I was making some bread this last weekend that called for 4 cups of AP flour. The conversion is usually about 236ml per cup, so I brought out my kitchen scale and weighed out about 945ml of flour (~236*4). However, I was using a large measuring cup and according to the cup, this equated to over SEVEN cups of flour. I thought this seemed suspicious but figured the weight would be more accurate than my cup. A few hours later, I brought out a 100 pound brick of bread out of the oven, so clearly it was vastly too much flour (I figured this would happen the moment I mixed everything together, but was hopeful anyway lol).
Anybody know what I did wrong? Is my kitchen scale wonky? Maybe I messed up the tare with the measuring cup? Is my conversion math wrong?
Welcome.
You made the error that most new bakers make in that you used 1 cup =
8 ounces = 236 ml. But that does not apply to anything but liquid.
Because the grain of wheat is not the same weight as water, you cannot use the standard for measuring water to weigh things like sugar, flour, rice.
This link below will take you to a page that lists standard measurements by volume and weight for most baking ingredients.
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart.html
But…and you knew a “but” was coming, The weight of a cup of flour varies by the type of flour and the standard the recipe developer uses based on how they would measure flour if they were to use a measuring cup.
King Arthur flour has set a standard for 1 cup flour = 4 1/4 oz = 120 grams.
Which is correct if you use the stir, then lightly spoon and level method to measure a cup of flour.
But if you use a scoop and level or a dip and level method to measure a cup of flour, the weight of the flour will be more as the flour is compacted into the cup.
1 cup = 5 oz = 140 g for a dip and level.
Every recipe developer has their own way to measure by volume. So they establish the weight based on the method they would use if they were to use a measuring cup.
Recipes from America’s Test Kitchen, Serious Eats, and Stella Parks use the dip and level method. So they use the standard of 1 cup flour = 4oz = 140 g.
One of my favorite bakers, Dorie Greenspan uses the standard 1 cup flour = 4 3/4 oz = 136 g.
So you have to know a little bit about who developed the recipe. A lot of recipe developers use King Arthur’s standard of 1 cup = 4 1/4 ounce = 120 g.
If you are not sure the standard the recipe developer uses for flour, then I would recommend using 1 cup = 4 1/2 oz = 130 g. That splits the difference.
And btw, sugar weighs more than flour.
1 cup sugar = 7 oz = 200g.
But no matter how you measure sugar you’re pretty much going to have this measurement per cup every time.
And on a final note be aware that there are two types of measuring cups. A dry measuring cup and a liquid measuring cup. They are not the same and cannot be used interchangeably. If you measure liquid in a dry measuring cup it can be off by as much as 23%. That is substantial enough to have a very adverse impact on what you’re baking.
