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[quote=Anonymous][quote]Anonymous wrote:
No you can. The ratio is 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat and 3 parts sugar. 
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0...E6DC143BF93AA15757C0A96F9C8B63

Seriously, that's completely circular. If you could consistently translate volume into weight, you wouldn't need to measure in weight in the first place. This conversion table makes sense if you have a recipe that calls for volume but only have a scale, or if you have a recipe that calls for weight but only have measuring cups.[b] But you don't get any added consistency by translating a recipe using volume into one that uses weight unless you measure the actual weight that you used in a successful test run of the recipe[/b]. [/quote]

A unit volume of dry ingredient does not weight the same. A cup of flour can weight 3 oz to well over 5 oz depending on how dense the flour has become by settlement. This translates to a variance in volume from 3/4 to 1 1/4 cup of flour. If you use volume measurements for baking you will get inconsistent results. Baking is more about chemistry, reactions, and ratios. This is why professional bakers use weight and not volume. As for the bold, you have to translate the volume to weight to weight the ingredients. So you do have a starting point. Get a scale and use baking recipes that are in weight. You will love your results and it is easier!

[quote]I grew up learning how to measure dry ingredients the way I’m sure just about everyone else did – scoop and level. Scoop the measuring cup into the flour, then take the straight edge of a butter knife and level off the top. Seems easy enough, right? Well, it might be easy but it is certainly not always accurate. For the most part, precise measurements are not necessary in cooking, but are a critical part of baking success. In fact, incorrect measuring is one of the biggest reasons that most baking endeavors fail. A bit of extra flour can lead to rock-hard cookies, tough bread, and less-than fluffy cakes. Too much granulated sugar and your cookies will be crispy when you wanted them soft and chewy. It’s been a little over a year since I embraced the joy of measuring by weight, and I just realized that I had never talked about weighing ingredients here on the blog. Continue reading to find out about my little experiment, kitchen scale recommendations, and a list of resources.

The Experiment

A few cookbooks in my collection give ingredient quantities in both volume and weight, but I didn’t pay much attention until I made the Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies from Baking Illustrated. Curious as to how much of a difference there could actually be between scooping ingredients into measuring cups and weighing them, I conducted an experiment. I measured flour into a cup the way I normally would and then put that scoop on the kitchen scale. Amazingly, there was almost an entire ounce of difference. The scooped flour measured into the cup was almost a full ounce heavier than the recipe stated a cup of all-purpose flour should be. Yikes! That could be a recipe (no pun intended) for disaster. At that point I decided to start weight everything.[/quote]
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/07/16/volume-weight-baking-why-should-weigh-ingredients/[/quote]

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