I think the key reason people want to convert measurements is that they don’t have the equipment to measure in as the recipe states; a lot of people in the USA have measuring cups and spoons, but don’t have scales; a lot of people in other parts of the world have scales, but don’t have measuring cups.
Probably the second most common reason is that people have both sets of equipment, but want to convert a recipe to their preferred way of working - maybe they want to write it in their recipe book and they don’t like mixing methods.
Whilst I’m sure the ‘humidity’ thing is technically true, I doubt it makes a lot of difference - I buy my flour from a supermarket that is climate-controlled; when I get it home, I transfer it into in an airtight plastic tub. Humidity probably matters a bit if you keep your flour in a burlap sack in a barn. In a modern kitchen, not so much.
People really bother weighing their flour for a roux?
I don’t. It’s just about this much butter and about this much flour. I usually err on the light side with the flour and add a bit more if it seems to need it.
I wouldn’t do that for bread though. I have made bread that way, and it was Ok, but it’s difficult to get cla consistent result without measuring.
By using a hydration percentage formula (by weight), I can get very consistent and repeatable outcomes.
I’ve never tried making bread by volume measurement alone (measuring water in ml doesn’t really count as 1ml of water is 1g of water)
I don’t.
And ml, grams, litres whatever, are all way too much math.
A cup is a cup is a cup.
Like I said above my scoop in my flour canister is EXACTLY a cup.
Oh, I don’t assume the grocery store is completely climate controlled. Not in South Arkansas.
Humidity greatly affects dry groceries. Produce “sweats”. Ice cream and other frozen things might suffer on a really bad day.
Measuring flour by weight is easy. Just plop the bowl on the scale and scoop flour into it until you reach the desired weight. I’m just trying to figure out the desired weight.
Tomorrow is Science(!) Day. I am working to standardize all the variables I can. The eggs may be the biggest challenge.
I will weigh the two cups chocolate chips and one cup of pecans for the first batch, and use that quantity for the other two batches. I’ve weighed my butter sticks, and Kirkland seems to be rather consistent with their weight. I suppose I should weigh the cocoa powder from the first batch, too. What else am I missing? Sugar and brown sugar tend to be consistent in their weights, so I feel comfortable using the cup measures for those.
Whoo hoo! Cookies!!
I bet you you’ll not tell the difference by taste.
You gotta do a blind taste test.
The true and only test that will make a big difference.
Well, except some people like cakey cookies(soft) others like crispy.
Me? I like a bit of an overcooked cookie. Tiny bit browned on the bottom.
About eggs. I’ve often added another whole egg to a cookie recipe. Makes them richer.
The consistency of the cookie dough is the clue as to how the cookie will be.
Yep. I bake bread, pizza, etc., by hydration. For me, it is SOOOOOO much easier, less messy, and more consistent. For that matter, when I was making sausages, I did those by percentages as well. My end product turned out much more consistent when I weighed my spices for 5- or 10-lb batches by the gram instead of measuring them out. Screw up a little bit on the mace or clove and the flavor profile of the sausage can vary quite a bit. Doing it by weight eliminates this and as I developed my recipe over time, I could exactly dial into the flavor I was looking for.
I don’t think anyone does that routinely. I have done it when I’m converting a recipe to weigh the flour. And to be clear, I’m doing that to my recipes because i find it easier, not because i think it’ll be more precise. And if the recipe looks wrong as I’m cooking, I’ll toss in a little more flour, or a little more liquid. But that doesn’t happen very often.
For bread dough especially, if you make it too dry, it’s very difficult to adjust once the mixing starts. There are methods to eyeball it (usually involving adding dry to wet), but hydration formulae just work.
Also for a standard cake, I use the weigh-the-same method:
Weigh the eggs in their shells
Use that weight of SR flour, sugar, fat
Mix all ingredients together in one stage (minus the eggshells obvs)
Bake
And so it begins…
The only variable I have now (besides flour weight) is one set of butter sticks weighs one gram more than the others.
115g Eggs
~234g butter
95g peacans
375g chocolate chips
25g cocoa powder
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 t vanilla paste
The butter is still a little too hard to cream, so I’ll start in about an hour.
I will be using three quantities of flour:
300g (120g per cup)
325g (130g per cup)
355g (142g per cup)
Procedure
Mix flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.
Cream butter in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment.
Add sugar and cream the mixture until smooth, scraping down the sides.
Add the eggs one at a time.
Slowly add the dry ingredients, with mixer at medium low.
Stir in the peacans and chocolate chips.
Bake 9 - 11 minutes.
Why not remove the extra gram?
120g per cup.
Dry ingredients
Mixed dough
I used a #20 disher for consistent sized cookies.
Final cookies
I’m working with the 142g per cup batch now, and there is a definite difference in texture.
Ooh, I’m enjoying this science. Thanks.
Correction: I’m using a #40 disher (1 1/2 tablespoons)
Last batch - 142g per cup
Dry ingredients
Mixed dough
The dough is definitely more viscous.
On the sheet
Note how they are nearly solid. They definitely keep their shape.
Final cookies
The cookies did not deflate nearly as much.
The judges all thought that batch #3 was the best. I agree. I’ll be using ATK’s weight in my conversions. Pity, 120 is a lot easier to use.
