measurements in 'cups' or by weight -e.g. grams. For myself I have found over the years, cup measurements vary too much. Weighing, especially dry ingredients, has proven to be far more accurate. I find myself converting the cup measurements into grams, by referring to the front pages of the good old Edmond's Cookbook. I've found, regarding liquids, there is no choice.
sarahb5,
Nov 2, 12:42am
Weight definitely but probably because I'm from the UK where weight is used as a standard measure rather than cups
arielbooks,
Nov 2, 12:44am
I always use weights as it is more accurate. The only time I use cup measures is if that is all the recipe has or if making jam. Then use 1 cup of pulp to 1 cup of sugar.
kaddiew,
Nov 2, 1:02am
I hate weighing anything, so cups, tablespoons, etc for me. Unless it's a recipe that has to be so precise that it will fail for want of a gram or two, the cups etc system has always worked for me.
sarahb5,
Nov 2, 1:28am
I have add and weigh scales which makes it easier
davidt4,
Nov 2, 3:17am
Weight for me, definitely. With add & weigh scales it's easier than finding measuring cups and jugs.
nzhel,
Nov 2, 3:53am
Weight mainly though for flour etc, cup measurements I find are the easiest. I hate recipes where they say something like '½ cup of butter' which I've had from time to time over the years. Always 'fun' getting the butter in and out of the cup! I usually weigh it after that and note down the amount for next time.
davidt4,
Nov 2, 5:16am
Take a measuring cup, half fill it with very cold water, add lumps of butter until the level reaches 1 cup. Pour away the water and you have half a cup of butter. And old trick and a good one.
sarahb5,
Nov 2, 6:28am
I just google for a weight conversion
rainrain1,
Nov 2, 6:46am
!/2 cup = 4ozs butter
lilyfield,
Nov 2, 6:52am
Only ever weight
kaddiew,
Nov 2, 6:53am
I like that idea. Thanks!
nauru,
Nov 2, 7:34am
The odd recipe I use is in cups but I mostly weigh too. My digtal scales do both ounces and grams which is good as a lot of my recipes are UK ones.
maximus44,
Nov 2, 9:05am
I bake a lot and use cups. I don't own any scales.
sarahb5,
Nov 2, 9:23am
My scales do both as well but its the US recipes I use that are in ozs, UK ones are mostly metric except in an old book I used at school in the 70s
nauru,
Nov 2, 12:13pm
I have a few old recipe books, Bero being the one I use a lot. Quite a few of my recipes have been handed down from family so are quite old and use lbs & ozs.
uli,
Nov 3, 2:59am
definitely by weight. Hard packed sugar or flour in a cup can be as much as 40 to 50g out.
maximus44,
Nov 3, 7:03am
I don't own any scales and have used cups for years with very good results.
aj.2.,
Nov 3, 7:14am
I had trouble with a recipe, years ago , it said 1 gill of water ? , but we got there in the end . I use cup measurements for making home made Crumpets , as it is so easy to do . I have scales here , but try to just do cup measurements , but as I don't do any baking , most cooking works well .
kiwiscrapper1,
Nov 3, 9:13am
when measuring flour you should spoon the flour into the cup, if you scoop the cup into the flour it will be a different weight. You should always spoon the flour into the measuring cup.
buzzy110,
Nov 3, 8:15pm
I just use what the recipe says. I figure that if it says 'cup' then it was created using a cup so why change it?
sarahb5,
Nov 3, 11:48pm
Because that makes extra washing up - at least with weight I can add and weigh using my scales and not get my measuring cups dirty!
buzzy110,
Nov 4, 12:12am
That's nice. I'm sure you are very happy to have add and weight scales. I don't have any so it is not in my best interests to get all excited about saving on putting a glass measuring cup into my dish washer.
lemming2,
Nov 4, 5:18am
When I'm using my mother's old recipes I don't just use her measurements, I use her implements! That way, with brandy snaps, I KNOW how much golden syrup to use . it's an old silver tablespoon, (larger than a standard Tbsp) with the syrup wound once around the bowl after digging in .
biggles45,
Nov 4, 5:29am
Agree (I'm from UK too)! Especially if the recipe is for something that needs to be precise to work well. I have some old recipe books that are still in lbs and oz and still use them without converting them to gms.
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