“Do you prefer weighing out ingredients or measuring with measuring cups?”
The responses were pretty much evenly split between the two, with several people saying they use both. While I much prefer weighing, I actually use measuring cups as well since not all recipes are written for weight measurements. However, when I do make recipes using volume measurements, I try to weigh the measured ingredients and make notes so if I make the recipe again, I don’t have to get out the measuring cups.
Why do I prefer to use weight measurements?
Weighing is my preference mainly because it’s more accurate, especially when using grams. Beyond the fact that not all measuring cups are created equally or accurately, if you were to have ten people measure out a cup of flour and then weigh them individually, chances are they would all be different. And brown sugar! I’ve always experienced a degree of frustration at recipes that say “packed brown sugar”. Even when the recipe says “firmly” packed, just exactly what does that mean? If you’re using weight measurements, 100 grams of brown sugar is 100 grams of brown sugar whether you pack it down or not.
The other reason is this:
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| five measuring cups and a set of spoons |
In mixing up another graham cracker recipe to test this morning, I used all of these utensils. Now I will admit, there are a couple more in there than absolutely necessary, but since Tug bought me this awesome set of All-Clad odd-sized measuring cups and spoons (1-1/2, 3/4 and 2/3 measuring cups and 2 teaspoons, 1-1/2 and 2 tablespoons measuring spoons), I use them whenever possible. Had I started with weight measurements, I wouldn’t have used any of these. I’ll never give up my measuring cups and spoons, but if I can get by with fewer dishes to wash I’m all about it!
I'll definitely have to give weight measurements a try. I just got my first scale (yeah!) but I haven't quite gotten around to it yet. It often feels like an unnecessary step, but it's helpful to hear the reasons why you like it better.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I was a little reluctant to switch. I mean, why mess with something that works? But I'm a total convert now, so much so that I actually have two scales! Another reason I like weight versus volume is that it makes recipe conversions for increasing or decreasing much easier - no more trying to figure out what's half of 1/3 of a cup!
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