&white kitchen
:D same problem over here!
shelly@ohshellsbells
there are measuring cups just for liquid? am i doing this whole cooking thing wrong, because i definitely use the same ones for everything?
susan
Not only are there 2 types of measuring cups (those for liquids have a spout), but people should be aware that having a jumble of different measuring cups from different sets (you know, the 1/3 cup pink one you had in college, the 1/2 cup beige one from 2 apartments ago, the random metal 1 cup measure you pinched from mom’s house) will throw off the ratios in a recipe. I can say from experience in our test kitchen that a 1/2 cup measure from one set will give you a different amount than a 1/2 cup measure from a different set. There are no standards or enforcement that ensure accuracy for these things until you get to the level of scientific equipment. But if all your cups are from the same set, they’ll relate to each other consistently, and you shouldn’t have too much trouble.
Karen @ SoupAddict
That’s an excellent point, Susan. I discovered that the hard way, with an old mismatched set – 2 half cups of flour was actually producing 1 cup plus an eighth cup (two tablespoons over!). I scrapped them all and started with a new full set.
Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs
Great information, as always!
Jessica (bakecetera)
ahh! i love this! i grew up in north america, and now i live in france – so i’ve been battling between the two types of measurement styles! i still love the measuring cup though :D, a scale is used only for super finicky treats (like macarons!). thanks for sharing, this is so useful AND includes a cute story.
Gracie
Great advice! I love measuring cups…but I have way too many of them!
http://sometimesgracefully.com
Candice @ The Savory and The Beautiful
I love your Baking 101 series! Will be buying the Professional Baking textbook for sure. Thank you!
Holly
I relate to your nostalgic need to use your measuring cups. I still use the same Tupperware stacking measuring cups I got about thirty years ago. My mother never used dry measuring cups and put everything in her Pyrex liquid ones. That is, if she bothered to measure at all. She was one of those cooks who never measured, which is why bread making was always impossible to learn from her because she just knew how much flour was necessary by the feel of the dough. I learned how to properly measure ingredients and follow a baking recipe in my 8th grade “Foods” class. I just loved knowing that I could bake just about anything by following a simple formula. The science nerd in me, though, wants that digital scale so I can bake like Jamie Oliver does.
Jackie
Holly, your mom sounds like my grandmother. She baked for a household of ten and had a flour drawer; almost never used measuring cups!
Carol Anne @ Rock Salt
Sometimes I use both in the SAME RECIPE. I’m the confuser. I’m multi-cultural. It’s fusion baking.
Cups are so easy for liquids, I love ’em. Scales are great for throwing everything in the bowl quickly, resetting in between, I love ’em. The only cup measurement that bothers me is butter – who measures butter in cups? Who is doing that?
I grew up weighing ingredients, and it gives me that exact nostalgia you’re talking about, which is just a lovely feeling. Really enjoying Baking 101, thank you so much for it!
Natalia
right!!!! 1 cup of butter??? HOW DO THEY DO IT???
Emma (This Kind Choice)
Butter in cups in just silly :P
Stacy
Butter in cups is very easy here. The butter comes in 1/2 cup sticks with TBSP markers on the wrappings. So if a recipe calls for a cup, you know to use 2 sticks
maryann tomlinson
Amen Stacy! and my giant recipe for chocolate chip cookies that starts ,”2 cups butter” uses all 4 quarters/ 4 cubes.
Betti
As an American living in Germany, I have also traveled down both measuring roads. Can’t say that I have a real preference, but it sure is fun teaching my German friends how to measure dry ingredients in volume when they ask for my American recipes.
On the butter issue: 1 cup of butter = about 240 grams and it works beautifully. (I think the exact weight is 236 grams.)
Averie @ Averie Cooks
I’m with you Joy. I have both but my natural inclination is to reach for my measuring cups. It’s what feels easy and natural and for writing my blog, it’s what I know most of my readers use, so there’s little motive for me to force myself to use a scale when it’s not what I really love doing. This is a great post and no doubt the comments will be great!
And I love playing UNO. Haven’t played in a good 20 years I think though! Must change that!
Belinda @themoonblushbaker
I am sorry but I going to have go for team scale here. I love my scale and hate the cup conversion. Maybe because I make macarons and pastries more often than the normal baker. Hehehe.
Also how can you be bothered to wash up all those cups and spoons? and The speed is so much better with a scale.
Either way, I guess it is up the baker to know what suits there style best.
Manja
I’m European and so I naturally use a scale because – hey….I got no choice here haha. All the cookies and cakes that my mom made in her German kitchen were made using a scale. But after I had been to America, I couldn’t live without my chocolate chip cookies any more…and so I bought cups there and took them back home with me. And since the emerging of all those great American food blogs, cups are a necessity anyway. I really love both weighing methods, though :)
Natalia
I have both measuring cups and a scale. I’m european and I’ve always used grams, but since my baking books are mostly american I have bought measuring cups. It works pretty well specially with liquid measures. But with flour I didn’t know what went wrong… And this post has explained a lot of the messes that I made in the past. Sift that flour girl!!!!
I once measured 1 cup of flour and it measured 156 grams which is in fact 1,5 cups… so this is brilliant Joy and thanks to your Baking 101 I think I can start baking some serious cakes.
For conversions I use convert-me.com is a brilliant website that has a specific cooking converter and you choose the ingredient and it makes the conversion according to each ingredient. It’s specially useful for me for the butter measures, because I don’t know what the heck a stick of butter is!!
Emma (This Kind Choice)
I love this! I used to measure by weight until I started reading a bunch of american food blogs and they dragged me over to the dark side. Now measuring using scales seems fussy and I can’t be bothered, even though it clearly is the more accurate way haha. You’ll never get me with your inches though, centimeters for life :P
Rochelle @ Oh So Sweet Baker
There is a great tool called kitchen math which is great for easy conversion
Rochelle @ Oh So Sweet Baker
I’m team scale all the way simply because there is less washing up. I can measure straight into bowls, saucepans anything I’m going to use. I don’t have to keep cleaning the measuring cup every time I use it. I do use a tool called kitchen maths which converts grams to cups and vice versa but does it for different ingredients.
Rosie
Exactly! Plus my scales are good quality and cost me £10. How much am I going to be spending on lots of pretty measuring cups!! And good point, all that washing up?!
max3ed
same here, I use the scale as much as possible, nothing worse than peanut butter or honey in a measuring cup. And you only need one bowl, two if you have to keep the wets and drys separate, just by putting it back to zero for every new ingredient.
Pamela
I live in Japan and learned to use scales for baking and cooking in general 40 years ago. They are MUCH better. Its faster and no mistakes are made. I find it easy to use British cookbooks that typically give the recipes in grams. I think America should go digital!!